Five-Year Mortgage Rate Freeze Looms
The Bush administration has hammered out an agreement to freeze interest rates for certain subprime mortgages for five years to combat a soaring tide of foreclosures, congressional aides said Wednesday. The aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details have not yet been released, said the five-year moratorium represented a compromise between desires by banking regulators for a longer time frame of up to seven years and mortgage industry arguments that the freeze should last only one or two years.

Report: lenders agree to five-year freeze on ARM loans
A coalition of lenders, loan servicers and investors have reportedly agreed to a plan that would freeze interest rates on some subprime mortgage loans for five years. Borrowers with loans made between Jan. 1,  2005, through July 30 of this year who face interest rate resets between Jan. 1, 2008, and July 31, 2010, would be eligible for interest rate freeze...

Mandatory Arbitration Stacks Deck Against Credit Cardholders, Data Show
In the report, Public Citizen pulls back the curtain to reveal the cozy and dangerous relationship between credit card companies and the private arbitration firms that decide their binding mandatory arbitration cases. The result of an eight-month investigation, the report provides, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of data on nearly 34,000 arbitration cases...The report focuses on the National Arbitration Forum (NAF), the go-to arbitration forum for the credit card industry and a major player in the California arbitration business. Between Jan. 1, 2003, and March 31, 2007, arbitrators working for the Minneapolis-based NAF ruled for businesses in 94 percent of the California cases examined. In fact, 90 percent of the NAF cases were handled by just 28 arbitrators, who awarded businesses $185 million.

New York Launches Investigation of Toxic Mold
In a name that sounds more like something from a super heroes comic than anything spawned by government, a newly formed 14-member panel will taken on the threat from toxic molds in New York. The Toxic Mold Task Force will soon meet with the  goal of studying the problem and preparing a report for the governor, reports Newsday. New York State legislators had urged the panel be formed back in 1995, after hearing complaints of debilitating exposure to potentially lethal indoor air.

Officials try to discover source of mold in Westbury
The architects and engineers who helped design and construct the Archstone Westbury rentals -- where water damage and mold are driving hundreds from their homes.  Deery said most construction is completed when inspectors aren't watching. Architects and engineers certify their own work, swearing in affidavits that their projects comply with codes.

U.S. bill offers homeowners financial hope against mold
A bad mold infestation can cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix and can turn a home into a den of wheezing, coughing or worse. However, homeowners insurance companies in Arizona exclude mold from coverage. As a result, some Valley homeowners say they have had to abandon houses and belongings they believe were making their families sick. Sponsored by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the "Melina Bill" would create a national insurance program to protect homeowners against major losses as a result of mold. The program would be similar to the national flood-insurance program already in place. It also would mandate mold inspections in public housing and certification for mold inspectors. Mold experts say it could help protect Americans from a threat to their health and homes.

State task force to focus on mold
Various types of mold - especially toxic forms - have long been a public concern, and now a New York State task force will investigate related health issues in a first-of-its-kind meeting next week...State legislators in 2005 urged that the panel be formed after hearing complaints of debilitating exposure to potentially lethal indoor air and concluding that toxic mold is an under-recognized health problem.  In 2004, an Institute of Medicine panel concluded that while indoor mold and dampness are linked to respiratory symptoms and asthma in vulnerable people,.. The institute, an arm of the National Academies, advises Congress on health issues.

Housing Slump's Third Year to Be `Deepest' Since WWII
As the U.S. housing slump enters its third year, there is no sign of dawn in the darkness that is paralyzing home building, home buying and home lending.The outlook is bleak with new home sales projected to fall 13 percent in 2008, according to estimates from the National Association of Realtors in Chicago, even as interest rates drop. Losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest U.S. providers of mortgage financing, may restrict the availability of home loans, and chief executive officers at D.R. Horton Inc. and Centex Corp. expect another tough year.

Mold forcing residents out brand-new luxury complex
More than 400 residents of the 21-building Archstone Westbury community received notice that they have four months to evacuate the premises. The company has given everyone in the building a deadline of March 31, 2008 to relocate. Reconstruction and fixing the mold problem is expected to take at least one year. Archstone-Smith says water has seeped through the exterior skin of the property.

Foreclosure swallows new subdivisions before opening
The white paint has barely dried on the cathedral ceilings. And some of the stacked-stone chimneys have yet to crackle with that first fire. Here, in a half-built neighborhood near Grayson, everything is freshly minted, down to the suburban dreams. Yet earlier this month, outside the Gwinnett County courthouse, nearly half the subdivision was auctioned off — the latest casualty of a foreclosure crisis that has pounded model-home sales offices around metro Atlanta.

Stockton, Calif., Worst Off In 3rd Quarter Look At 100 Metropolitan Areas
Homeowners across the U.S. are increasingly having trouble making their mortgage payments on time, but borrowers in metro areas of California, Florida and other once-booming housing markets are accounting for the biggest spikes in foreclosure filings, according to a mortgage research company.   An analysis of foreclosure activity in the nation's largest 100 metropolitan areas during the three months ended Sept. 30 shows seven cities in California and five each in Florida and Ohio were among the top 25 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, according to the study being released Wednesday by RealtyTrac Inc.

Jacksonville has third highest foreclosure rate in the U.S.
The housing bust is getting worse. Right now, Jacksonville has the third highest foreclosure rate in the country with one in every 156 homes foreclosing. And there's a story behind everyone of them like one family of eight who could be living on the streets in a matter of weeks.

Newmark parent considers Ch. 11 bankruptcy
The parent of Newmark Homes, reported a loss of $617 million, or $10.43 a share, in the third quarter, up substantially from its year-earlier loss of $80 million, or $1.34 a share. The Hollywood, Fla.-based TOUSA said in a statement that based on its most recent earnings, "the company believes there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern." The company went on to say that it is considering all available in- and out-of-court restructuring and reorganization alternatives including Chapter 11.

Outstanding Fox 4 Report:Mortgage Investments Story
A Becky Oliver Investgative story.  View video report Part I - View video Part II - Follow-up: Mortgage Investors React...