Saying Yes, WaMu Built Empire on Shaky Loans
We hope to do to this industry what Wal-Mart did to theirs, Starbucks did to theirs, Costco did to theirs and Lowe’s-Home Depot did to their industry. And I think if we’ve done our job, five years from now you’re not going to call us a bank.”  As a supervisor at a Washington Mutual mortgage processing center, John D. Parsons was accustomed to seeing baby sitters claiming salaries worthy of college presidents, and schoolteachers with incomes rivaling stockbrokers’. He rarely questioned them. A real estate frenzy was under way and WaMu, as his bank was known, was all about saying yes. Yet even by WaMu’s relaxed standards, one mortgage four years ago raised eyebrows. The borrower was claiming a six-figure income and an unusual profession: mariachi singer. Mr. Parsons could not verify the singer’s income, so he had him photographed in front of his home dressed in his mariachi outfit. The photo went into a WaMu file. Approved.

New for 2009: HUD Bans Incentives for Using Affiliated Lenders
When Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston announced the department’s “long-anticipated mortgage reforms” on Nov. 12, he said the changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) would help consumers to shop for the lowest cost mortgage, avoid costly and potentially harmful loans, and save hundreds of dollars at the closing table.

Why home values may take decades to recover
As painful as the decline has been, history suggests home values still may have a long way to drop and may take decades to return to the heights of 2½ years ago... An extreme relaxation of lending standards inflated the housing bubble. "Shoddy underwriting on mortgages" is the primary cause of the housing crisis, says York, the Wachovia economist. "People got caught off-guard by how bad it was." Millions of home buyers — poor, rich and middle class — were approved to buy homes at prices that had been out-of-reach just a few years earlier. Lenders offered low introductory "teaser" rates on adjustable rate mortgages and approved borrowers based on artificially low mortgage payments, not the higher ones that took effect later.

Debt Watchdogs: Tamed or Caught Napping?
Moody’s, which judges the quality of debt that corporations and banks issue to raise money, had just graded a pool of securities underwritten by Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest mortgage lender. But Countrywide complained that the assessment was too tough. The next day, Moody’s changed its rating, even though no new and significant information had come to light, according to two people briefed on the change who requested anonymity to preserve their professional relationships.  Moody’s had assigned high grades to many securities containing Countrywide mortgages. Those securities and mortgages, issued during the lending spree of recent years, later soured — leaving investors with large losses and homeowners and communities struggling with foreclosures.  Since the subprime mortgage troubles exploded into a full-blown financial crisis last year, the three top credit-rating agencies — Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings — have faced a firestorm of criticism about whether their rosy ratings of mortgage securities generated billions of dollars in losses to investors who relied on them.

UsHousingMeltdown.org
The Independent Resource for Housing Market Information.  Housing Research -  USHM was created to provide the facts and the truth about the housing market. Our product is quality information. The agenda at USHM.org is to provide non-biased information and commentary whether the information leads to or supports buying houses and real estate or not.  Read more...

A Multi-Billion Dollar Bailout for Those at Fault
Corporate Homebuilders, the Housing Crash and the Mortgage Crisis. Corporate Homebuilders, the Housing Crash and the Mortgage Crisis. The housing market crash and meltdown of the mortgage industry has cost more than 200,000 construction workers their jobs, put 3 million American families in danger of foreclosure and gutted the value of what was the financial security net for most working men and women: their homes. ... 
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Housing Giants Magazine - Mortgage Check
“As many builders begin to feel the pressure to liquidate their inventories to meet the demands of their construction contracts and loan terms some revert to decretive practices and fraudulent measures….Fraud has become the tool of desperation that companies individuals use to maintain lifestyles, livelihoods and bottom lines, says a recent fraud report. Since the housing bubble has burst, the number of fraudulent loans issues during the first three months of 2008 skyrocketed 42 percent compared to the same period in 2007, according to the same August report from the Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI).”  “It becomes almost like racketeering because everybody went along with it, even the small builders,” says Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building. Read more Mortgage Check

Agency Is Accused of Curbing Credit From Seized Banks
Home builders from Florida to Texas are railing against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., saying the agency is cutting off construction financing from seized banks and demanding early repayment of current loans. The FDIC, which has become a leading advocate for modifying mortgages of financially strapped homeowners, isn't extending that same tolerance to the housing industry, the builders said.

6 Sentenced in Mortgage Scheme Exposed by FOX 4
The ring leader of a north Texas mortgage fraud scheme is heading to federal prison along with seven others. Becky Oliver broke the story back in 2005 exposing a real estate scam that left investors with over-priced homes they couldn’t afford. The scheme was detailed in a 49-page federal indictment. After three years, Steve Lucky is finally hearing the word he’s been waiting for: prison. "They are going to pay their dues and pay for what they did," said Lucky. “I wish it could’ve happened faster but it did happen and that is what’s important. These guys were caught.” Lucky told FOX 4.  Related Story: Becky Oliver broke the story back in 2005

BusinessWeek: Sex, Lies, and Subprime Mortgages
It may seem like ancient history now, but not long ago the mortgage industry was turning ordinary people into millionaires. One of them was Sharmen Lane, a high school dropout who, like many other young women during the boom, found her way into an obscure banking job with the clunky title "mortgage wholesaler." Her experience—and the experiences of other wholesalers like her—offers a glimpse into the recklessness and indulgence that drove the industry to ruin.  Related articles: Henry Cisneros on the Hot Seat - Editorial: Recipe for profits, defects and foreclosures