Top EU Court Calls for Clarity in Credit Agreements
Merely referring to a national law in a contract is not enough to make a consumer credit agreement clear, Europe’s top court held Thursday.
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mortgage
Banks Agree to Mortgage Grace Period as Virus Shreds Economy
California Governor Gavin Newsom delivered a dose of good news for homeowners on Wednesday, announcing the nation’s largest banks will voluntarily freeze mortgage payments for 90 days on families mired in the Covid-19 crisis.
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EU Adviser Says Courts Can Change Unfair Contract Terms
Courts in the European Union can adjust contracts such as mortgage loans that are unfair to consumers if they violate national laws, even if they don’t violate EU rules, an adviser to Europe’s highest court said Thursday.
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European Court Wades Into Spain’s Mortgage Crisis
With a ruling that left both banks and consumers claiming victory, Europe’s highest court on Tuesday waded into a legal dispute over allegedly unfair home mortgage plans Spanish banks used during a housing boom that imploded with the 2008 financial crisis.
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Bloomberg Blamed End of Redlining for 2008 Collapse
At the height of the 2008 economic collapse, then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the elimination of a discriminatory housing practice known as redlining was responsible for instigating the meltdown.
Read moreWells Fargo Bank
A federal class action in Pittsburgh claims that Wells Fargo Bank’s failure to properly calculate borrowers’ attorneys’ fees in the Home Affordable Modification Program resulted in at least 625 improper foreclosures.
Read moreTransit Authority’s Politics Ban Spurs Pushback at 3rd Circuit
A nonprofit news organization blocked from running bus ads on racial disparities in mortgage lending urged the Third Circuit on Wednesday to rule against a transit authority’s advertising policy.
Read moreTreasury Reveals Plan to Privatize Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
The Trump administration has unveiled its plan for ending government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two giant mortgage finance companies that nearly collapsed in the financial crisis 11 years ago and were bailed out at a cost to taxpayers of $187 billion, which has been repaid.
Read moreLive Well?
The SEC claims in federal court that Michael C. Hild, 43, of Richmond, Va., pocketed “more than $24 million in compensation which was funded wholly or substantially by the ill-gotten gains” that his co-defendant company Live Well Financial “obtained through its mismarking scheme” involving bonds and reverse mortgages.
Read moreWells Fargo
Reversing, a California appeals court found that Wells Fargo’s mortgage modification contract was ambiguous, as the borrower claims, about the bank’s ability to demand a balloon payment after completion of the temporarily lowered mortgage payments.
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Day After Day, Barcelona Mortgage Protester Ends up in Jail
It’s 11:30 in the morning and Antonio Díaz begins shouting at the top of his lungs. He hollers at the towering court building, condemning the judges and prosecutors behind the walls and rows of glass windows. His hands and body tremble in rage.
Read moreSecurities Fraud
Nomura Securities International will pay $25 million to settle two related complaints of failing to supervise traders in mortgage-backed securities, the SEC said.
Read moreCity Fights $750K Verdict Tied to Violent Sheriff’s Auction
Hit with a $750,000 verdict in favor of a man whom officers tackled and Tasered at a sheriff’s sale, Philadelphia fought at the Third Circuit on Monday for a reversal.
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Manafort Pleads Not Guilty to State Charges of Mortgage Fraud
Already convicted federally on a host of financial crimes, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty Thursday to related criminal charges by New York authorities.
Read moreReal Estate
A federal judge granted a motion to compel discovery from the Real Estate Law Center, which New Mexico accuses of advertising mortgage relief and sought fees in violation of the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule.
Read moreMortgages
A federal judge remanded to state court some claims in which CMG Mortgage is accused of failing to modify the homeowners’ loan after they obtained $100,000 in mortgage assistance from the Keep Your Home California state program.
Read moreWells Fargo
Reviving fair-housing claims, the 11th Circuit ruled that Miami plausibly alleged Wells Fargo’s discriminatory mortgage-lending practices injured the tax base, resulting in “a disproportionate and excessive number of defaults by black and Latino homebuyers.”
Read moreMorgan Stanley Coughs Up $150M for California Pension Losses
More than a decade after the bottom fell out the U.S. economy and the housing market tanked, multinational investment company Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay California $150 million to settle claims the company hid the riskiness of mortgage-backed securities sold to the state’s public employee pension funds.
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