NEWS
By Hanah Cho | September 23, 2009
A French bank has begun foreclosure proceedings on 1st Mariner Tower at Canton Crossing as the recession and housing slump spread deeper from Baltimore banker and developer Edwin F. Hale Sr.'s banking business to his commercial real estate activities. Paris-based Natixis SA informed Hale on Friday that the bank's commercial real estate lending arm in New York has scheduled an auction for the 17-story building and surrounding land for Oct. 21 after the default of an $84 million loan, according to a notice of sale.
NEWS
By Kenneth R. Harney | September 13, 2009
WASHINGTON - - How's this for a business plan? A company buys or rents lists of recent default filings from across the country - thousands of people who have been notified by lenders that if they don't get their mortgage payments back on track, the next step will be foreclosure. Then it sends each homeowner on the list a letter with an urgent message: "We know you're having a tough time right now, but we can save your home! It's not too late! We know how to get through to your lender and work things out to save your house.
NEWS
July 14, 2009
Judge finds for homeowner over foreclosure scam A Baltimore homeowner who lost his house in a foreclosure assistance scam was awarded a $63,908 judgment Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court. Judge Lawrence Daniels ruled in favor of the homeowner, David Moennich, who had filed a breach of contract lawsuit against defendant Michael Wolf in 2006. In his lawsuit, Moennich said that in 2004 when he was facing foreclosure, he signed over the deed to his $184,000 house to Wolf, who promised to prevent foreclosure and give Moennich a chance to buy back the house.
NEWS
By Lorraine Mirabella | May 29, 2009
The number of Maryland residents who face foreclosure or have missed payments on home loans rose to nearly 121,000 in the first three months of the year, with mortgage woes increasing the fastest among the less risky prime borrowers, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday. Loans that were late by at least a month, including some in the foreclosure process, accounted for 11.3 percent of the more than 1 million outstanding mortgages in Maryland at the end of March, up slightly from the fourth quarter of 2008 but an increase of 67 percent from a year earlier, the MBA said in its quarterly loan delinquency survey.
NEWS
By Julie Scharper | April 29, 2009
A state delegate from Anne Arundel County is being sued for damages by a Pasadena woman who claims that he tricked her into signing over the deed to her home. Del. Tony McConkey, a Severna Park Republican and a real estate agent, is being sued by Teresa L. Milligan. Milligan's civil suit against McConkey alleges "foreclosure rescue fraud," a violation of a homeowner protection law that he voted for in 2005. In January 2006, Milligan said, McConkey offered to help her save her condo from foreclosure and to help her obtain a loan to make payments, according to court testimony.
NEWS
By Annie Linskey | March 14, 2009
A City Council bill that seeks to slow foreclosures in Baltimore violates the state and federal constitutions, according to an opinion issued yesterday by the city's law department. The legislation, introduced by Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke and Councilman Bill Henry, would extend the time between foreclosure and eviction from 14 days to 365 days. The lawmakers believe that the bill would provide a strong incentive for lenders to negotiate with owners rather than foreclose. But the unfavorable legal opinion could halt momentum on the bill because, Mayor Sheila Dixon's spokesman said, it would prevent her from signing it. "Our legal department has found that this legislation is not in accordance with state and federal law," said Scott Peterson, Dixon's spokesman.
NEWS
March 7, 2009
PSC begins hearing on Constellation-EDF Constellation Energy Group has acceded to state energy regulators' investigation of whether its $4.5 billion merger with France's largest utility, Electricite de France, will have an impact on the region's regulated utility, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. But it is asking the Public Service Commission to make an expedited decision by May 31, so as not to threaten the closing of the deal and the financial condition of...
NEWS
By Lorraine Mirabella | March 6, 2009
The number of Maryland borrowers who face foreclosure or have missed mortgage payments topped 100,000 for the first time at the end of last year - a record 11.1 percent of loans in the state, the Mortgage Bankers Association said yesterday. Rising joblessness is adding to a worsening housing crisis that has sent foreclosures and delinquencies to record levels, economists said yesterday. Problems for borrowers with subprime loans are now spreading into more conventional loans. Nationally, 12 percent of borrowers were behind on their mortgage payments at the end of December.
NEWS
By Maura Reynolds and E. Scott Reckard | March 5, 2009
WASHINGTON - The administration's plan for a housing rescue aids two groups of homeowners largely left out of previous efforts but will deny benefits to those who have been greedy or unwise, according to details released yesterday. President Barack Obama's plan would greatly expand mortgage relief to those who have not missed payments and those whose homes are worth less than the mortgage. What the program will not do, officials insisted, is reward the unwise or the greedy. Nor will it provide much help to those in the highest-priced areas, though it does reinstate last year's higher loan limits for refinanced or modified mortgages to $729,750 in the most expensive areas, such as Southern California.
NEWS
February 25, 2009
For many Americans, the mortgage industry's feeble response to the plight of homeowners facing foreclosure has been infuriating. Mortgage servicers and lenders are often tough to get on the phone. Attempts to refinance a loan or extend mortgage payments to avert foreclosure are as discouraging. As a result, foreclosures continue to mount, families are forced to leave their homes and communities are left with an increasing toll of vacant houses. In Baltimore, the impact of the housing crisis has been felt in neighborhoods as diverse as Reservoir Hill and Belair-Edison.