Marc's Mortgage Matter's

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Illinois attorney general's office says it has found enough evidence of wrongdoing that it plans to file a civil suit against the mortgage lender and its chief executive, Angelo Mozilo. Illinois alleges that the company engaged in "unfair and deceptive practices" in the sale of mortgage loans, loosened its underwriting standards, structured loans with "risky features" and engaged in "marketing and sales techniques" that motivated employees and mortgage brokers to push loans whether or not homeowners had the ability to repay them. Countrywide’s actions (like most other lenders) were driven by its desire to boost market share and to satisfy Wall Street's appetite for mortgage securities.

According to California Attorney General Jerry Brown, Countrywide Financial misled borrowers into taking risky loans they couldn't afford. According to a complaint filed in a Los Angeles court, Angelo Mozilo, and a unit specializing in loans to consumers with poor credit, used deceptive marketing tactics to entice thousands of borrowers into adjustable-rate loans without disclosing that their payments would balloon in later months. This didn’t stop Countrywide’s shareholders from approving the company's takeover by Bank of America. The lender says the deal is expected to close on July 1st. Countrywide agreed to sell itself in January for about $4 billion in stock, but given BofA’s slide in stock price the deal is now valued at about $2.8 billion.

Can't Afford House LOL.tif

Interesting graph follows here notice we seem to be doing better here in the Tristate area (NY/NJ) overall then in other parts of the country. I expect that trend to continue and pity those in Vegas or Florida. Anyone interested in starting a community in Montana?  ;)