By Tami Luhby, senior writerJanuary 28, 2010: 6:59 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Under fire for the low number of... ...

The U.S. Treasury has released their long awaited details of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, which provides instructions for lenders and servicers participating in the Making Home Affordable, Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The purpose of HAFA is to create an alternative to foreclosures for homeowners unable to successfully modify their troubled mortgage u ...

Endorsements
HUD approved counseling agencies are approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
HUD-approved housing counseling agencies help families understand the home purchasing process, how to get budgeting and credit problems fixed, and how to avoid predatory lending practices.
Agencies applying for HUD approval must meet the following criteria:
• Must have 5 ...

Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 94, and vetoed Assembly Bill 764. Here’s the Governor’s message to the California Assembly on why he chose to veto the bill:

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 764 without my signature.
Although I support the prohibition of individuals charging advance fees for mortgage loan modifications, I do not agree w ...

I've excerpted below from a paper by New York Fed Researchers Andrew Haughwout, Ebiere Okah, and Joseph Tracy: Second Chances: Subprime Mortgage Modification and Re-Default with additional preface comments from Calculated Risk a Finance and Economics Blog.

Although the paper uses subprime data, the general results are applicable to all mortgages. The researchers point out that principal reduct ...