Posts by Mary Kane

As lawsuits wind their way through the court system, more details and allegations about the inner workings of the subprime world are emerging — and Minnesota’s second-largest employer remains in the legal crosshairs.

As bank-owned foreclosed properties pile up across the country, from abandoned houses in hard-hit neighborhoods to empty big box retail stores in failed strip malls, the fight over holding someone responsible for the brick and mortar mess left behind by the mortgage crisis continues to heat up.

Startling requirements in out-dated, but still used paperwork raises questions about how well Treasury is overseeing the centerpiece of Obama’s foreclosure crisis solution.

There’s more proof out today that the foreclosure crisis is only getting worse, despite everything that’s been thrown at it so far: Foreclosure notices reached a new record high during the first half of this year.

The time may be ripe for a shift in strategy as the foreclosure machine grinds on, and new foreclosure notices reach a troubling 10,000 per day. Lawmakers have a choice: let the foreclosures go on for perhaps years, at the expense of millions of homeowners, or take the crisis head on.

What has — or hasn’t — Congress learned in the aftermath of the burst of the housing bubble?

A new HUD program allows first-time homebuyers to borrow against an $8,000 tax credit for downpayments, raising questions about what was learned from the housing crisis.

Advocates and economists say support for such a program misses lessons from the housing crisis.

A ban on foreclosure sales and evictions from houses owned by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which began as a high-profile effort just before the holidays to keep people in their homes as the government tried to come up with homeowner rescue plans, is over.

Banks that received government bailout money are taking heat for spending billions of dollars on bonuses, executive pay, and lavish outings. But there’s another outrage that Washington seems to be missing: The growing number of bank-owned properties in foreclosure scarring neighborhoods across the country.