MORTGAGE

A source has told American Banker that the terms of this week's massive national mortgage servicing settlement have not been finalized, and that politics drove Thursday's announcement

Bank of America has been reporting Arthur Livingston, of South Carolina, as dead to the three major credit agencies since May 2009. Although he is very much alive, the regional manager of a chemical company's credit report reads, File not scored because subject is deceased.

The housing market is holding back the broader economic recovery now that foreclosures have become a national crisis, a top Federal Reserve official said on Friday.

Crystal Morello's family pleaded for months with their lender for a cheaper mortgage on their family home in Belleville, Michigan. But time ran out last summer, and they left before they were evicted.

The Federal Reserve announced on Thursday it has reached an agreement with five U.S. banks on penalties totaling $766.5 million over problems in their mortgage servicing businesses as part of a larger $25 billion foreclosure deal struck between the banks and state and federal agencies.

The Federal Reserve announced on Thursday it has reached an agreement with five U.S. banks on penalties totaling $766.5 million over problems in their mortgage servicing businesses as part of a larger $25 billion foreclosure deal struck between the banks and state and federal agencies.

Officials Thursday detailed a nationwide settlement with five large banks over foreclosure practices. Negotiators defended the deal as a way to give immediate relief to homeowners and victims of foreclosure abuses.

U.S. banking regulators are using the agreement announced on Thursday between large U.S. banks and state and federal agencies over foreclosure abuses as a vehicle for levying their own fines on banks for problems in their mortgage servicing businesses.

The massive $26 billion mortgage settlement between states and banks is designed to help millions of American homeowners -- but not everyone is eligible.

Forty-nine states and five major banks reached a $26 billion mortgage settlement that will aid about two million homeowners, government officials announced Thursday.

The biggest U.S. banks will provide about $25 billion in relief to distressed homeowners, as state and federal officials hold lenders responsible for taking illegal shortcuts during foreclosures and for other deceptive practices.

U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates remained at a record low of 3.87 percent in the week ending Feb. 9, unchanged from the previous week, according to Freddie Mac.

The announcement caps more than a year of chaotic negotiations among state and federal officials, and the banks, who have been accused of using robosigners and unlawful documentation to deal with a flood of foreclosures.

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers Wednesday were: Accuray Inc, support.com, Akamai Technologies, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Select Comfort Corp, Exelixis, FriendFinder Networks, Limelight Networks and American Capital Mortgage Investment.

California and New York, two key holdout states for a multi-state mortgage settlement, are expected to join the deal, smoothing the way for an announcement expected on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

California and New York, two big holdout states in a $25 billion mortgage settlement, are expected to join the deal, smoothing the way for an announcement on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

California and New York, two big holdout states in a $25 billion mortgage settlement, are expected to join the deal, smoothing the way for an announcement on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

California and New York, two key holdout states for a multi-state mortgage settlement, are expected to join the deal, smoothing the way for an announcement expected on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) has purchased mortgage bonds valued at $6.2 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, previously owned by the insurance giant American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG), until its government bailout in 2008.

The U.S. central bank may need to buy more bonds to bolster a housing market whose distress is at the heart of a frustratingly slow economic recovery, a top Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday.

The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said Wednesday the Fed may resume expanding its balance sheet to boost the U.S. economy if the recovery loses momentum or inflation stays below two percent.