MORTGAGE

The 24 people arrested, comprising 15 women and nine men, spent several hours in a jail in South Boston, but are unlikely to face any serious charges.

The state of California pulled out of multi-state mortgage negotiations with large U.S. banks, dealing a sharp blow to long-running efforts to secure a broad settlement over allegations of lending abuses.

A U.S. federal judge dismissed part of a case brought by European bond investors accusing Citigroup Inc. and its directors of misrepresenting or failing to disclose Citi's exposure to toxic mortgage assets and its own solvency.

The state of California pulled out of multi-state mortgage negotiations with large U.S. banks, dealing a sharp blow to long-running efforts to secure a broad settlement over allegations of lending abuses.

JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp were hit with new lawsuits by investors claiming losses on $4.5 billion of soured mortgage debt, adding to litigation targeting the two largest U.S. banks.

Bank of America will begin charging a $5 monthly fee at the start of next year for customers who make debit card purchases.

The largest U.S. banks, eager to get legal protection after widespread evidence emerged of foreclosure shortcuts, are trying to convince California to be part of a multi-state mortgage settlement and not pursue its own aggressive deal.

Amid a sluggish U.S. economy with inadequate job growth, there has been one unabashed bright spot: home mortgage interest rates, currently about 4.10 percent for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, are the lowest in decades. Is now a good time to take the plunge a purchase a home?

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the central bank might need to ease monetary policy further if inflation or inflation expectations fall significantly.

The Federal Reserve's move last week to further lower borrowing costs was risky and won't significantly speed up a painfully protracted recovery, one of the officials who dissented against the decision said on Thursday.

Resale home prices rose to a record high in July, their eighth consecutive monthly gain, according to report on Wednesday that an analyst said signaled a gradual slowdown in a strong market.

Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week, reflecting a jump in demand for home loan refinancing as mortgage rates dropped, an industry group said on Wednesday.

Home prices in the 20-city Case Shiller Index rose for the fourth straight month in July, but the operative phrase remains: let the buyer beware. Demand conditions in most major U.S. cities remains soft, and even though home prices are attractive now, price retrenchments are possible.

European government officials and financial institutions are starting to make dramatic steps needed to manage their way through a debt crisis that threatens to drag the world economy into recession.

Sales and prices of new single-family U.S. homes fell in August despite historically low mortgage rates, underscoring the difficulties policymakers face in efforts to boost the moribund housing sector.

President Barack Obama is facing mounting resistance to a settlement from liberal supporters and a growing number of state attorneys general who say a deal would exonerate banks for their role in the subprime mortgage crisis.

A millionaire developer who lived in the same central Florida neighborhood as Tiger Woods was convicted Saturday of murdering his wife in their mansion.

Bank of America Corp is in talks to sell its correspondent mortgage lending unit to a division of Fortress Investment Group LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

With European banks tanking and the U.S. growth rate grinding to a halt, how does the average investor protect his assets? By being focused.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is on track to record a weekly decline of more than 800 points -- its worst weekly swoon in two years. But the important question for the typical investor is, 'Where's the Dow likely to head in the next six months?'

Two significant speeches from senior Reserve Bank officials in the past day or so have added to the arguments and view the central bank has about the current state and direction of the Australian economy, which appeared in this week's minutes of the September 6 RBA board meeting.