New Foreclosure Problem: Lawyers Filing Faulty Documents
Big banks and over-committed mortgage-holders have been under the foreclosure microscope for a long time. Foreclosure lawyers are next up for scrutiny; according to an article from The New York Times,...
View ArticleFinancial Crisis: Where's the Outrage?
In 2008, the bubble popped. The financial crisis sent our economy swirling into chaos and pushed us into this Great Recession. Many Americans lost faith in our private institutions that caused this...
View ArticleOpinion: Schneiderman Holdout on AG Mortgage Campaign
You don’t get people from all 50 states to agree very often, and getting all 50 state Attorneys General to agree would seem almost impossible. Yet that’s the goal of Iowa’s AG Tom Miller, who is...
View ArticleBoA, QE2, EU: What To Do?
Welcome to Politics Bites, where every afternoon at It's A Free Country, we bring you the unmissable quotes from the morning's political conversations on WNYC. Today on the Brian Lehrer Show, Nicole...
View ArticleStucknation: Schneiderman's Mission to Restore Faith in the American Mortgage
While our collective anxiety is cynically ratcheted up by our leaders over the debt ceiling, millions of Americans remain mired in a foreclosure nightmare from which there is no waking. And though the...
View ArticleAIG to Sue Bank of America for $10 Billion in Mortgage Losses
In an exclusive story in The New York Times this morning, Wall Street and finance reporter Louise Story writes that the behemoth insurance company American International Group Inc. is going to sue Bank...
View ArticleOpinion: Why is Eric Schneiderman Under Siege? He's Doing His Job
The New York Post wants him to stop rocking the boat. A director of the New York Federal Reserve thinks he's going too far. The White House wants him to back off.Why are so many powerful people...
View ArticleFannie and Freddie Fixes
Professor of real estate and co-director of the Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy at Columbia Business School, Christopher Mayer delves into the new housing numbers and suggests that...
View ArticleFew Qualify for Foreclosure Help from the Government
Monday is the deadline for homeowners facing foreclosure to qualify for a federal housing grant, but housing groups working to sign people up say only a small percentage of homeowners qualify because...
View ArticleOpinion: Schneiderman is our "Agressive Progressive," and He's Not Alone
Politico asks "Is Eric Schneiderman America's Most Powerful Liberal?" Salon suggests "no-drama Obama could learn from no-hysterics Eric." The Huffington Post calls him "The Ultimate Game Changer in...
View ArticleVicious Foreclosure Cycle Threatens as Home Prices Fall
Welcome to Politics Bites, where every afternoon at It's A Free Country, we bring you the unmissable quotes from the morning's political conversations on WNYC. Today on The Brian Lehrer Show, Jhoanna...
View ArticleNew Policy Role Elevates Schneiderman to National Stage
After months of barely-concealed conflict, the Obama administration and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman say they will work closely together to investigate the role of big banks in causing...
View ArticleMulti-Billion Dollar Foreclosure Settlement Imminent
Since early 2007, 4 million families have lost their homes to foreclosure. Only now have state officials around the country begun to finalize a multi-billion dollar settlement with the biggest...
View ArticleBOA Pilots Program to Turn Delinquent Homeowners Into Tenants
Bank of America will allow a limited number of distressed or underwater homeowners in New York State to become renters of their own properties.As part of a pilot program, the bank mailed invitations...
View ArticleCould Eminent Domain Resuscitate Underwater Homeowners?
A company called Mortgage Resolution Partners wants local governments to use eminent domain to help homeowners drowning in debt.The new tactic is an attempt to help those homeowners keep their homes....
View ArticleNo Criminal Charges for Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs has faced intense scrutiny for its alleged involvement in the types of dodgy mortgage deals that led to the 2008 financial crisis. But after an extensive investigation that went on for...
View ArticleWhy Wall Street’s Leaders Escaped Prosecution
Frontline producer and correspondent Martin Smith talks about his investigation into why the U.S. Department of Justice has failed to act on credible evidence that Wall Street knowingly packaged and...
View ArticleRatings Agencies 'Key' to Mortgage Crisis Meltdown
Standard and Poor’s is the first rating agency to face civil fraud charges from the federal government. The Justice Department filed a civil complaint against the company on Monday. It’s the first...
View ArticleForeclosed
Damaged homes are the focus of artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor's show at New York's James Cohan Gallery, called "Foreclosed." A native of Las Vegas, one of the cities hit hardest by the mortgage crisis,...
View ArticleFinancial Pressures Facing Bank of America
When Bank of America decided to buy troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial during the financial crisis of 2008, it many have underestimated the foreclosure costs that would come along with...
View ArticleFederal Government Sues Banks Over Mortgage Losses
A U.S. regulator filed lawsuits Friday against 17 of the nation's largest banks over losses from mortgage-backed securities, aiming to recoup billion of dollars stemming from the failed investments.The...
View ArticleOne Year Later: How the $25B Bank Settlement is Helping Consumers
It's been one year since five of the nation's biggest banks reached a $25 billion settlement with state attorneys general across the country over charges that the banks used faulty practices to...
View ArticleNaughty Banks Create Nice Gift for New York
Call it a Merry Christmas for Governor Cuomo. The state has a more than $5 billion windfall from a slew of bank settlements this year. The money comes from BNP Paribas for violating sanctions with...
View ArticleNew York's Finances: Sunnier, Thanks to Windfalls from Wall Street
New York City’s economy is often tied to the health of Wall Street. But in recent years, billion dollar settlements with banks accused of wrongdoing have given government officials extra money to pay...
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U.S., Goldman Sachs, reach $5B settlement over risky mortgages
Goldman Sachs sign seen above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 24, 2014. Photo by Lucas Jackson/ReutersWASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Monday announced a roughly $5 billion...
View ArticleGoldman Sachs Settles Mortgage Meltdown Probe for $5 Billion
Another big bank settlement, another pot of money for Albany.The Justice Department announced a $5 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs over mortgage-backed securities. Of that amount, New York State...
View ArticleCity Launches Foreclosure Buyback Program
New York City is launching a new pilot project designed to help homeowners facing foreclosure.At a news conference in Queens, Councilmember I. Daneek Miller said the city is working with the federal...
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After populist campaign, Trump assembles economic team of elites
Watch Video | Listen to the AudioJUDY WOODRUFF: Well, as we’ve been reporting, the president-elect began fleshing out his economic team today by announcing his choices to run the Departments of...
View ArticleWhy the Business Press Didn't Warn Us
Ten years ago this week, the Wall Street investment firm Lehman Brothers collapsed, setting in motion the financial crisis that devastated the world’s economy. The news coverage reflected a state of...
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