Crise financeira

More foreclosures, more middle-aged suicides, study finds

The sweeping, nationwide foreclosure crisis was a hallmark of the recession, and as the worst of the crash recedes, researchers are learning more about the economic and social ramifications of losing a home. Research has already established connections between foreclosures and a host of physical and psychological problems, as well as the relationship between unemployment and the suicide rate. A new study combines the two approaches for the first time.

More than 215,000 households face eviction

More than 215,000 homes in England are at risk of eviction or repossession, reckons Shelter. That’s the equivalent of 4,140 households being threatened every week. And the homeless charity’s research reveals that Newham in east London as the area where people are most likely to lose their home, while Salford is the eviction and repossession-risk capital of the north.

Housing Rights Watch Expert Workshop: Finding real solutions to the housing crisis

The event is designed to bring together experts working in housing, including housing economics, law, housing rights, homeless services, social housing, financing and foundations, local governments, academics and other groups and individuals.

After foreclosure crisis, renters suffer under Wall Street landlords

Six years after the foreclosure crisis helped tank the world’s economy, investors are snatching up “distressed” properties — those that are in foreclosure or facing foreclosure — and seeking to turn a profit on them. Advocates for affordable housing worry that this profit comes at the expense of tenants.

Eminent Domain: A Long Shot Against Blight

Ms. McLaughlin has a plan to help the many Richmond residents who owe more money on their houses than their houses are worth, but it’s one that banks like Wells Fargo, large asset managers like Pimco and BlackRock, real estate interests and even Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, have tried to quash. Her idea involves a novel use of the power of eminent domain to bail out homeowners by buying up and then forgiving mortgage debt.

D.C. foreclosure law is too weak to protect homeowners

The D.C. Council recently revised the foreclosure mediation law it passed three years ago. Known as the Saving D.C. Homes From Foreclosure Act of 2010, the law was created to address the foreclosure crisis in the District. But in tinkering with the measure, the council avoided the basic issue: The District needs a strong foreclosure law that protects consumers.

Mortgage rise will plunge a million homeowners into ‘perilous debt’

According to a new report from an influential thinktank, the Resolution Foundation, even in the most optimistic scenario – in which interest rates rise slowly to 3% by 2018 and economic growth is strong and well-distributed between the rich and poor – 1.12 million homeowners will be spending more than half of their take-home pay on mortgage repayments – this is a widely accepted indicator of over-indebtedness.

Chicago signs legislation giving homeoweners more time to avoid foreclosure

Because of the state’s continued high unemployment during Quinn’s term, the bill signed Thursday extends the law through the Dec. 31, 2015 deadline for the loan modification program.

New Jersey foreclosure pipeline remains clogged

The number of homes entering foreclosure across the nation is at its lowest level in years, but a persistent backlog has left New Jersey stuck at year’s end with the nation’s second-largest percentage of homes in some stage of foreclosure. Nearly 7 percent of New Jersey homes are in the foreclosure pipeline, behind only Florida.

Leading the Charge Against Spain’s Mortgage Crisis

A few years ago, Ms. Colau was an unknown in Spain. But these days, her work defending homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgages has made her a household name, and she is often stopped on the street by strangers offering encouragement.