Helpers or Hucksters? A Look at ‘Mortgage Mod’ Firms
It seems like a gruesome business: A homeowner is floundering, in real danger of foreclosure. The mortgage mod salesman swoops in and offers salvation -- for a fee (typically thousands of dollars) -- by helping renegotiate loans. Whether that salvation ever comes is another matter.
Such offers, as the Washington Post reported over the long weekend, is a growing business and one worrying federal and state regulators because homeowners should be able to get loan modification help from nonprofits, which charge nothing or next to … more…
AIG: And Did We Mention $10 Billion in Casino Fun?
The federal government has been generous to AIG. The train wreck of an insurance company has pocketed more than $150 billion in bailout … more…
At Fannie and Freddie, Docs Show Eyes Were Wide Open
The taxpayers are on the hook for potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in mortgage losses from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because … more…
Warrantless Wiretapping Used in Terrorist Trial?
The National Security Agency may start its first investigation into “whether its eavesdropping program had improperly interfered with an … more…
Will Treasury’s Bailout ‘Investment’ Pay Off?
Treasury Department Secretary Hank Paulson is always careful to describe his department's activities as investments rather than spending. … more…
Rahmbo’s Revolving Door: Take 3
Since Rahm Emanuel was appointed the next White House chief of staff last month, we've been retracing his previous life as an investment … more…
Bailout Oversight Chair Promises to Probe Basic Questions
In the past two and a half months since Treasury Department Secretary Hank Paulson first proposed TARP, the massive program to buy … more…
Regulatory Failure Redux: 2006 Rules Failed to Rein in Risky Lending
There are plenty of examples of missed opportunities by regulators to pre-empt or at least dull the impact of the current financial … more…
A Bailout That Works?
Yesterday’s announcement that the government will push another $800 billion into the imploding financial system has brought the … more…
How Many Billions Will Gov’t Lose in Citi Deal?
It's tough keeping up with the bailout: the alphabet soup of last-ditch government programs and growing list of companies saved from … more…
Sweet Payoffs for Troubled Industries’ CEOs
Even as the Dow flirts with the 7,000s, not everyone is suffering. The Wall Street Journal today looks at CEOs in companies directly … more…
