-->
Good news for HELOC borrowers - thanks to an emergency federal rate cut, your home equity bill may be getting smaller. Today, the government slashed the federal funds rate by half a percentage point. The New York Times reports: “The Fed said in a statement that, because of weakening economic activity, it had cut the Federal funds [...] [...more]
-->
What a week. There has been some unprecedented instability amongst major home equity lenders during the past few days. Talk of a bailout, stock plunges, and bank failures have topped the headlines. Now it’s looking like only a handful of major HELOC lenders will come out of this. The next time you go to take out [...] [...more]
-->
Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) are not faring well these days. But, lenders like Wells Fargo have devised a way to make these bad loans look good to investors. ReportonBuisness.com explains: “Wells Fargo owns a huge pile (almost four times its total capital) of Home Equity Lines of Credit, or HELOC loans. HELOCs are second-lien loans, [...] [...more]
-->
Wells Fargo has seen some improved earnings this quarter. But, the lender continues to face major losses from home equity line of credit customers. Market Watch reports: “Within Wells Fargo’s $84 billion home equity portfolio, 2.11% of loans had two or more payments that were late at the end of June. That’s up from 1.86% at the [...] [...more]
-->
In the midst of all the HELOC freeze turmoil, most major lenders continue to advertise. Just today I received an email advertising home equity lines of credit from Wells Fargo. They say: “Rates are at their lowest levels in over 3 Years — there’s never been a better time to apply.” That may be true for borrowers [...] [...more]
-->
For months, HELOC borrowers have been complaining about frozen and reduced home equity lines. Now, a concerned congressman is asking lenders some tough questions. Representative Dennis Kucinich called the HELOC freezes “very disturbing.” “People have had their home equity lines suspended whether or not their credit is good or not, and whether they have sufficient equity in [...] [...more]
