loans extended to those with no credit or bad credit - many are calling for the government to do something to stop the suffering. At the same time, many recognize that a bailout of struggling homeowners would be wrong. Thus, we see a growing list of proposed solutions that purport to save the day without a bailout: "borrower assistance" programs to refinance defaulting mortgages, crackdowns on "predatory lending" practices, or laws restricting mortgages the government deems too risky. ...more

November 12, 2007

Shannon Behnken's articles ('Financial Woes Drag Neighborhoods Down,' Oct. 21, 2007) on the foreclosure crisis did not go far enough to educate homeowners on alternatives to foreclosure. Her articles and other recent articles The Tribune has published on the crisis steer a homeowner back to the lender or lending association Web sites. ...more

October 31, 2007

If you're behind on your mortgage payments, be glad you don't live in Georgia. There, a lender can take back the keys to your home in as little as 30 days. Lenders don't even have to go through the court system. A newspaper ad informing the public of an upcoming sale suffices. ...more

October 21, 2007

Foreclosure filings across the United States nearly doubled last month compared with September 2006, as financially strapped homeowners behind on mortgage payments defaulted on their loans or came closer to losing their homes to foreclosure, a real estate information company said Thursday. ...more

October 12, 2007

Florida's foreclosure activity jumped 77 percent in August, compared with July, boosting its foreclosure rate to the third highest among all states. It was even worse in Tampa Bay, where foreclosure filings more than doubled. Both are further signs that homeowners are having trouble paying their mortgages and selling their homes amid a national housing slump. ...more

September 19, 2007

Regarding 'Rally At Tampa House Pitches New Exemption' (Metro, Sept. 18): The superexemption rally shows everything wrong with home ownership here. Politicians create exemptions in taxes, pretending the lost revenues won't be collected elsewhere. Insurance companies gouge owners and the legislative response is dubious at best. Meanwhile, everyone ignores the third guilty party: sellers. Realtors, shady lenders, seedy flippers, gullible buyers and greedy owners have created a housing market 33 percent overvalued in the Bay area (Local Market Monitor). ...more

September 18, 2007

"Buyers could hardly find a better time to buy," says Jeff Shaw, president of Century 21 Shaw Realty Group. ...more

September 16, 2007

Regarding 'Fed Urges Mortgage Firms To Help Prevent Defaults' (Business, Sept. 5): ...more

September 7, 2007