Editor’s Comments on policy: Depending upon what Congress does between now and the end of the year the waiver of a tax on debt forgiveness as ordinary income will expire. My take is that it should expire and that at the same time the debt should be reduced by virtue of payments received or due […]

Tags: credit default swaps, Deny and Discover, forgiveness of debt, insurance, loan receivable, Obama, payment, taxation, tier 2 yield spread premium
Posted in bubble, Corruption, Eviction, securities fraud |

Editor’s Note: Better late than never. It is a step in the right direction, but 30% reduction is not likely to do the job, and waiting for mortgages to become delinquent is simply kicking the can down the road. The political argument of a “gift” to these homeowners is bogus. They are legally entitled to […]

Tags: Alan M White, ARIZONA, assistant secretary of the Treasury, Bank of America, BOA, BofA, Brad Hunter, Commerce Department, countrywide, credit cards, David Streitfeld, debt forgiveness, forgiveness of debt, Fremont Investment and Loan, Housing and Urban Development, inspector general, Jack Schakett, Louise Story, Martha Coakley, Massachusetts, Metrostudy, Michael S. Barr, Neil M. Barofsky, New York Times, predatory lending, preumptively unfair, principal reduction, redefault, Scottsdale, Steve Walsh, Supreme Judicial Court, TARP, Troubled Asset Relief Program, Valparaiso University School of Law, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, White House
Posted in bubble, Corruption, Eviction, expert witness, Modification, securities fraud, Servicer |

With the Obama administration and private lenders actively considering mortgage-principal-reduction programs to help financially distressed homeowners, the Internal Revenue Service has issued an advisory to taxpayers who receive — or seek to receive — such assistance if it’s offered. Editor’s Note: The only thing I would add to this, for the moment, is that any […]

Tags: cancellations, damages, distressed homeowners, forgiveness of debt, Form 1099-C, Form 982, income tax, IRS, Obama, Ocwen, principal reduction, principal residence, real estate taxes, Ron Faris, subprime loans
Posted in bubble, Corruption, Eviction, securities fraud |