Chicago Mortgages

Six years after the housing bubble burst, federal regulators are trying to restore confidence in the nation's mortgage industry while continuing to remedy past ills. On Monday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced an $8.5 billion...

An asking price on a home, particularly in the current market, can be far different from the price it ultimately sells for, but trends in asking prices offer insight into a home seller's confidence and the market's direction. On a national level,...

The cash-strapped Museum of Broadcast Communications will have more time to pay off its newhome after receiving a three-year extension on its mortgage, according to an email this week from founder Bruce DuMont. “We are moving forward,”...

The easy way to shop for a mortgage is to compare interest rates or search for the lowest monthly payments. But that's not the best way, and an awful lot of homeowners are paying more for a mortgage than they should be because it's hard to directly...

The Illinois attorney general's office filed lawsuits Tuesday against two companies, alleging they bilked struggling Chicago-area homeowners by charging them for "forensic mortgage loan audits.'' The companies convinced homeowners that an audit of their...

This story contains corrected material, published Dec. 11, 2012. Although she is an attorney with decades of experience, Mary Flynn joined the ranks of the unemployed after the social services agency she worked for cut jobs this year. Unable to keep up...

Imagine that a federal agency wanted to hurt America's working-class families on purpose. How would it inflict maximum damage? It might start by aggressively marketing homeownership to marginal borrowers. It would tell them that bad credit scores aren't...

Many segments of the local housing market continue to bounce along the bottom or suffer small declines, but purchase demand for small rental buildings is on the increase and with it, the prices. Selling prices on two- to four-unit buildings in Cook...

Year after year, community associations deal with an assortment of issues and challenges. Some are perennial, like what to do about owners who don't pick up after their dogs. Others rarely appear on the agenda, like keeping everyone safe during the...

Many empty nesters and other homeowners who yearn for a smaller footprint (and less upkeep) choose to sell their homes and downsize to smaller purchased properties. But in the current real estate market, it can be difficult to sell a house at the...

The Chicago-area housing market continued to take steps toward recovery in November, posting numbers that are fostering expectations of a much-improved 2013. The Illinois Association of Realtors said Thursday that 7,604 existing single-family homes and...

A land bank that would acquire, manage and repurpose vacant and abandoned properties in Cook County is one step closer to reality. Two months after its formation, an advisory committee appointed by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is...