(Colorado) AG cracks down on mortgage ads

[TexasLawyer]

AG cracks down on mortgage ads
By Greg Griffin
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:10/19/2006

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_4513499

The Colorado attorney general's office will subpoena at least 10 area mortgage brokers and companies during the next few weeks in an investigation of possibly deceptive advertising practices, a prosecutor in the office said.

The office is focusing on mortgage companies that advertise low teaser interest rates, tout minimum-loan-payment plans and use confusing terms to describe their loans, said Jan Zavislan, deputy attorney general for consumer protection.

Advertising for mortgages runs in Denver's major daily newspapers and on many radio and TV stations. Brokers also market loans on websites and through telemarketing. Some feature interest rates of as little as 1 percent and other special offers, with details often provided in fine print.

<snip>

"It is all part of stopping the worst practices and making consumers more financially literate," Zavislan said. "We want to drive home the point that a 1 or 2 percent interest rate is just a teaser rate designed to get you in the door, and that there's really no such thing as a 30-year fixed-interest mortgage at that rate."

He would not say which brokerages will receive subpoenas. The office is targeting those that have generated the most complaints, he said. Deceptive tactics by brokers are helping fuel Colorado's foreclosure problem, Zavislan said. The state's foreclosure rate has led the nation for seven months, according to RealtyTrac.

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[pooja]

1. and you know.. even at a 1 or 2 percent mortgage ratte... they

still make a ton of money.

[TexasLawyer]

2. Boston: Local banks set aside $100M for refinancing

And you know things must be bad when banks start to pony up this kind of money. More recognition that lender practices are part of the problem:

Foreclosure help on way: Local banks set aside $100M for refinancing
By Jerry Kronenberg
Thursday, October 19, 2006

With Boston home foreclosures up 10-fold since 2004, city and banking leaders are unveiling a $100 million effort to help tapped-out residents keep their properties.

Citizens, Eastern, Mount Washington and Sovereign banks are joining Bank of America and Boston Private Bank & Trust in setting aside $100 million to help people refinance out of bad loans. The banks also signed a code of conduct aimed at banning abuses, such as steering unsophisticated customers with good credit into costly subprime loans.

Signers can bill themselves as “City of Boston First Choice Lenders” - which Mayor Thomas M. Menino called “a kind of seal of approval.”

City officials also plan to contact 6,000 residents with mortgages from questionable lenders, offering help to those in jams. Additionally, Menino announced $550,000 in city funds and $300,000 from lenders for consumer education and counseling.

<snip>

http://business.bostonherald.com/realestateNews/view.bg?articleid=162979

[Democrats_win]

3. How many lives have these crooks ruined? These are the real terrorists!!!

[Hawkeye-X]

4. psst.. the Colorado AG is a Rethug.

He'll just make it business as usual.