Overruling 22 years of precedent, the en banc 4th U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that Chapter 13 debtors may divide some undersecured home mortgage loans into secured and unsecured claims and “cram down” the unsecured portion of such ...

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For would-be homeowners struggling to secure a loan, seller financing can be an alternate route into a new house. Like a rent-to-own contract (and controversial precisely for that reason), the buyer gets the keys in exchange for a monthly mortgage ...

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a Summerville man to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges in a mortgage fraud that cost lenders almost $24 million. The Post and Courier of Charleston reports ...

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Fearing that attorneys are being used as a “rubber stamp” in residential real estate transactions, the South Carolina Supreme Court has issued an opinion that requires lawyers to play a larger role in ensuring loan proceeds are disbursed properly. Under ...

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Plan A has failed for five counties that hoped to move forward with consolidated lawsuits against the MERS Corp., which operates a massive mortgage registry database and whose shareholders include some of the country’s largest banks. Now, representatives for the ...

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Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co. v. Grier (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-022-16, 9 pp.) (H. Bruce Williams, J.) Appealed from Richland County Circuit Court (Alison Renee Lee, J.) S.C. App. Holding: S.C. Code Ann. § 38-75-1160(A)(1) – which governs ...

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NEW YORK (AP) — Goldman Sachs said Thursday it will pay roughly $5 billion to settle federal and state probes of its role in the sale of shoddy mortgages in the years leading to the housing bubble and subsequent financial ...

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In re Lorenz (Lawyers Weekly No. 010-038-14, 4 pp.) (Per Curiam) S.C. S. Ct. Holding: Where respondent conducted a real estate closing but failed to pay off her client’s mortgage or to record the deed in a timely manner, and ...

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A woman’s effort to have her lawsuit against a lender certified as a class action was derailed by a federal judge, who ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court decision she cited in reality gives way to a state law prohibiting ...

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A recent decision by the state Court of Appeals serves to remind mortgage companies that in order to hold a spouse liable for a mortgage, they must ensure the spouse signs the note and mortgage. In general, most states require both spouses to sign mortgages if both names appear on a deed.

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