© USA Today 2009   After months of haggling, the U.S. Senate finally has a health care reform bill ready for action, but there still is no guarantee the Democrat-drafted proposal — President Barack Obama's top domestic agenda item — will be debated in the upper chamber, let alone reach a vote.  The Senate hopes to decide on Saturday whether to move the bill to the floor for debate. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, has already passed its version of reform, leaving forward movement on overhauling the system solely in the hands of the Senate. More >>

© HeraldTribune.com 2009   Untold millions of dollars that banks could have recovered from the sale of distressed Florida homes have instead been pocketed as profits by a new breed of property flipper.  These flippers target houses on the verge of foreclosure and persuade banks and mortgage companies to accept lowball buyouts, sometimes by using questionable appraisals and not disclosing that a quick sale at a higher price has already been arranged, experts say. Read more.    ...
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© CNN 2009   Only a tiny percentage of troubled homeowners have received permanent modifications under President Obama's foreclosure prevention plan, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the $75 billion effort. Fewer than 5% of the trial modifications on loans owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac were converted to long-term adjustments as of Sept. 30, according to the mortgage finance giant. Read more. ...
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© The Arizona Republic 2009An administrative law judge has recommended that Arizona Public Service Co. be granted a rate hike the company has been seeking since March 2008.  The five elected Arizona Corporation Commissioners will make the final decision on the rate hike and have tentatively scheduled hearings to begin Dec. 7. Read more.  ...
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© KY3 2009 A statewide group is trying to head off a tax currently collected in 37 states but not Missouri. It's considered a pre-emptive strike against a tax that could hit you if you sell your home.  It's called the real estate transfer tax -- and Missouri real estate agents call it unfair double taxation. That's why they're getting behind a ballot initiative to change the constitution to bar it from ever coming to Missouri.  Ricky Fuentes just became a new homeowner in the quiet community of Clever. If this 21-year-old lived in one of the states currently collecting a real estate transfer tax, agents said his move might hav ...
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© Rueters 2009 After weeks of closed-door negotiations, U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid plans to unveil broad healthcare reform legislation on Wednesday with a first test vote on the package possible by the weekend.The healthcare overhaul, President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, has been stalled in the Senate as Reid waited for cost estimates and searched for a way to win the 60 votes needed to clear Republican procedural hurdles.Senate Democrats have scheduled a 5 p.m. EST meeting to hear details of the bill and get the cost estimates provided by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. More >>

© Los Angeles Times 2009To pay for healthcare reform, the Senate leader considers raising payroll taxes for upper-income workers. Centrist Democrats prefer to tax costly 'Cadillac' insurance as a way to lower health costs. Read more. ...
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In Announcement 09-14: Electronic Appraisal Reports, Enhancements to the Loan Delivery File Format, and Mortgage Fraud Reporting; Fannie Mae stated it will require the submission of electronic appraisal reports in XML format. In support of this announcement, Fannie Mae is updating the 2000-Character Loan Delivery File Format. Fannie Mae is advising lenders of the new data element that will be required to support electronic appraisal submissions. The Document File Identifier is a 10-digit alphanumeric data element that will be assigned by the Collateral Data Delivery (CDD) system. A unique identifier will be assigned at the time the electronic appraisal report data is successfully submitted t ...
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Congress extended authority for the National Flood Insurance Program through Dec. 18, 2009 while House and Senate committees continue to work toward comprehensive program reform. Without an extension, property owners could not obtain a mortgage loan in more than 10,000 communities across the U.S. NAR will continue to work to extend the program until Congress takes up a long-term reauthorization and reform measure.Visit NAR's Natural Disaster/Flood Insurance homepage ...
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© Rueters 2009   An influential business group said on Thursday that its continued support for President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul hinges on whether it slows the soaring growth rate of healthcare costs. The Business Roundtable, which represents some of the largest employers in the United States, released a report saying that "effective" healthcare reforms could save employers as much as $3,000 per worker by 2019. Read more. ...
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