Why did Jones pay more for her mortgage than Smith? One possible reason is that her mortgage had features that increase risk to the lender, which charged a higher price to compensate. I call these "risk factors." Potential borrowers ought to know ...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Millions of homeowners around the country have received an unexpected message from their banks: Goodbye.

After years of collecting mortgage payments from as many people as they could, big U.S. banks such as Bank of America and ...

The mortgage interest deduction, widely viewed as a tax break for a broad slice of middle-class America, benefits the residents of some states far more than others, according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The number of filers who ...

In April, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it had moved to end "improper kickbacks paid by mortgage insurers to mortgage lenders in exchange for business." The kickbacks take the form of dividends paid by captive reinsurers ...

Do you own a house, are you 62 or older, and are you worried about running out of money down the road? If your answer is "yes" to all three questions, you should take out a reverse mortgage right away.

Some financial planners advise seniors to ...

It was a common practice during the boom times: A single home would be refinanced time and again, perhaps spurred by a broker hungry for fees or a borrower looking to use his or her home for cash.

Now, homeowners in that situation who have ...