SARASOTA COUNTY - A box of Blockbuster video store forms with credit card and Social Security information that was dumped in a trash container last week now is under Sarasota County Sheriff's Office protection. ...more

October 25, 2007

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender, said Tuesday that it will begin calling borrowers to offer refinancing or modifications on $16 billion in loans with interest rates set to adjust by the end of 2008. ...more

October 24, 2007

Florida's foreclosure activity jumped 77 percent in August, compared with July, boosting its foreclosure rate to the third highest among all states. It was even worse in Tampa Bay, where foreclosure filings more than doubled. Both are further signs that homeowners are having trouble paying their mortgages and selling their homes amid a national housing slump. ...more

September 19, 2007

TAMPA - Florida's foreclosure activity jumped 77 percent in August, compared with July, boosting its foreclosure rate to the third highest among all states. It was even worse in Tampa Bay, where foreclosure filings more than doubled. Both are further signs that homeowners are having trouble paying their mortgages and selling their homes amid a national housing slump. ...more

September 18, 2007

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, whose efforts to clamp down on mortgage-lending abuses were thwarted by the last Republican Congress, is about to try again. He should have better luck this time. ...more

September 18, 2007

Countrywide Financial Corp. said Thursday that it had boosted its borrowing capacity by $12 billion, as the mortgage lender struggles to weather the slowdown in the housing market. ...more

September 14, 2007

Hovnanian Enterprises, struggling like other home builders, is offering six-figure discounts on some of its properties this weekend as it attempts to draw interest in a slumping market. ...more

September 13, 2007

Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. abandoned its $5 billion bid to buy rival Radian Group on Wednesday, saying it was in each other's best interest to concentrate on surviving in the faltering mortgage industry. ...more

September 6, 2007