NY AG announces probe of life insurance industry (AP) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:45:28 GMT AP - State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that he had opened a fraud investigation into how life insurers pay out benefits after policyholders die.

MetLife posts Q2 earnings of $1.5 billion, beating Street (Reuters) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:43:10 GMT Reuters - MetLife Inc , the biggest U.S. life insurance company, posted a second-quarter profit of $1.53 billion, helped by higher premium revenue from sales domestically and abroad.

Florida mortgage firm settles federal charges (AP) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:30:00 GMT AP - Federal regulators say a Florida company they accused of misleading borrowers who were seeking to avoid foreclosure has agreed to repay the consumers $2.4 million to settle those charges.

PMI Group narrows loss, but shares tumble (AP) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:29:53 GMT AP - PMI Group Inc. on Thursday reported a nearly $151 million loss, narrower than a year ago but far wider than Wall Street expected. Shares of the mortgage insurer tumbled nearly 15 percent.

Congress to try to recoup Fannie, Freddie costs (AP) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:04:26 GMT AP - Lawmakers plan to study ways to get back some of the $145 billion the government has pumped into giant mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Summary Box: Mortgage rates hit low of 4.54 pct. (AP) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:25:55 GMT AP - RATES KEEP FALLING: Mortgage company Freddie Mac said the average rate for 30-year fixed loans this week was 4.54 percent, down from 4.56 last week.

Mortgage rates hit low of 4.54 percent (AP) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:09:31 GMT In this photograph taken July 26, 2010, new townhouses for sale are shown in Beaverton, Ore. Mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level on record for the fifth time in six weeks, making homebuying and refinancing the most attractive in decades for those who can get loans. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Citigroup settles charges over misleading investors (AFP) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:00:15 GMT US bank Citigroup agreed Thursday to pay a 75-million-dollar fine to settle charges it misled investors about exposure to subprime mortgage-related assets, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Spencer Platt)

(AP) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:01:08 GMT AP - Mortgage rates drop to 4.54 pct., hitting lowest level on record for fifth time in six weeks.

Mortgage lenders must register in database (AP) Personal Finance News - Yahoo! News - Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:52:52 GMT AP - Loan officers at banks will be required to provide their names and fingerprints to a national database as part of an effort to crack down on shady operators who fed the real estate bubble.