Productivity rises as jobless claims fall Productivity rose at an annual rate of 9.5 percent in the July-September quarter, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was much better than the 6.4 percent gain economists had expected. Unit labor costs fell at a 5.2 percent rate. ...more

November 6, 2009

Many of the same sleazy operators who helped fuel the real estate bubble through dubious subprime lending practices are now taking advantage of homeowners through "foreclosure-rescue" scams. ...more

October 10, 2009

A broker for a Tampa mortgage company has agreed to plead guilty to federal conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for falsifying information on mortgage applications. Gilberto Jesus Lima, a licensed mortgage broker, worked for Mortgage Corporation of America when he was supposed to pair qualified borrowers with lenders, according to his plea agreement. For his work, he received a commission of 70 percent of fees, while his employer received 30 percent. ...more

August 12, 2009

The city has a 99.7 percent chance of seeing lower home prices through 2010 as more people lose jobs and decide not to buy homes, according to a report released Wednesday by Walnut Creek, Calif.-based PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. ...more

April 2, 2009

Tampa has a 99.7 percent chance of seeing lower home prices through 2010 as more people lose jobs and decide not to buy homes, according to a report released today by Walnut Creek, California-based PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. ...more

April 1, 2009

After two years at the top of the heap, Florida no longer holds the distinction as the nation's top fraud spot. Rhode Island made its first appearance to lead the list, which covers 2008. ...more

March 17, 2009

Will You Call Bank To Lower House Payments? The Obama administration kicked off a new program Wednesday that's designed to help up to 9 million borrowers stay in their homes through refinanced mortgages or loans that are modified to lower monthly payments. ...more

March 9, 2009

A stunning 48 percent of the nation's homeowners who have a subprime, adjustable-rate mortgage are behind on their payments or in foreclosure, and that's not the worst of it, new data Thursday showed. ...more

March 5, 2009

Please sit down while reading this. We have identified a promising sign in our local economy. Everyone's been looking for something positive and although it's small right now, it's something to make us feel good about, and we all desperately need that these days. ...more

February 27, 2009

Adkins: CPR Gives County A Fighting Chance We have two major issues in Hernando County that are hindering the road to economic recovery: home foreclosures and rising unemployment. We can all debate until we are blue in the face whose fault it is. Unscrupulous lenders, overdevelopment, Wall Street, borrowers in over their head, a culture of over reliance of credit. ...more

February 22, 2009