It is expected to be announced today that a former LendingTree employee was caught in a elaborate lead selling scheme. This has not yet been verified by LendingTree, but was brought to my attention by a number strong and reliable sources. An ex-lendingtree employee, possibly partnered with a current LendingTree employee, accessed LendingTree’s database of live consumer data and sold the data to a mortgage company/s.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO EXPAND MORTGAGE HELP FOR STRUGGLING FAMILIES
Expanded FHASecure able to help half a million homeowners stay in their homes by cutting mortgage payments

WASHINGTON – The Bush Administration today announced additional mortgage assistance for subprime borrowers who are at risk of foreclosure. The plan, which is designed to help address the adverse economic conditions affecting many communities across America, will help break the cycle of house price depreciation that is being caused by an increasing number of foreclosures and the overall contraction in the credit market. Under the new plan, HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) would have the added flexibility to insure more mortgages, including those for borrowers who were late on a few payments and/or received a voluntary mortgage principal write-down from their lender.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mortgage application volume rose 7.5% during the week ended Jan. 25, according to the trade group Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey.

The MBA's application index rose to 1,054.9 from 981.5 the previous week.

LOS ANGELES -- Countrywide Financial Corp. CEO Angelo Mozilo, under fire over the size of his potential payout from the proposed sale of his troubled mortgage company, says he is forfeiting some $37.5 million in severance pay, fees and perks he was scheduled to receive upon his retirement.

By Patrick Rucker

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Mortgage loan analysis company Clayton Holdings Inc will help New York's attorney general with his investigation into possible fraud in the U.S. mortgage market, a spokesman for the attorney general said on Sunday.

CNBC

On days like this, I think it’s important to go back to the ol’ mortgage primer and figure out exactly what all this news means to you, to your mortgage, to your home equity line and to your home’s financial future. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the 30-year fixed is not tied to short-term treasuries.

Fixed mortgage rates are tied to long-term bond yields that move based on the outlook for the economy and inflation. And guess what? The long-term outlook for the economy isn’t exactly rosy right now.

First NLC Financial Services LLC, the mortgage origination subsidiary of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Boca Raton, Fla.-based First NLC, a subprime residential mortgage lender, filed for Chapter 11 to pave the way for an orderly liquidation of its assets.