The Miami Herald - "Banks asked to aid rescue of homeowners" (5-28-07)

"Fearing that a spike in foreclosures will lower property values, Miramar is exploring ways for the city to help homeowners in distress. City officials have asked local banks to hold seminars for residents about mortgage practices and to bankroll an emergency fund for homeowners."

North County Times - "Mortgage fraud on rise in California" (5-28-07)

"Mortgage fraud is on the rise in California, according to recent reports, and analysts say the cooling housing market is helping to reveal more suspicious mortgage transactions. According to the U.S. Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, in 2006, California had more than one-third of the nation's suspicious loan activity at federally insured lenders. And the state's share of the suspected fraudulent activity is growing, according to the agency."

New York Post - "HOUSING MARKET COLLAPSE ATTRACTS BARGAIN HUNTERS" (5-28-07)

"To paraphrase Clint Eastwood's gunslinger character who steps over corpses of bad guys and then spits - 'Even vultures gotta eat.' In the case of the collapsing housing market, vultures are circling for an economic feast, but they aren't necessarily the bad guys."

Bloomberg - "Credit Suisse Sued Over Losses on Subprime-Loan Bonds" (5-28-07)

"Credit Suisse Group was sued by a Florida insurer that says it lost money on investment-grade bonds backed by subprime mortgages sold by the bank. The suit, filed in Florida by Bankers Life Insurance Co., is ``one of three to five in the pipeline'' involving securitizations by Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest bank, said Dale Ledbetter of Ledbetter & Associates P.A., one of two law firms representing the Bankers Financial Corp. unit."

CoStar Group - "Link Between Falling U.S. Home Prices & Rising Subprime Defaults" (5-28-07)

"In recent years, double-digit home price inflation (HPI) has helped keep subprime defaults to very low levels, according to Fitch Ratings in a new report. Conversely, now, home price deflation is driving higher defaults of recently originated subprime mortgages. Fitch analyzed the default rates, defined as the sum of 90 day+ delinquency, foreclosure, REO and bankruptcy rates, of loans originated in 2002 through 2006 and the cumulative housing price inflation rate following origination."

Real Estate Journal - "Developers, Cities Duel Over Gated Green Space" (5-28-07)

"Residents of Asheville, N.C., have 54 public parks to choose from. But for years, many jogged and picnicked on the sprawling grounds of the 83-acre Thoms Estate, with the permission of the owner. So when a developer's plan to build a gated community on the property became public, opposition was fierce. "There hasn't been the sense that 'This is my land; stay off,' " says Susan Sihler, a clinical social worker who lives nearby and attended a raucous hearing on the matter last February."