Flipping Out

In September, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development made a move to end this “flipping,” by proposing new rules withholding federal mortgage guarantees from properties that have recently been resold.

This Sold House, Part 2 of 2

The city’s massive–and unexamined–tax lien sales program is swelling the ranks of homeowners desperate to pay off tax debt, creating perfect targets for predatory lenders.

STILL PREY

High-interest lenders were responsible for nearly half of all refinanced mortgages in the city last year, according to a new study by ACORN.

A TOUGH TRANSFER

Tenants of a troubled building in Harlem hope to get some relief soon as the city announces plans to transfer their home to a new owner later this month. The future could be held up in court, however, as the current owner vows to do whatever it takes to block the city’s plans.

RECIPIENTS NOT SEEN, HEARD

With a year left until the nation’s welfare law comes up for reauthorization, New York’s welfare commissioners argued for the right to limit spending on poverty-fighting programs at the first round of the feds’ listening tour last week.