Bank of America is expecting to eat $20 billion in losses stemming from the bank's dealings in the subprime mortgage crisis several years ago. Investment firms, who bought portions of debt based on a raft of dubious mortgages thanks in part to BOA's acquisition of shady lender Countrywide, had demanded reparations after the bubble burst. Last fall, CEO Brian Moynihan challenged the investors' attitude of, "I bought a Chevy Vega but I want it to be a Mercedes," and told shareholders that he was going to "protect" them and engage the investors in "hand-to-hand combat." Sure, BOA might have lost $20 billion, but you shoulda seen BlackRock Financial's shiner! more ›

NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy released a report (PDF) analyzing federal lending data, noting that mortgages in the city dropped 14% between 2006 and 2007 while they dropped 25% nationally. And statistics along racial lines are interesting, too: There were 44% less loans to black NYC residents and 34% less loans to Hispanics, while it was mostly unchanged for whites and Asian borrowers grew by 6%. The center's co-director Ingrid Gould Ellen said the data was troubling, since it "may indicate a reversal of the gains in homeownership that black and Hispanic communities have seen over the past few years.” The NY Times points out, "In 1996, only about one in four of all New York City home purchase loans were issued to black and Hispanic borrowers; by 2006, those loans accounted for nearly 40 percent, largely due to a disproportionate reliance on risky borrowing." more ›

A real estate developer with close religious and social ties to the Lubavitcher Hasidim community managed to swindle 40 families out of their homes in what the Daily News describes as one of the biggest scams of the recent housing crisis. more ›

The number of residential construction permits issued by the Dept. of Buildings in the first quarter of 2008 declined by 46% from the same period in 2007, indicating that the construction boom that has gripped the city over the last several years may be coming to an end. The decline was citywide, with fewer permits issued in all five boroughs, although the sharpest decrease occurred in the Bronx. more ›

According to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the 11233 zip code that encompasses Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights had the highest foreclosure rates for subprime mortgages in the entire nation in October. More than one in four people, or 25.2%, with subprime loans in the zip code lost their homes to foreclosure. That's almost four times the national average of 6.9%. more ›