Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "Wachovia Corp. ousted Kennedy Thompson as CEO of the fourth-largest U.S. bank after the board blamed him for losses that cost the lender more than half its market value in the past year. Thompson's credibility was dented after he said this year that Wachovia's $24 billion purchase of Golden West Financial Corp. in 2006 at the peak of the housing boom was 'ill-timed.'"

"About half of the unit's lending is in California and Florida, two states with some of the highest foreclosure rates."

The Columbus Dispatch. "For thousands of credit-crunched homeowners, New Century Financial appeared to be their savior. The California-based mortgage company catered to the riskiest borrowers, even those with credit scores as low as 500."

"The drive to sign mortgages was so fierce that New Century dubbed its loan department 'CloseMore University.'"

"The New Century call appeared to come at the right time in 2006 for Chuck and Sheri Simpson, a Hilliard couple with slipping credit scores and mounting debt. The New Century mortgage brokers counseled the couple that refinancing the home they had owned since 1998 would ease their financial burdens."

"Mr. Simpson, a carpet salesman whose clients include homebuilders, asked, 'Is this the right thing to do?' His paycheck was starting to shrink as the building boom faded. The brokers assured him that the mortgage was a blessing."

"'When someone comes into your house, sits at your kitchen table, has a glass of iced tea with you and calls you buddy, you trust them,' Mr. Simpson said."

"Relief came in the form of an adjustable-rate mortgage that started at 9.5 percent and added about $300 to their monthly payment. Mr. Simpson sensed that the New Century brokers made a handsome commission on his deal."

"'I bet you're off to the Bahamas now,' he said to them after signing his loan. The brokers chuckled."

The Journal Sentinel. "Stephanie Williams saw the free flow of mortgage money as her ticket to some easy cash. It didn't take long for Williams, then 23, to secure large, high-interest mortgages, usually with no money down. In all, she received $465,000 to buy six houses in Milwaukee."

"A bank teller at the time, Williams entered the world of subprime mortgages with the help of Randez Long, a customer at the Chase Bank branch where she worked."

"She said she didn't realize at the time that she was buying two of the houses from Long himself. All told, Williams, now 25, received six subprime mortgages from five lenders. The most expensive loan had an adjustable rate with a cap of 18% interest."

"She put no money down in four deals, and twice received loans that exceeded the sale price by more than $20,000, according to records in the county Register of Deeds offices. Williams said she never saw that extra cash because it was supposed to be used to fix the properties."

"In November 2006, Williams was hit with her first foreclosure suit. By the following March, lenders had filed suit against her for all five of her rental properties. She eventually lost all but one of those houses."

"Under pressure from the city to deal with numerous violations, Williams said she had to convince tenants at a couple of properties that she, not Long, was the owner and that rent money should be paid only to her."

"Today, Williams lives in North Pole, Alaska, with her husband, who is stationed at a nearby Army base. Her credit rating, which she said had been a respectable 650, is now below 500, making it difficult to get even high-interest loans. Each month, she sends the City of Milwaukee $100 to $250 to pay down the $13,000 in penalties she owes for building code violations."

"Her recent bid to land a bank teller's job in Alaska was shot down because of her poor credit rating, Williams said."

"'They said if I can't handle my own finances,' she said, 'I can't handle other people's money.'"

The Evening Standard. "The owner of a central London flat has knocked almost £1 million off the asking price in an attempt to sell. The Hyde Park mansion flat went up for sale for almost £3 million late last year when the market was still buoyant. Now, almost eight months later, the flat has failed to sell and is offered for just under £2 million."

"A poll by the Evening Standard found that owners across the capital are being forced to reduce prices by hundreds of thousands of pounds to tempt buyers."

"Estate agent Lloyd Coleman said: 'I have been in the business for 13 years and have never seen it so tough.' He believes part of the problem is agents encouraging sellers to overprice their homes to win their custom."

"Helen Koulle has been trying to sell her four bedroom period house for almost six months. She has now reduced its price by £65,000 and it is now on the market for £515,000. She said: 'I didn't want to reduce it but the agent said it was the best way to sell and we have had more viewings since.'"

"One buyer did make an offer on the house - but backed out after failing to get a mortgage. Mrs Koulle, a housewife from Finchley, said: 'It is quite worrying. We want to downsize, but it is all very difficult.'"

The Courier. "With the winter finally over and the sun breaking through between storms, Wednesday afternoon was a prime day for construction in Cedar Falls."

"But in three southern Cedar Falls neighborhoods, where some homes sat partially completed, there was not a construction worker in sight. The wind whistled through the skeleton-like frame of one house in Huntington Ridge, trusses lying in the dirt that would be the home's front yard."

"That home was just one victim of the collapse of Iowa's largest home builder, Des Moines-based Regency Homes. There are dozens of others in Cedar Falls that Regency had already sold or was building on speculation when subcontractors packed their bags and left last month."

"The Des Moines Register reported earlier this month that Wells Fargo, the nation's fifth-largest bank, demanded Regency officials pay off more than $50.5 million in corporate debt and $5.25 million in personal lines of credit."

"Other lenders followed suit, and soon Regency did not have enough revenue from home sales to cover the demands of its lenders. This led to the layoffs, which led to the liens."

"Caught in the middle are homeowners who paid Regency for their houses but now have to wait until the mess is sorted out before their homes can be completed."

"'I would expect there is a very good chance that a number of homeowners are going to have to take money out of their pockets to get occupancy permits,' said attorney Gary Jones in Cedar Falls. 'It's a very difficult situation for homeowners.'"

"'I know there are people out there who need sod and sidewalks,' said Jake Huff, a real estate agent for Weichert Realtors who handled many sales in the Huntington Ridge neighborhood. 'But I'm a little clueless as far as what the city's going to do.'"

"Huff's confusion is not unique. Greenhill Village townhome owner Cindy Lang is missing the sod and grading she paid for when she bought her home."

"Huff says a company could finish the speculative homes and pay the subcontractor's liens from the profit of the home sale, but he was not sure what fate would befall those homeowners who have already paid for work that may never be completed. They may have to pay out of pocket for the work and get in line with the countless subcontractors who have liens against Regency."

"'I would guess they will be pretty far down the line,' Jones said of those owners. 'I don't know Regency's total financial situation, but typically in corporate bankruptcy, more secured than unsecured creditors [end up getting paid].'"

The Palm Beach Post. "You have to wonder if a partnership led by a New York-based hedge fund rues the day it ever heard of West Palm Beach."

"The Trinity Development partnership is engaged in three different battles on three different downtown properties. Their grand plans to build tall towers and fancy condos are now held hostage to legal or zoning battles, despite the millions of dollars the partnership has poured into the projects."

"Trinity's plans were for a luxury condo. The condo hasn't been developed yet, but that's not the problem. The problem is that Trinity now risks losing the property - and $139 million, including the lease purchase price, plus lost condo profits, according to a lawsuit filed against a Burt Handelsman company."

"Burdened by the knowledge Handelsman had left "millions of dollars on the table" when he did the deal with Sisemen, Trinity claims Handelsman is trying to wrest the property away from Trinity by claiming 'bogus' and 'drummed up' reasons for eviction. Among them: A technical delay in obtaining a letter of credit, Trinity says."

"Trinity is prepping for a June 19 hearing on a motion to foreclose on a $1.4 million mortgage on the Opera Place land. Opera Place, meanwhile, has a lawsuit going against Trinity for bailing on a $44 million contract to buy the property and turn it into a mishmash of offices, condos and a hotel."

"Finally, there's Trinity's battle with the residents of West Palm Beach over a too-tall tower planned for the boarded-up, hurricane-damaged 1515 S. Flagler Drive condo. In 2007, Trinity paid $36.5 million for the property, hoping to turn it into a 391-foot-high skyscraper dubbed The Modern. But the plan was just rejected by the West Palm Beach City Commission."

"Is Trinity ready to give up? Not a chance, says Trinity lawyer Larry Alexander. Trinity has 'gone back to the drawing board' on the 1515, he said. And as for the other battles, well, Trinity is optimistic it can win those wars, too. 'If it was easy, anybody could do it,' Alexander said."

"It sure sounded easy back in 2006, when Stillwater was trolling for investors willing to finance the Opera Place and 1515 purchases. Here's the rosy pitch made in an offering circular: 'An investor who contributes $1 million to the deal would receive back more than $2 million in about 3'1/2 years.'"