Credit reporting agency Equifax recently unveiled a new rating system that identifies credit seekers who may have an adjustable rate mortgage. The ARM Predictor is meant to minimize risks for lenders, but some consumer advocates worry that the system will hurt borrowers and lead to higher rates on loans and credit cards.

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Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) — The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. dropped last week, led by the biggest decline in refinancing this year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to buy a home or refinance a loan decreased 4.3 percent to 652.5 from 681.7 the prior week. The group’s refinancing gauge slumped 15 percent, the most since December, while purchases rose.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Wells Fargo & Co. is absorbing $1.4 billion in losses on home equity loans that borrowers have stopped repaying amid a deepening real estate slump that’s turned into a financial sinkhole.
 
Until Wells Fargo disclosed its projected losses late Tuesday, the San Francisco-based bank had suffered relatively little damage in a mortgage meltdown that had already battered other major U.S. lenders.

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