After her husband lost his tech job in 2008, Lisa Eidner of Mahwah asked the family's mortgage servicer to lower their monthly payments. The company agreed to a temporary cut, but sent the family on a frustrating, 15-month journey — and then turned them down for permanent help.

If you are lucky enough to get your lender to modify your mortgage, you shouldn't end up dogged by a miserable credit score. That's the essence of a bill introduced in Congress recently by U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.

Something happened recently that had never happened in the 23 years that Mark Durbin has been city manager of Kissimmee: The Urban League came knocking.

More than three years into the housing crisis that helped trigger a worldwide recession, the torrid pace of home foreclosures continues to tear at the core of the American dream.

When a stroke robbed Johnny Jensen of his eyesight in March, it took his sense of independence, too. Two weeks ago, a church group from Ridge, N.Y., gave it back to him.