Suit: Fountainhead charging 'sham' fees - 2003-09-29
A group of lawyers who won class-action settlements of more than $1 million against mortgage and title companies this summer is currently going after the state's biggest title company, Fountainhead Title Group.

Plaintiffs Beverly E. Phipps and Brenna and John L. Wolfe, all of Bowie, filed suit against Fountainhead -- Maryland's largest title company -- as well as Premier Financial Co. and PFC Title LLC in Baltimore's U.S. District Court Sept. 15.
Read the full story at Baltimore Business Journal

Area banks' ROA dips below national average in second quarter - 2003-09-29
Kansas City-area banks' earnings trailed the national average in the second quarter, when 58 percent of commercial banks based in the metropolitan area declared lower returns on assets than during the same time last year.

Mortgage rates have ticked up in the third quarter. This increase has cooled residential mortgage refinancing.
Read the full story at Business Journal of Kansas City