Congress and Treasury to tackle mortgage crisis
- By:
- MortgageLoan.com | March 30, 2008
Congress are racing to push through an array of election-year housing measures designed to help homeowners caught in the mortgage meltdown.
In a move proposed by the Democrats, the plan is aimed at helping strapped borrowers, whilst stabilizing a market plagued by uncertainty about the value of subprime mortgages made to people with questionably credit or low incomes.
The White House is evaluating the Democratic proposals, but Bush administrators say the administration does not want to reward risky behavior by borrowers, speculators and lenders.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is due to reveal sweeping new plans designed to help arrest the slide of the U.S mortgage crisis into a full-blown economic threat.
The regulatory blueprint proposes vesting news powers as a 'market stability regulator' in the Federal Reserve - effectively formalizing a role it already has been performing by providing liquidity to investment banks and lowering official interest rates.
Treasury is also considering merging the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. markets watchdog, with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that is charged with overseeing the activities of the nation's future market.
The plans would also give the U.S. central bank authority to demand that all financial system participants supply it with full information on their activities and present the Fed a right to collaborate with other regulators in setting rules for their behavior.
Paulson is set to reveal the Treasury's plan on Monday.
Hope Now Gaining in Foreclosure Prevention as Loan Modifications Increase
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | December 03, 2008
The Hope Now initiative, a private mortgage lender and servicer alliance, is increasing its effectiveness in preventing foreclosures. In October, Hope Now set a new record in foreclosure prevention modifying 225,000 mortgages. That total exceeds September's loan modifications by 13,000.
Law Firms and Banks Collaborating to Streamline Loan Modifications
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | December 02, 2008
Increasingly loan modifications are becoming the preferred mechanism to help defaulting homeowners and troubled bank mortgage asset portfolios. All of the major banks, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Citigroup have announced streamlined loan modification programs.
US Retailers Hope for a Big Cyber Monday
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | December 01, 2008
Retailers got a welcome Holiday gift on Black Friday, with retail sales actually rising 2 percent over last year. Despite the doom and gloom of economic prognosticators consumers lined the sidewalks in the wee-hours of the morning for "door-buster" deals.
Retailers Caught Flat-footed by Rapid Economic Slowdown
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | November 28, 2008
It's Black Friday, will they come? Black Friday a term linked to the fact that traditionally all retailers "make their year" by blasting into profitable territory for the entire year on the strength of holiday sales. This year may be a stark contrast.
President-elect Obama Subtlety Taking the Reigns of US Economic Policy
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | November 27, 2008
In his regular press conferences behind the very Presidential-looking "Office of the President-Elect" podium Obama quietly is absorbing the Presidency. Despite being 11 weeks away from inauguration and still two weeks away from officially being declared President-elect by the convening of the Electoral College, he is undeniably taking the reigns of US economic policy.
Federal Reserve Starts Printing Money to Jumpstart Lending
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | November 26, 2008
The Federal Reserve and US Treasury have announced another bailout, this one theoretically for consumers and small businesses. This plan involves another $800 billion.
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