April 2008

 Among the many golden nuggets he gave reporters this morning: Frank said he expects the Bush administration to threaten to veto two foreclosure assistance bills the House Financial Services Committee, which Frank chairs, is expected to send to the floor. [...]

Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee on April 9 Montgomery said, “We must not federalize the housing market. And we must not harm our economy through solutions that, however well-intentioned, further erode the foundation of the nation’s housing market, hurt [...]

Federal Reserve Board Governor Randall Kroszner said on Monday, ” With the continuing high rates of foreclosure and the high costs associated with foreclosures, it is in the interest of lenders, investors, and borrowers to develop prudent loan modification programs [...]

ST. PAUL – In response to Governor Tim Pawlenty’s threats to veto the Minnesota Subprime Foreclosure Deferment Act, families facing foreclosure brought the crisis to the governor’s mansion on Summit Ave in Saint Paul. On Saturday, members of the housing-focused [...]

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in an interview with reporters and editors of The Associated Press that loan servicing companies – which collect mortgage payments and distribute them to investors – should help [...]

Sen. John McCain addressed small business owners in Brooklyn, N.Y. this Thursday that the government should play a bigger role in easing the mortgage crisis. McCain has called for federal aid to distressed homeowners Thursday, saying, “There is nothing more important [...]

Discussion of both plans, at a House Financial Services Committee hearing, highlighted the complex fault lines in the debate over how far the government should go to ease the mortgage crisis. It’s a tough question since there’s plenty of blame [...]

 Sheila Bair says government intervention is needed—soon As chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.—the agency charged with protecting accounts at the nation’s 8,500 banks—Sheila Bair is knee deep in the government’s efforts to resolve America’s most harrowing financial crisis [...]

After weeks of ignoring and downplaying my calls for action, the Bush Administration is finally acknowledging the need to help more struggling families restructure their mortgages and stay in their homes. But their proposal today simply underscores how out-of-touch they [...]

 March 26, 2008 HP-887Washington – Thank you for inviting me to address your Capital Markets Competitiveness Conference. We share a commitment to competitive markets, and Treasury will soon release a Blueprint for Regulatory Reform that proposes a financial regulatory framework [...]

Hillary Clinton’s new Campaign Manager, Maggie Williams Accused of Predatory Lending It finally looks like the media has finally placed a microscope on our presidential candidates and what better a place to look, then at their campaign staff. If these [...]

Secretary Jackson’s resignation ends a tenure at HUD marked by an indifference to Congressional oversight powers, cronyism, and corrupt contracting practices that have no place in our government. Yet while Secretary Jackson’s resignation is appropriate, it does nothing to address [...]

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Barack Obama today sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson urging them to immediately convene a homeownership preservation summit with key stakeholders to fight foreclosures driven by growth in the [...]

The Federal Reserve System is offering online maps that illustrate subprime and near-prime mortgage loan conditions across the United States, and show “existing and potential foreclosure hot-spots”. You can check out the new map service here http://www.newyorkfed.org/mortgagemaps/. However, it did [...]

March 31, 2008 hp-896 Washington- The U.S. Treasury Department today released its Blueprint for an improved financial regulatory structure, one that strengthens consumer protections, improves tools for market stability and enhances financial innovation. Treasury’s Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory [...]