Mortgages

WASHINGTON — Efforts to tame the housing crisis by modifying troubled subprime loans have exposed a fracture between several of the nation's largest banks and the government-sponsored enterprises.

WASHINGTON — While the financial services industry scrambles to come up with data to prove subprime loans in danger of default are being modified to stave off foreclosures, state and federal lawmakers are considering whether to compel such reporting.

WASHINGTON — In a bid to better coordinate supervision of mortgage originators and brokers, several state regulators launched the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System this week.

WASHINGTON — With the subprime mortgage crisis showing no signs of easing, Sandra Braunstein has found herself in a difficult position — defending what many lawmakers see as poor protection of consumers by the Federal Reserve Board.

WASHINGTON — There are several financial services issues facing Congress when it returns this month, including credit cards, government-sponsored enterprise regulation, and industrial loan company ownership.

WASHINGTON — In the two weeks since the Bush administration unveiled its program to help subprime borrowers, alternative policy solutions have proliferated.

WASHINGTON — The typically cautious Federal Reserve Board appeared to follow a new playbook Tuesday by issuing an unusually expansive proposal designed to curb abuses in the mortgage market that contributed to the subprime housing crisis.

WASHINGTON — The scope and depth of the housing crisis is fueling fears among industry observers that federal banking regulators are overtaxed and underprepared to handle problems at financial institutions.

WASHINGTON — This may be the first time in banking history that the financial services industry is hoping a pending regulation from the Federal Reserve Board takes a hard line against potentially abusive lending practices.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers were scurrying Thursday to take action on measures to alleviate problems in the mortgage market before they adjourn next week, including attempting to pass bills to reform the Federal Housing Administration and grant tax relief to borrowers whose loans are reworked.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board’s plan to boost liquidity through international auctions was widely viewed Wednesday as a creative alternative to discount window borrowing.

WASHINGTON — Nearly a week after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pledged that servicers working to modify loans have committed to transparent and monthly reports on their efforts, key details on the reporting effort remain almost entirely up in the air.

WASHINGTON — Recent attempts, and apparent misses, by the Treasury Department to resolve pressing financial problems could be chalked up to the fact that there are no easy answers.

WASHINGTON — Even before President Bush formally unveiled his loan modification plan Thursday afternoon, the issue had become a political hot potato.

WASHINGTON — Facing solid opposition from federal banking regulators, House lawmakers appeared willing Thursday to retool legislation that would protect servicers from investor lawsuits if they engaged in widespread loan modifications.

WASHINGTON — If foreclosure rates continue to rise and the volume of loan modifications does not pick up dramatically, policymakers may be forced to devise another, more comprehensive solution than the rate-freeze plan the Bush administration is expected to unveil today.

As the debate evolves over whether the government should require a systematic approach to loan modifications, one element that so far has taken place mostly behind the scenes is advancing with a new sense of urgency.

WASHINGTON — As negotiations continue on possible ways to modify thousands of mortgages to head off foreclosures — and most sources agree a deal is likely — a wide gap remains between what the industry says is workable and what the Bush administration wants to deliver.

WASHINGTON — As House Financial Services Committee chairman, Barney Frank has collected his fair share of critics.

WASHINGTON — A last-minute effort by Democrats to toughen liability standards in a mortgage reform bill up for a vote in the House Thursday raised consternation in the lending industry but ultimately fell flat, along with other amendments designed to beef up consumer protections.