Mortgages

WASHINGTON — Coming off a monthlong break in which problems in the subprime mortgage market only worsened, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said Wednesday he would introduce legislation to revamp the mortgage industry.

WASHINGTON — When Congress returns from recess today, its top financial services priority for the fall agenda will be responding to the crisis in the mortgage markets.

WASHINGTON — Bankers and consumer groups are clashing in suggestions to the Federal Reserve Board about what it should include in a rule restricting mortgage practices.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Charles Schumer blamed Countrywide Financial Corp. for helping to driving up home foreclosure rates and said it should stop steering borrowers into risky mortgages.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board has defended its consumer-protection record — and made the case that it does not need to write rules defining unfair and deceptive practices — by saying regulators are addressing issues on a case-by-case basis through enforcement actions.

WASHINGTON — Though the snapshot of second-quarter earnings came well before the current credit crunch, ample signs of trouble to come were visible in a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. report released Wednesday, including sharp increases in noncurrent loans, loan-loss provisions, and chargeoffs.

Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, sent letters to lenders and regulators Wednesday encouraging them to do more to help struggling homeowners.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sparred Tuesday over who was in the best position to resolve problems in the credit markets, with each trying to give the responsibility to the other.

California legislators are to hold another hearing on the subprime mortgage implosion this week, and this time they will be looking to see what can be done to slow the pace of residential foreclosures.

WASHINGTON — After months of pressure from House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, the Federal Reserve Board has begun working on a proposal that would define unfair and deceptive lending practices, according to sources familiar with the situation.

A month after House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank told the Federal Reserve Board to use or lose its power to ban unfair and deceptive banking practices, the Massachusetts Democrat said he wants to hand that power to two other agencies.

WASHINGTON — Seeking to mollify critics in Congress, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday said the central bank would issue rules this year to curb abusive lending.

The Office of Thrift Supervision is planning to release an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in a few weeks that would define unfair and deceptive lending practices, the agency's deputy director, Scott Polakoff, said Wednesday.

Unless the Federal Reserve Board defines unfair and deceptive practices by the fall, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said Tuesday he would give that power to other regulators.

WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders have turned the Federal Reserve Board into their favorite punching bag on Capitol Hill, blaming the central bank for not doing enough to curb predatory lending, reform card practices, or finish the implementation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.

WASHINGTON — Key lawmakers said Tuesday that they are fed up with regulators' snail-like progress on writing regulations for credit reports, and that they are considering giving the Federal Trade Commission power over the banking agencies to get the job done.

WASHINGTON — An unexpected House panel vote on a nonbinding resolution condemning predatory lending in the subprime mortgage market has sparked a furor among banking lobbyists, who fear it is the first concrete step toward tighter restrictions.

WASHINGTON - A much-anticipated hearing on the Federal Reserve Board's authority to curb abusive lending felt almost like an academic debate, particularly when compared to the events that preceded it.

WASHINGTON — House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank warned the Federal Reserve Board that he is tired of waiting for it to define unfair and deceptive practices, and that he is likely to give other regulators the power to act in its stead.

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers and two regulators challenged the premise that improving disclosures would be enough to fix problems in the credit card industry, saying more action is necessary to protect consumers.