Mortgages

Key policymakers continued hammering out details Thursday of housing legislation that is likely to include broader authority for the Treasury Department to back the government-sponsored enterprises.

WASHINGTON — As key House and Senate staff tried to work out a deal on legislation to help the mortgage market Friday, Sen. Richard Shelby, the Banking Committee's top Republican whose support is key to passage, gave the first signs that he is willing to compromise.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department's move to backstop Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has dramatically accelerated legislative efforts to create a new regulator for the government-sponsored enterprises, observers said Monday.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board approved a final rule Monday designed to curb abusive mortgage practices while loosening some provisions to avoid cutting off credit for future borrowers.

WASHINGTON — After several weeks of failed attempts, the Senate passed legislation designed to stabilize the housing market late Friday.

WASHINGTON — Investors fell over themselves this week to sell shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while the front pages of the nation's largest newspapers raised the specter of a government takeover.

The Federal Housing Administration is sharpening its focus on mortgage borrowers without traditional credit scores, a group the agency says has suffered from a pullback in available credit.

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi downplayed concerns Thursday that her demand that the Senate increase the conforming loan limit in a housing package is weakening its chances for enactment.

Much attention has been paid recently to creating a new regulatory structure to help address the problems in the subprime mortgage market. However, regulation of the entire mortgage origination process itself — particularly third-party relationships, where most of the industry's recent troubles originated — deserves just as much attention or more.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd met with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank late Tuesday to persuade him to support the Senate housing package without changes, sources said.

WASHINGTON — Critics continued to argue Thursday that a bill designed to stabilize home prices should be shelved because Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd received a deal on loans from Countrywide Financial Corp. five years ago.

WASHINGTON — In his first interview since legislation tightening supervision of government-sponsored enterprises advanced in the Senate, Daniel Mudd, Fannie Mae's chief executive, ticked off his list of concerns.

WASHINGTON — While housing legislation moving through Congress focuses on helping borrowers avoid foreclosure, it also would reform a corner of the mortgage market: broker licensing.

WASHINGTON — Mortgage lending reform, the banking issue that dominated Congress' attention last year, has dropped off the radar, leaving its fate unclear.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are trying to figure out why the temporary increase in the conforming loan limit has done little to improve the mortgage market.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee easily approved a bill 19 to 2 on Tuesday that is designed to stabilize housing prices and reform oversight of the government-sponsored enterprises, giving the legislation momentum as it heads to the Senate floor.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and Sen. Richard Shelby, the panel's top Republican, have finalized their agreement on legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises and create a loan refinancing program designed to stem foreclosures, the lawmakers said Monday.

WASHINGTON — A conference hosted last week by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago served as a reminder that the philosophical disconnect between the industry and Congress has only widened in the aftermath of the market turmoil.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee voted 19 to 2 to approve a bill that would create a new regulator for the government-sponsored enterprises and expand the government’s role in combating the housing crisis.

WASHINGTON — For Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, the stakes at a vote Tuesday on his bill to stem the housing crisis could not be higher.