Mortgages

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.

WASHINGTON — The House Financial Services Committee voted 45 to 19 late Tuesday to approve mortgage reform legislation that largely mirrored a bipartisan deal unveiled this week by Rep. Barney Frank, the panel's chairman, and Rep. Spencer Bachus, its lead Republican.

WASHINGTON — In reaction to the ongoing crisis in the mortgage markets, the Office of Thrift Supervision has launched a campaign to become the chief federal regulator for nonbank mortgage companies.

WASHINGTON — On Capitol Hill the name of the game on mortgage reform legislation is "Let's Make a Deal," and for now that game seems to be tipping in the financial services industry's favor.

WASHINGTON — It has become a standard defense for industry representatives to claim a bill or regulation they oppose would result in the loss of credit to certain types of people.

WASHINGTON — Philosophical divides among regulators on how to root out issues that led to subprime mortgage problems came to a head at a House Financial Services Committee hearing Wednesday as agency principals split on support for reform legislation.