Paulson Calls for More Housing Relief

Plan to give borrowers a break called 'morally repugnant'

(NEWSER) - Not everyone is applauding Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's plan to freeze adjustable mortgage rates on distressed home loans to help contain the spreading subprime crisis. Some analysts think the plan will only postpone foreclosures, rather than preventing them. And now that loans are bundled and sold to investors, some of those investors resent what they see as government interference with their property, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

(NEWSER) - The ongoing housing implosion poses “a significant risk” to the economy, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in a speech at Georgetown University today, in a sobering about-face from earlier attempts to downplay the crisis. “The ongoing housing correction is not ending as quickly as it appeared,” he said. “It will continue to adversely impact our economy, our capital markets, and many homeowners for some time.” More»

Plan would help homeowners facing rate increases

(NEWSER) - President Bush will detail tomorrow the Treasury Department's plan to hold interest rates steady for subprime borrowers at risk of defaulting on their mortgages when rates rise, Reuters reports. The plan, negotiated with mortgages lenders and investors, would freeze for five years adjustable loans due to jump to higher rates between Jan. 1, 2008, and summer 2010. More»

Treasury and lenders close to deal

(NEWSER) - The Treasury Department and a coalition of lenders are close to a deal to freeze interest rates on some subprime loans in a bid to bring the mushrooming mortgage crisis under control, reports the Wall Street Journal. A freeze would ease the burden on beleaguered borrowers and banks. Rates on some 2 million adjustable rate mortgages are scheduled to jump in the next two years. More»

About 80,000 subprime borrowers will get lower rates from the $16B plan

(NEWSER) - Countrywide, the nation's largest mortgage lender, will refinance $16 billion worth of subprime home loans. The move will allow 80,000 customers with adjustable-rate mortgages to get lower rates, making it more likely that they'll keep their homes. Countrywide will make less money from the new arrangement, but fewer mortgages will fail outright, Bloomberg reports. More»