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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: lending practices

lending practices stories: 20 news summaries
PAUL KRUGMAN

 In Switch, 
 'Real Economy' 
 Hits Big Banks 

Slumping profits are 'payback' from Main Street whipped by bad practices

Oct 19, 09 9:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - Those concerned about the nation’s banks should forget about the “softly, softly policy” of the Obama administration that has allowed Goldman Sachs to go back to business as usual in spectacular fashion. The real problem, Paul Krugman writes, is banks like Citi and Bank of America that are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bank of America • Goldman Sachs • recession • Citibank • credit crisis • Paul Krugman • lending practices • Larry Summers • Obama administration • financial crisis • economic downturn

analysis

 Bernanke's Next Challenge:
 Undoing His Own Work 

Rate cuts, other moves must eventually be reversed

Aug 26, 09 9:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - In his first term as Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke played the role of savior, lending hundreds of billions to banks and businesses, backing the mortgage market, and cutting interest rates. In his second, Bernanke will have to turn “strict disciplinarian,” reversing earlier moves to respond to a massive... More »

MORE ABOUT:
inflation • Ben Bernanke • White House • Federal Reserve • lending practices • Obama administration • financial crisis • President Obama • interest rates

 Risk Aversion Keeps 
 Loans Shrinking 

Trend suggests economy has a long way to go

Jul 27, 09 10:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Lending is still on the downswing, the Wall Street Journal finds, as an analysis of 15 banks' total loans on offer in the second quarter shows another 2.8% decline. What's worse, more than half of April and May’s loan volume was tied to refinanced mortgages and renewed credit... More »

MORE ABOUT:
loans • recession • bank • lending practices • economy • financial crisis • TARP

(Newser) - The House today approved legislation to protect credit card holders from hidden fees and sudden rate hikes, Reuters reports. Legislators voted overwhelmingly for the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, a measure banks complain will tighten the amount of credit available and make holding a card more expensive. The Senate is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • House of Representatives • legislation • credit card • lending practices • consumer debt • Obama administration • President Obama • Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights

Obama Pledges
Credit Card Reform

Obama backs House bill limiting 'deceptive' practices

Apr 23, 09 2:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama told senior executives of credit-card firms today that he supports congressional efforts to rein in some of their business practices, the Washington Post reports. Both the House and Senate are working on bills to codify new regulations by the Fed that restrict lenders’ ability to arbitrarily raise interest... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • credit card • credit • credit crisis • lending practices • Obama administration • President Obama

Schumer Wants Faster Action on Credit Cards

Rules on deceptive practices don't take effect until 2010

Apr 23, 09 1:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sen. Chuck Schumer is putting pressure on the Fed and the Office of Thrift Supervision to enact restrictions on the business practices of credit card firms more quickly, the New York Daily News reports. The agencies have drafted new rules banning deceptive practices like hidden fees and retroactive rate hikes,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • Charles Schumer • Federal Reserve • Chris Dodd • credit card • lending practices • Office of Thrift Supervision • predatory lending • credit card accounts

ANALYSIS

Bank Lending Still Down 23%
4 Months
After Bailout

Journal says Treasury's tally hides damage

Apr 20, 09 8:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Banks that received taxpayer aid to restart lending are loaning less than they did before the bailout, a Wall Street Journal analysis finds. The most recent figures available, from February, show a 23% drop in new loans from the lending level in October, when the Treasury Department kicked off TARP,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
loans • bank • Treasury Department • credit crisis • statistics • lending practices • bailout • financial crisis • TARP

 Cash-Poor Collectors 
 Turn to Haute Pawnshops 

'Private art banks' exchange paintings for cash

Feb 24, 09 8:12 AM CST
(Newser) - With loans hard to come by, some rich Americans are turning to their art collections for quick cash. Rather than sell in a depressed market, collectors turn to a lightly regulated corner of the marketplace that provides capital in exchange for temporary ownership of artwork. While they may look like... More »

MORE ABOUT:
art market • art • Annie Leibovitz • loan • lending practices • financial crisis • pawn shop

ANALYSIS

Banks Relish Public Funds, Won't Loan to Public


Jan 18, 09 7:35 AM CST
(Newser) - Banks are enjoying a public bailout of billions of dollars, but they're not using the funds the way the way they were intended—to loan money to kickstart the economy, reports the New York Times. Banks are using the bucks to pay off debts and, in some cases, acquire companies.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Henry Paulson • loans • lending practices • Federal government • bailout • economy • banks • emergency lending

analysis

Credit Relief Flows Slowly—When It Flows at All

Consumer aid package won't budge pickier banks

Nov 27, 08 10:14 AM CST
(Newser) - With hundreds of billions of dollars pumping into the calcified credit markets, many struggling Americans are expecting to see some relief, but many will be disappointed, the New York Times reports. Banks continue to stiffen loan eligibility requirements even as strapped consumers face deteriorating credit scores, and whole categories of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
consumer • Federal Reserve • home loans • mortgage backed securities • lending practices • bailout • banks • financial crisis

US Pushes Banks for More Lending, Less Spending

Officials drafting guidelines to encourage banks to loan their bailout cash

Nov 11, 08 12:07 PM CST
(Newser) - Officials from several US banking regulators are finalizing guidelines for financial firms that will encourage them to lend more and curb executive pay, the Washington Post reports. The Treasury is taking $250 billion in equity stakes in various financial firms, but critics complain the firms are passing the taxpayer money... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Treasury Department • lending practices • bailout • credit market chaos • banks • financial crisis

Lenders Yank Credit Cards
as Economy Sours

Plastic crisis comes hot on the heels of mortgage crisis

Oct 29, 08 4:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - The flattening economy is putting the squeeze on credit card lending just when consumers can least afford it, the New York Times reports. Lenders are putting the brakes on new credit card offers and reining in lines of spending for existing holders, even those with good credit records. The flood... More »

MORE ABOUT:
American Express • credit card • Visa • MasterCard • lending practices • consumer credit • financial crisis

OPINION

Wait on Rate Hikes Until
Crisis Eases

Fed should ignore critics, hold its ground until markets rebound

Sep 3, 08 5:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Critics claim the Federal Reserve has been too eager to cut interest rates, and that lax policy has exacerbated inflation. But the Fed should hold its ground, Desmond Lachman argues in the American, until the housing and credit markets are clearly on the rebound. The credit crunch has prompted banks... More »

MORE ABOUT:
inflation • housing market • Federal Reserve • foreclosure • US economy • interest rate • credit crisis • lending practices • interest rate cut • monetary policy

Bank Ads Helped Spin
2nd Mortgages

Home equity loans, once desperate moves, now total $1 trillion

Aug 15, 08 11:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Until recently, borrowing against one's home was considered a desperate measure, but now it's commonplace. Since the 1980s, outstanding home-equity loans—once called second mortgages—have exploded a thousandfold to more than $1 trillion. The New York Times looks at how banks waged a concerted advertising campaign to transform Americans'... More »

MORE ABOUT:
advertising • debt • home equity • mortgage debt • lending practices • home equity loans

 More Lenders
 Dropping
 Student Loans

Some 900,000 students scrambling for alternate ways to pay tuition this fall

Aug 11, 08 8:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Continuing turmoil in credit markets has prompted more private lenders to cut back or eliminate education loans, leaving thousands of student borrowers without the cash they need for college, reports the Wall Street Journal. Last week Wachovia joined more than 2 dozen banks that have cut funds available to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
student loans • Wachovia • credit crisis • lending practices • college loans

 Feds Seize Failed
 IndyMac Bank 

Senator's comments led to takeover, regulator says

Jul 11, 08 7:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - As mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae crowded the headlines today, Washington snatched up IndyMac Bank in the second-largest US bank failure in history, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Pasadena, Calif. savings and loan, which owns about $32 billion in assets, saw stocks fall from $45 last year... More »

MORE ABOUT:
takeover • IndyMac • FDIC • lending practices • subprime crisis • bank regulation • financial crisis

New Wave of Foreclosures Expected in '09

ARM holders will see payments soar as their mortgages reset

Jun 7, 08 10:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - America’s subprime victims may have grudgingly accepted their fate, but there’s a new class of borrowers primed to suffer, BusinessWeek reports. Homeowners who took out ARMs, or adjustable rate mortgages, will soon face skyrocketing payments as their loans reset. About a million people have the mortgages, but... More »

MORE ABOUT:
housing market • foreclosure • home sales • debt • US economy • homeownership • lending practices • subprime crisis • adjustable-rate mortgages

Mortgage Biz Battles Fed Reforms

Rules would limit credit for worthy borrowers, bankers say

Apr 28, 08 7:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - As the Federal Reserve moves toward stricter lending rules, mortgage providers are firing back, calling the rules too broad and arguing that they could limit loans to borrowers who don't have credit problems, the New York Times reports. Regulation, bankers say, could raise the price of mortgages by increasing paperwork... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Federal Reserve • mortgage • lending practices • mortgage lender • subprime crisis • bankers

Mortgage Crisis: Judges to the Rescue?

Democrats back plan
to let jurists change
loan terms

Feb 26, 08 1:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Over the loud objections of lenders, Senate Democrats are lining up behind a plan to give bankruptcy judges the power to alter mortgages, the LA Times reports. The proposals could go to the floor as early as today. “This bill will have more impact… than any other option currently... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Senate • Harry Reid • bankruptcy • Arlen Specter • Dick Durbin • mortgage rate freeze • lending practices • housing crisis • subprime crisis

Americans Split on Borrower Bailout

Lenders get no sympathy: 72%
in poll oppose help

Dec 11, 07 12:54 PM CST
(Newser) - About half of Americans say borrowers snared in the subprime mortgage mess brought the trouble onto themselves, but they nevertheless deserve "special treatment," CNNMoney reports. In a poll of 1,002 adults, 51% also said they felt sorry for borrowers, with 46% blaming financial institutions' lending policies for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • subprime mortgages • foreclosure • financial institutions • borrowers • lending practices

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