Washington seeks sweeping stabs at loan mess

WASHINGTON - Support is growing on several fronts in Washington for mortgage-industry reforms and homeowner-assistance programs with broader potential impact than the Bush administration's plan to freeze interest rates on a small percentage of home loans.

So far, the government has pursued modest responses to this year's surge in mortgage defaults and home foreclosures. But mounting foreclosures, fears of a recession and an upcoming election are prompting a range of more aggressive proposals from Congress, the Federal Reserve and consumer groups.

The Bush administration favors restraint, with President Bush saying Monday that the "the government should never bail out lenders." Still, the president noted that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is working with Rep. Barney Frank, D.-Mass., on a plan to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to finance larger loans, in conjunction with tighter regulation of the government sponsored companies.

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source: msn.com

Housing slump might usher in recession

The head of one of the nation’s largest homebuilders made headlines early this year by bucking his industry peers’ projections of a housing turnaround by spring and instead predicting the market would “suck, all 12 months of the calendar year.”

Boy did he get it right. The housing market has gone from a “correction” to a “slump,” and as 2007 comes to a close, there are signs 2008 will get worse.

Experts are predicting an uglier year as inventories of unsold homes grow and a large number of adjustable-rate mortgages reset, sending more homeowners scrambling to make higher payments and pressuring the already shaky credit markets. What worries industry watchers the most, however, is the possibility that the housing troubles will plunge the economy into a recession.

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source: msn.com

Fed endorses rules to curb shady lending

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve endorsed new rules Tuesday that would give people taking out home mortgages new protections against shady lending practices.

The proposed rules, approved in a 5-0 vote by the board, are geared to providing safeguards to the riskiest “subprime” borrowers, already painfully stung by the housing and credit debacles.

The proposal is expected to apply to new loans made by all types of lenders, including banks and brokers. The plan could be finalized next year.

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source: msn.com

Illegal immigrants smuggled into new homes

SURPRISE, Arizona - Unable to sell his house in suburban Phoenix's anemic real estate market, Jason Winterholler rented to a couple who paid the deposit in cash and didn't haggle over price.

It was a deal he came to regret.

The renters were fronts for immigrant smugglers who used the house as a hiding place for illegal immigrants and trashed the home. In October, a police SWAT team drove an armored personnel carrier onto the lawn and raided the house, rounding up nearly two dozen people.

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source: msnbc.msn.com

Pace of home construction at 16-year low

WASHINGTON - Housing construction fell in November with single-family activity dropping to the lowest level in more than 16 years. Analysts said the recession in housing showed no signs of a turnaround.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction of new homes and apartments dropped by 3.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.187 million units.

Construction of single-family homes fell by 5.5 percent to an annual rate of 829,000 units. It was the eighth consecutive drop in single-family starts, pushing activity in this area to the lowest level since April 1991. Apartment building rose last month by 4.4 percent to an annual rate of 332,000 units.

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source: msn.com