HUD Secretary Says Mortgage Programs Are Ineffective
Two government programs intended to help hundreds of thousands of borrowers avoid foreclosure are having negligible effects, a top Bush administration official acknowledged yesterday… Read More

Judiciary Committee Leaders Praise FDIC Mortgage Modification Plan
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) slammed Treasury Secretary Paulson for rejecting a $24 billion relief program proposed by FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair that would provide incentives for lenders to modify the interest rates for borrowers behind on mortgage payment… Read More

Mortgage Firms Cut Principal
As home prices slide and loan defaults pile up, some mortgage companies are slashing the amount that borrowers owe, deciding that a permanent cut in the loan balance may pay off if that helps teetering borrowers avoid foreclosure… Read More

Companies Push Congress for Pension Changes
Stung by outsize investment losses, some of the nation's biggest companies are pushing Congress to roll back rules requiring them to put more money into their pension funds, just two years after a law was passed looking to strengthen the pension system… Read More

Senate Probe to Look at Bond-Rating Firms
The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is opening a probe into causes of the global financial crisis, focusing in part on whether bond-ratings firms, driven by conflicts of interest, boosted mortgage investments that have since collapsed… Read More