May 15, 2008 2:47PM
Hoping for a Housing Bill
By Alexis Glick
Earlier today, the Senate Banking Committee met to address Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd’s Housing Bill. It’s a two pronged plan: the first part, a call for further oversight of FNM and FRE; the second part is a way to help individuals keep their homes by refinancing and prevent further foreclosures. Just yesterday the April foreclosure figures released by RealtyTrac showed foreclosure filings rose 65% in April from a year ago and up 4% from March.
This morning, I interviewed Sen. Christopher Dodd [D] who said that he and his counterpart Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama [R] were very close to making the deal happen. Apparently they were in a closed door meeting together until 2am negotiating the finer points.
Watch the video below for more about this bill. Senator Dodd also had some things to say about John Edwards’ Obama endorsement last night, as well as the whole presidential race the race for the White House. Would he consider being a VP candidate? 
Comment by Boom2Bust.com
May 15th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I like what Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Brian Montgomery had to say about the “rescue” legislation coming from the House. Mind you, this proposal, spearheaded by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, envisions a significant expansion of the FHA as part of making the bailout work:
“As one colleague described it, it is ‘on steroids’ because it throws sound underwriting out the window. It moves us toward a federalization of the mortgage market, forces taxpayers to pay for bad loans, and doubles FHA’s portfolio, adding hundreds of thousands of risky loans in a Byzantine process that will take years to sort out and create a regulatory nightmare.”
Comment by chuck
May 28th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Now nationally housing prices have dropped. But those here in Vicksburg don’t want to reflect the housing market nationally. Now reflect the fact that houses which are priced here at from 85,000 to 785,000 don’t ewant to reflect the fact that small homes here are worth what the local realtors and appraisors have priced them. And property taxes here don’t want to reflect that either. But the reality has set in. No homes haven’t been sold at all here. I doubt if congressiosonal which Mayor Leyens wants to do isn’t going to build up population. For one thing Commuters have told the mayor they don’t want to live here. For one thing the lack of classy restraunts,retail shops has been the real big complaint and the realtors have been real quiet becouse they’re not selling homes in this marketplace. I can tell you in the Vicksburg Post classified there are a lot of homes,apartments up for sale and rent. A whole slew of them.