Legislative NEWS
August, 2009 Band of Senate Dems Pressures Obama on Cramdown Roughly three months after Senate lawmakers killed legislation empowering homeowners to escape foreclosure through bankruptcy, some upper-chamber Democrats are looking to revive the corpse. They hope to pressure the White House into spending valuable...
July, 2009 Frank threatens banks to stop foreclosures A senior House Democrat threatened banks Wednesday that if they don't volunteer to save more homeowners from foreclosure, Congress will make them. In a sternly worded statement, Rep. Barney Frank said Congress will revive legislation that would let...
‘Cram-Down’ May Be Revived to Boost Mortgage Relief House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank threatened to revive the mortgage “cram- down” bill that stalled in Congress this year, saying lenders aren’t being aggressive enough in modifying troubled home loans.rnrnCram-downs let...
Homes At Risk Of Foreclosure Far Outpacing Mortgage Help This chart shows two things, really. First, we can see the scale on which struggling homeowners have managed to keep their homes by getting lenders to rework the mortgages. Second, we can see the scale on which the sheer number of struggling homeowners...
Personal bankruptcies up nearly 60% in Mass., real estate publisher reports Debtors are filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in order to escape debts they can't otherwise pay. The number of Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings increased statewide by 58.12 percent from 2,839 in the second quarter of 2008 to 4,489 in the second quarter of this...
June, 2009 Bankers’ lobby money talks Just a few months ago, many members of Congress were elbowing their way to the microphones to bemoan the nation’s high foreclosure rate and to promise to fix it. Yet the problem remains an unsolved crisis — a crisis that is bound to worsen as the...
Ailing, Banks Still Field Strong Lobby at Capitol As he often does, President Obama took the opportunity in a bill-signing ceremony last month to remind Congress “to do what we were actually sent here to do — and that is to stand up to the special interests, and stand up for the American people.”...
May, 2009 Opinion - Voices Sunday, May. 31, 2009 Senate whiffs on bankruptcy, mortgage reform One of the worst votes the U.S. Senate has made recently was on April 30, when it defeated the bill that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify home mortgages to reflect the true value of the home, rather than what that value might have been...
Banks win, homeowners lose in Senate The score: Banks 1, Homeowners 0. That is because the U.S. Senate has caved in to the banking lobby and refused to allow bankruptcy judges to modify primary residential mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure. This would have been the best way to...
As Foreclosures Surge ... The Obama administration sat by last week as 12 Senate Democrats joined 39 Senate Republicans to block a vote on an amendment that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify troubled mortgages. Senator Obama campaigned on the provision. And President...
Consumer Watch: Again, Congress fails to act Inez Love bought her dream home in Germantown four years ago, near the height of the housing bubble. Then she lost her job at a Philadelphia nonprofit group. Now Love, 59, is in danger of losing her home, too, and ending up with nothing - having...
Dead in the water: Your bailout More than 38,000 Nevada homes could have been saved from foreclosure with legislation defeated last week in Congress — done in by the one-two punch of a financial services industry that continues to have enormous sway and lawmakers unwilling to sharply...
April, 2009 Reform bankruptcy law so Americans can keep their homes Sen. Dick Durbin's much-discussed (and much-cussed) mortgage "cram down" legislation may come to a vote in the U.S. Senate this week, possibly as early as tomorrow. It deserves to pass. Thanks to the stranglehold that the banking industry has on...
March, 2009 Congress Divided Over Courts Fixing Foreclosures Bankruptcy is much in the news this week with the troubles of U.S. automakers. Most bankruptcies involve everyday people who just can't pay their bills. And right now, millions of homeowners can't pay their mortgages and are sliding into foreclosure....
Debating a Ceiling On Credit Card Fees Seeking a new intervention for financially distressed consumers, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee yesterday heard debate on a measure that would wipe out credit card debt for people in bankruptcy. Under current law, people filing for chapters 7 and 13...
As bankruptcy filings mount, attention turns again to reform Cash-strapped families are seeking bankruptcy protection at nearly the same rate and in the same manner as they did before the much-debated 2005 bankruptcy law reform, a trend critics say proves the reform was a failure. Congress wrangled for eight years...
Drowning in foreclosures An estimated 20 percent of Americans mortgages are now "underwater" -- meaning their owners owe more on their homes than the properties are worth. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate is poised to vote on legislation that would allow bankruptcy judges to cut the...
Foreclosure option on rocky turf in Senate Legislation that could provide a last-ditch option for Nevada homeowners facing foreclosure has passed the House but is facing a tougher time in the Senate. The bill, an element of President Barack Obama’s housing recovery plan, would give bankruptcy...
Senate Democrats Seek Support For Mortgage Modification Bill Key Democratic lawmakers are courting support from the financial services industry, including credit unions, for legislation that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages. The provision passed the House last week but has not been scheduled for a...
Dems seek cramdown support from financials Democratic leaders say they're seeking support from the U.S. financial services industry for legislation that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages. The measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week but hasn't been scheduled for...
Bankruptcy judges may gain power over loans The chief bankruptcy judge in Kansas said he and his colleagues are in the best position to help troubled homeowners, if they're given the authority they need by a bill going through Congress. The bill, which won approval in the House on Thursday, would...
ISSUE IN-DEPTH: FORECLOSURES: State must aid homeowners New homes sales in metro Atlanta fall 52 percent in 12 months. Area foreclosures set a record in February, and the state’s jobless rate hits a record high in January. One in eight Georgia mortgage holders are now either behind on their payments or in...
Proposed law would give homeowners relief from foreclosure, lawyers group says A bill that would give bankruptcy judges authority to change the terms of a mortgage for struggling homeowners could cut foreclosures by 20 percent, said Carey Ebert, a Hurst bankruptcy attorney who is president of the National Association of Consumer...
Bailout monitor welcomes mortgage bankruptcy plan The head of a panel overseeing bailout money is giving high marks to legislation that would let debt-strapped homeowners seek reduced mortgage payments by filing for bankruptcy. Elizabeth Warren heads the Congressional Oversight Panel, created by...
Homeowner helper Millions of struggling homeowners are finally catching a break. The ambitious federal plan launched yesterday will lower mortgage payments for people who are facing foreclosure or owe more than their houses are worth. Limiting foreclosures and putting a...
Homeowner Rescue Bill Passes House The House yesterday passed legislation that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of troubled home mortgages, overcoming fierce opposition from the financial industry. The bill, a package of housing-related initiatives, passed 234 to 191,...
A slamdown over cramdowns Joe Bostic and his wife are waiting to see whether a measure now before Congress saves their East Raleigh, N.C., home from foreclosure. “It would be a blessing,” Bostic said of a proposal to let bankruptcy judges order “cramdowns” - unilateral...
House OKs court-approved mortgage relief Reporting from Washington -- In an attempt to ease the foreclosure crisis, the House on Thursday approved a major change to bankruptcy law that would give judges new powers to modify home mortgages. The revision, which was approved 234 to 191 as part of...
Helping the House Poor President Obama’s anti-foreclosure plan, which took effect on Wednesday, is better than anything attempted by the Bush administration, but it is at best one step forward and, unfortunately, may prove to be fundamentally flawed. The program’s success...
House approves mortgage bankruptcy overhaul Key U.S. House Democrats have agreed on changes in legislation letting bankruptcy judges reduce mortgage debt, and hope to have a vote on the legislation on Thursday, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said on Tuesday. "Changes...
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