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Personal Finance News

• Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac halting foreclosures (AP)

  AP - Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are suspending foreclosures during the holiday season.

• Banks, raters face subprime lawsuits and new rules (Reuters)

  Reuters - The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis has sparked more than 250 class action suits against Wall Street banks and rating companies and will lead to rising regulation in 2009, top litigators said on Thursday.

• China fund in talks for stake in AIG unit: report (Reuters)

  Reuters - A consortium led by sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp is in talks to buy a stake of up to 49 percent in American Life Insurance Co, a unit of U.S. insurance company American International Group , the Nikkei financial daily reported.

  
  

• UK mortgage lending down 44 pct from a year ago (AP)

  AP - Mortgage lending in Britain was down 44 percent in October compared to a year ago, further evidence the economic downturn is hurting an already weak property market, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said Thursday.

• October's Drop in Prices and Housing Starts (BusinessWeek Online)

  BusinessWeek Online - The current U.S. downturn continues to generate remarkable moves in economic data. Consider the reports on U.S. consumer prices and housing starts for October, released on Nov. 19: The headline consumer price index (CPI) registered its largest monthly decline in 61 years, while housing starts reached the slowest pace of activity in the history of this data series.

• Senate to probe bond-ratings firms: report (Reuters)

  Reuters - A U.S. Senate subcommittee 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 which have since collapsed, the Wall Street Journal said.

  
  

• U.S. probing Golden West lending, sale: prosecutor (Reuters)

  Reuters - The government is investigating if homeowners were misled by California bank and mortgage issuer Golden West Financial, which was acquired by Wachovia Corp -- another possible victim.

  
  

• MetLife says commercial mortgage portfolio safe (Reuters)

  Reuters - U.S. life insurer MetLife Inc disclosed information about its commercial mortgage portfolio on Wednesday in an effort to soothe investors that have become increasingly skittish about investments by insurers in commercial property debt.

• Housing agency loosens foreclosure aid rules (Reuters)

  Reuters - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will loosen terms of its foreclosure-prevention effort so that the program, meant to backstop $300 billion in home loans, can be more effective, the agency said on Wednesday.

  
  

• Kashkari: Consumer credit help promising step (Reuters)

  Reuters - Actions to support consumer lending could be a productive next step to help repair financial markets, Treasury Department financial rescue package administrator Neel Kashkari said on Wednesday.

• Homebuilder, REIT shares tumble as recession spreads (Reuters)

  Reuters - The shares of big U.S. homebuilders and real estate companies alike slumped on Wednesday as housing starts fell to a record low and concerns spread the commercial real estate market is going the way of residential.

  
  

• Mortgage application volume falls 6.2 pct (AP)

  AP - Mortgage application volume fell 6.2 percent during the week ended Nov. 14, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey.

  
  

• October housing starts at record low (Reuters)

  Reuters - Construction starts on new homes fell to a record low in October, as did new applications for building permits, a report by the Commerce Department showed on Wednesday, signaling that the national housing downturn may extend well into the future.

  
  

• Wall Street sinks to lowest since 2003 (Reuters)

  Reuters - Stocks plunged to their lowest in five-and-a-half years on Wednesday as investors girded for a lengthy economic downturn and automotive executives predicted a far-reaching calamity without a government lifeline.

  
  

• Lawmakers, Treasury lock horns on foreclosures (Reuters)

  Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and members of Congress clashed on Tuesday over the best use for the $700-billion financial bailout fund, with lawmakers demanding money to stem a national wave of mortgage foreclosures.

  
  

• Lawmakers press Paulson on bailout plan changes (AP)

  AP - Faced with exasperated lawmakers upset by shifts in bailout strategy, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson launched a spirited defense Tuesday of his handling of the $700 billion program and expressed fresh reservations about tapping the pool for mortgage guarantees to relieve skyrocketing home foreclosures.

  
  

• Regulator halts Fannie housing fund contributions (Reuters)

  Reuters - Fannie Mae , the largest provider of money for U.S. home mortgages, on Tuesday said its federal regulator suspended a mandate to set aside money for a housing trust fund.

• Nominee for overseer of bailout faces senators (AP)

  AP - President George W. Bush's choice to be the federal watchdog over the $700 billion bailout for banks and other financial companies promised Monday to use his experience prosecuting mortgage and securities fraud to keep Congress apprised if the money is being misused.

• Sen. Durbin to seek mortgage bankruptcy change (Reuters)

  Reuters - A senior U.S. senator on Monday introduced legislation to let judges alter the terms of distressed mortgages in bankruptcy cases, reviving a controversial proposal meant to help troubled homeowners, a said an aide to the lawmaker.

• Freddie Mac could lose $20-$40 billion in 2009: Friedman (Reuters)

  Reuters - Freddie Mac could post losses totaling $20 billion to $40 billion in 2009, hurt by higher credit costs and write-downs in mortgage assets, an analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey said.