Judges Modifying Mortgages, Obama Bailout

Realtors' Former Top Economist Says Don't Blame the Messenger
Wall Street Journal
January 12, 2009

On a recent weekday, David Lereah sat in the sunroom of his five-bedroom colonial house. The only sound was the yapping of his dog Maisy.  Once one of the world's most-visible housing experts, Mr. Lereah is disconnected from his old life. The former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors says the group's top executives won't return his phone calls. He says he wasn't invited to the association's 100th birthday bash last May.

Power to Modify Mortgages Sits Well With Judges
Wall Street Journal
January 12, 2009

Federal bankruptcy judges say they are eager to have the power to restructure mortgages for struggling debtors because it could save hundreds of thousands of homeowners from foreclosure. Top Senate Democrats are advancing legislation to let bankruptcy-court judges approve new repayment terms on first mortgages for primary residences for homeowners who have sought protection in a Chapter 13 filing. The proposal allowing so-called mortgage cramdowns, in which the principal amount of the loan is reduced, is one of several efforts Democrats are pushing to give homeowners relief as they wrestle with increasing debt levels and plummeting home values.

Frank Seeks TARP Funds for Foreclosures
Wall Street Journal
January 10, 2009

The federal government should devote at least $50 billion of the remaining financial-rescue funds toward a plan to prevent foreclosures, said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank Friday.

Obama Lobbies for Release of Second Half of Bailout
New York Times
January 11, 2009

Even as they continued to hash out the details of a nearly $800 billion economic recovery plan, aides to President-elect Barack Obama on Sunday began lobbying a reluctant Congress to release the second half of the Treasury’s $700 billion financial system bailout fund.