MBA - "House Subcommittee Conducts Hearing on Subprime and Predatory Mortgage Lending" (3-27-07)

"Subprime and Predatory Mortgage Lending: New Regulatory Guidance, Current Market Conditions and Effects on Regulated Financial Institutions"

Yahoo! - "FBI Investigating Beazer Homes" (3-27-07)

"Shares of Beazer Homes USA Inc. plunged in Tuesday's aftermarket trading session following a report from BusinessWeek magazine that federal investigators have opened a broad criminal probe of the homebuilder's lending practices, a number of financial transactions, and other matters."

Asbury Park - "Bank hit by mortgage defaults" (3-27-07)

"OceanFirst Financial Corp. said Monday it could be forced to buy back as much as $47 million in delinquent subprime real estate loans made last year by a mortgage subsidiary. Problems at the subsidiary, Columbia Home Loans LLC of Valhalla, N.Y., have already caused OceanFirst, which operates the largest bank based in Ocean County, to restate its fourth-quarter earnings. Instead of a $4.6 million profit, the bank said late Friday it lost $1.6 million."

CNN - "Subprime losses lead to drop in home ownership" (3-27-07)

"About 2.4 million holders of subprime mortgage loans made between 1998 and 2006 will lose their properties to foreclosure, according to a report from the Center for Responsible Lending, a non-profit policy and advocacy organization for home owners. Worse, that will result in a net home ownership loss of one million households."

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN CHRIS DODD - HEARING ON "MORTGAGE MARKET TURMOIL: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES" (3-27-07)

Opening Statements

Bloomberg - "FDIC's Bair Urges Congress to Pass U.S. Mortgage Law (Update1)" (3-27-07)

"Congress should pass legislation setting a national anti-predatory lending standard that would apply to all mortgage lenders, a top U.S. bank regulator said."

Yahoo! - "34 percent of homeowners are clueless about their mortgage" (3-27-07)

"Stocks stumbled Tuesday as investors grew wary when new data raised the possibility that the nation's weak housing market would seep into the broader economy and crimp consumer spending."

Bloomberg - "Fed's Braunstein Says Mortgage Delinquencies `Great Concern'" (3-27-07)

The Federal Reserve has "great concern" about the surge in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, said Sandra Braunstein, director of the Fed's Division of Consumer and Community Affairs.

"The impact of mortgage delinquency and foreclosure on consumers and communities is one of great concern," Braunstein said in testimony to a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing on subprime mortgages in Washington. "We have much work ahead of us, as there is no one sure and easy fix."

Market Watch - "Fed sees subprime market woes for one to two years" (3-27-07)

"The Federal Reserve is concerned that borrowers of subprime mortgage loans may face 'more difficulty' in the next one to two years, a Fed official said Tuesday. In particular, those borrowers with recently originated adjustable-rate mortgages are likely to experience more delinquencies and foreclosures, said Sandra Braunstein, the director of the Fed's division of consumer and community affairs. In testimony before a House Financial Services subcommittee, Braunstein also said incentives for responsible subprime lenders need to be preserved so that access to credit can be maintained. However, facing close questioning by lawmakers, regulators largely dismissed the need for new legislation to combat problems in the subprime market."

Bloomberg - "Lennar's Profit Falls 73% as U.S. Home Demand Wanes (Update7)" (3-27-07)

"Lennar Corp., the largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, said earnings plummeted 73 percent during the fiscal first-quarter as the worst housing slump in more than a decade scared away potential buyers. Lennar Chief Executive Officer Stuart Miller said the spring selling season, when homebuilders usually get the bulk of their orders, failed to materialize, just two months after telling investors this year would be as good or better than 2006. "

Market Watch - "Home prices fall for first time in 11 years" (3-27-07)

"U.S. home prices continued to fall in January, with prices in 10 major cities now down 0.7% year-over-year, according to Standard & Poor's and MacroMarkets LLC, which released the January Case-Shiller price indexes on Tuesday."

CNN - "Many homeowners blind to their mortgage terms" (3-27-07)

"More than three in 10 U.S. homeowners have no idea what type of loan they own, according to a poll released by Bankrate.com Monday that suggested how confusion may be contributing to problems in the subprime mortgage sector. Another troubling finding in the Bankrate.com survey was that 34 percent of homeowners who hold adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) do not know what they will do when their loan resets to higher interest rates. "

Bloomberg - "Subprime Defaults May Spread to Auto Bonds, S&P Says (Update1)" (3-27-07)

"Bonds backed by automobile loans may be hurt by rising subprime mortgage defaults as people with poor credit struggle with their household debt, according to Standard & Poor's. Capital One Financial Corp., Wachovia Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., and other lenders have lent more funds to people with bad credit scores in the past few years to sustain growth, S&P said today in a report by analysts led by Mark Risi. The loans are also for longer terms, increasing the probability of default, the analysts said. About 68 percent of 2006 subprime auto loans were due in five years or more, Risi said. "

Market Watch - "Bad weather rains on new-home sales" (3-27-07)

"The news that new-home sales fell to a seven-year low in February could be panicking homeowners hoping to sell in the near future, but economists say poor weather in the Northeast and Midwest may have skewed February's sale numbers."

Real Estate Journal - "Will 'Lemming Loans' Drive The Economy Off the Cliff?" (3-27-07)

" For the first time in the nation's history, a significant number of Americans are being threatened with the loss of their home even though they still have a steady, good-paying job. It's not just an issue for people with poor credit, those with subprime loans. It also affects people with good enough credit to qualify for a prime loan. Known as Alt-A mortgages, these loans were written for 1 in 5 U.S. mortgages and could have a big impact on the economy and on credit markets -- bigger, perhaps, than the effects of the recent shockwaves buffeting the subprime-lender market, economists say."

LA Times - "State regulator calling for ban on stated-income loans" (3-27-07)

"With as many as 460,000 California homeowners reportedly at risk of losing homes bought with sub-prime mortgages, a top California business regulator called Monday for a ban on certain risky and controversial lending practices. At issue for Department of Corporations Commissioner Preston DuFauchard were home loans being issued without lenders fully verifying the prospective buyer's income and employment status. These so-called stated- income loans have contributed to the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market, he said."

LA Times - "U.S. new-home sales slide further" (3-27-07)

"The pace of transactions last month is the slowest in seven years and is off 18% from a year earlier. California and the West show relative strength."