This is good news for the mortgage industry. The housing bill winding it's way through Congress is most likely not going to include a cramdown provision allowing bankruptcy judges to change mortgage terms.

This will give mortgage writers the confidence that the terms of the mortgage can be upheld and that rates will not rise to counteract the government meddling.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Monday that a provision granting bankruptcy judges the ability to modify mortgage terms during bankruptcy proceedings would be stripped out of a wider housing bill that will come to the floor of the Senate later this week.

The mortgage term modification provision, known as "cramdown," will instead be offered as an amendment to the bill. It is likely to be defeated with Republicans remaining united in opposition to it, and some moderate Democrats indicating they may vote against it.

The development is a significant defeat for Durbin, the No. 2 ranking Senate Democrat, who first introduced cramdown legislation two years ago. He has been unable to convince the mortgage industry to support the measure, and lend their significant lobbying weight behind his efforts.  via WSJ.com.