mortgage crisis: Walk of Shame No More -- Walking Away From a Home Loan - 03/13/09 11:56 PM
Used to be, walking away from a home because you could no longer make the mortgage payment was an absolute last resort, a step taken only by those in the most desperate of circumstances.
Or by those who lacked a certain "shame" gene.
Either way, you were almost certain to be branded a loser -- if not by your peers, then most certainly by credit reporting agencies and lenders.According to an article in today's New York Times -- "Thoughts on Walking Away From Your Home Loan" -- that may no longer be the case.  
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mortgage crisis: Fannie, Freddie and You...Oh, My! - 07/16/08 01:21 AM
It is looking more and more likely that the taxpayer will pick up the tab for the all-but-inevitable bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Is that a bad thing? And, just how much blame do these two institutional giants bear for the current crisis in the lending industry?
 
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman captures the essence of the debate in his July 14, 2008 column, Fannie, Freddie and You.
 
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mortgage crisis: Anatomy of a Meltdown: The Credit Crisis - 06/15/08 02:38 AM
In case you've missed it, there is an outstanding series of articles currently running in the Washington Post--Anatomy of a Meltdown: The Credit Crisis
The articles help demysitfy our current credit crisis, from its history to what went wrong and why.  There are some great links, too:
 
Interactive mapping tools: Enter a zip code to see how the subprime crisis is affecting your neighborhood Two economists from the New York Federal Reserve Board explain how loans are packaged and sold and the sticking points that helped pave the way for the current crisis A detailed explanation of how the mortgage market works There will be … (2 comments)