fannie: Mortgage Mess--Heads I Win; Tails You Lose
- 11/03/08 07:28 AM
Today's post is my 4th suggestion/solution for keeping the Mortgage Mess from ever happening again and the Word for today is...accountability. We must hold the executive leaders of financial firms and their boards accountable. I believe the board of a company should be more involved in oversight of the executive leaders of the firm and be held accountable for this oversight. Second, the President, CEO, CFO, CIO, etc. should not be allowed to select any board members for whom they work for. No more YES MEN! Next, we must prosecute the villains at these firms to the full extent of the … (1 comments)
fannie: Mortgage Mess Part 10--Exposed!
- 10/27/08 04:49 AM
In 1999 Treasury Secretary under President Clinton, Lawrence Summers "warned Congress in 1999 of the ‘systemic risks' posed by Fannie and Freddie, Congress held hearings the next year" according to Terry Jones of Investor's Business Daily. Nothing was done however. In 2000 the Mr. Summers' UnderSecretary Gary Gensler testified in front of Congress on the need for more power by the regulator, OFHEO, of Fannie and Freddie and to seek an end to the "implicit" guarantee of their loan portfolio. (source: Terry Jones 9/25/08 article) Mr. Gensler was rebuffed by Congress and nothing was done. President Bush entered the White House … (2 comments)
fannie: Where oh Where Were the Regulators?
- 10/24/08 05:34 AM
Mortgage Mess Part 9 Who was in charge of being the watchdog for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Who was protecting our interests and money as taxpayers? Until the Treasury's takeover of Fannie and Freddie this September it was OFHEO or the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which was an arm of the Department of Housing and Urban Development or HUD. According to Terry Jones writing for the Investor's Business Daily on September 25th, "OFHEO was unique among federal regulators in that it had to go back each year to Congress for its budget. This assured total dependence on Congress-a … (3 comments)
fannie: Mortgage Mess Part 8--"Affordable" Mortgages Led to Un-affordable Home Prices
- 10/23/08 07:51 AM
"Affordable Mortgages" Led to Un-Affordable Home Prices In 1999 David Glenn the President and COO of Freddie Mac "confessed his company was pushed by a federal agenda." (Source: Drew Zahn at World Net Daily 9/19/08) Here are 3 direct quotes from Mr. Glenn according to Drew Zahn- •· "The mortgage industry intends to pursue minorities with greater intensity as federal (CRA) regulators turn up the heat to increase home ownership." •· "The federal government in the meantime has increased pressure on lenders to seek out minorities, as well as low-income groups and borrowers with poor credit histories." •· "Fannie Mae recently reached … (0 comments)
fannie: Mortgage Mess Part 7--The CRA on Steroids
- 10/22/08 09:57 AM
CRA on Steroids In 1994 President Clinton rewrote the Community Reinvestment Act or CRA of 1977. It was called the National Homeownership Strategy. Why? To help more "deserving" minority families buy a home-a noble idea. At this time the national homeownership rate was about 64% according to The Denver Post (Source: The Blame Game by Greg Griffin 10/5/08). In 1995 after Republicans took control of Congress, Clinton ordered Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin to re-write the rules of the CRA. Whereas the CRA was initially approved by Congress in 1977, at this time President Clinton bypassed Congress and took control himself; knowing … (2 comments)
fannie: Mortgage Mess Part 3
- 10/15/08 08:54 AM
Heads in the Sand As I explained yesterday greed led to the devastation of lending standards that had been around for decades. Today I want to cover four more reasons that led to this HUGE Mortgage Mess. First, after awhile no one on Wall Street truly knew what they were buying or providing the money for and the credit rating agencies like S & P, Moody's, Fitch's did not really know what they were insuring. Everyone thought that the mortgage lending standards of the past were not needed anymore and so old fashioned. Plus, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were still … (2 comments)
Today's post is my 4th suggestion/solution for keeping the Mortgage Mess from ever happening again and the Word for today is...accountability.
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