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December
4, 2007
name='1'>Hearing Looks to Ratchet Up Pressure on Credit Card
Industry
The Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations will hold another hearing today on credit card practices
that have come under criticism by consumer groups,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>CongressDaily
size='3'>reported today. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) will focus the hearing on the methodology
that banks use in deciding to raise interest rates for card members,
specifically against those who have continued to make timely payments on
their accounts, yet are hit with higher rates. Levin's staff has
detailed eight personal stories of consumers who faced rate increases,
some forced to pay as much as a 30 percent annual percentage rate, even
though they have not missed a scheduled payment in years. Three of those
href='http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=509'>Click
here to view the witness list for today’s
hearing.
Mortgage
Lending
name='2'>Treasury Secretary Outlines Mortgage Aid
Plan
Treasury Secretary Henry
M. Paulson Jr. unveiled new details of the Bush administration's
mortgage-relief plan yesterday, including a proposal that would grant
new powers to local governments to refinance the mortgages of struggling
homeowners, the
size='3'>Washington Post reported today.
Paulson spoke publicly for the first time on the strategy that would
temporarily freeze interest rates for many troubled homeowners or help
them refinance, a plan that is gaining momentum among federal
regulators, leaders of the mortgage and housing industries, and
lawmakers of both parties as the mortgage crisis worsens. Paulson urged
Congress to expand the role of local governments in helping homeowners.
'Given the local nature of housing markets, state and local solutions
can be particularly effective,' he said. While Paulson outlined the
mortgage-relief plan only in broad terms yesterday, major components are
likely to be released later this week.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/03/AR2007120302339_pf.html'>Read
more.
In related news, the Bush
administration's plan to give subprime borrowers a break on their
mortgages is already catching flak from an unexpected source: other
homeowners, the Wall
Street Journal reported today. As outlines of
the plan become known, some homeowners are complaining that the effort
isn't fair to borrowers who didn't overextend themselves. Others argue
that the government shouldn't be involved in perpetuating a housing
bubble that needs to deflate.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119673435431012677.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='3'>Commentary: Loan Restructuring, FHA Reform Keys to
Relief
Congress has three good
options to reduce uncertainty in the mortgage market and help more
Americans keep their homes that could be implemented in time for
size='3'>Chris
a commentary by Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Roll Call
size='3'>yesterday. First, Congress should pressure lenders to
restructure the bulk — not a few — of the loans held by
those facing foreclosure. Second, Congress needs to reform the Federal
Housing Administration. By bringing the program into the 21st century,
Congress can give first-time homebuyers and those seeking to refinance a
more viable alternative to higher-cost subprime loans or even predatory
products. Third, Congress must continue to promote financial literacy.
Congress must also supply the Department of Housing and Urban
Development with the funding it needs for the thousands of local,
HUD-certified housing-counseling agencies across the country.
href='http://judybiggert.house.gov/NewsRoom.aspx?FormMode=Detail&ID=776'>Read
more.
name='4'>HomeBanc Hit with Securities Class Action
Suit
A complaint was filed on
behalf of a proposed class of shareholders Friday in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of New York, charging HomeBanc and
several current and former executives and directors with securities
fraud, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. The complaint also
names J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. as
underwriter-defendants, as well as Wachovia Corp. by virtue of its
subsequent purchase of A.G. Edwards. The proposed class comprises
purchasers of the two million shares of 10 percent Series A Cumulative
Redeemable Preferred Stock, as well as owners of the company's roughly
51.45 million shares of common stock from March 7, 2006 through Aug. 3,
2007.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=41405'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='5'>American Home Settles Several Pending
Lawsuits
American Home Mortgage
Holdings Inc. (AHM) filed a notice of the settlement agreements on
Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware,
revealing that if the agreements are approved by the court, the
debtors’ estate will receive over $500,000 from parties AHM sued
before filing for chapter 11 in August,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
The largest settlement is to come from United General Mortgage Corp.,
which AHM sued in three separate cases in various
w:st='on'>
York district courts in
2007, court documents said. Prior to the litigation, AHM and United
General had entered into an agreement under which AHM agreed to purchase
mortgage loans from United General. If those loans went into default,
United General had an obligation to buy them back from AHM. All three
pending suits between the two companies are breach-of-contract disputes
in which AHM accused United General of refusing to repurchase loans that
were in default because of delinquent early payments.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/secure/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=41409'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='6'>CEO Says Bankruptcy Not an Option for Countrywide
Financial
Countrywide Financial
Corp Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo said yesterday he doesn't expect the
largest
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>mortgage lender to file for bankruptcy protection, Reuters
reported yesterday. Mozilo also said that he is not in talks with Bank
of America Corp. for a further cash infusion, following a $2 billion
injection in August. 'Countrywide is a strong, viable financial
company,' Mozilo said. 'Bankruptcy is an issue that nobody can ever
eliminate, although I don't think it's possible or probable for
Countrywide.' Countrywide lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter, but
has said it expects a fourth-quarter profit.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-countrywide-bankruptcy.html?pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
w:st='on'>
name='7'>Davenport
face='Times

















New








Roman'
size='3'> Diocese Reaches Settlement with Abuse
Victims
The Roman Catholic
Diocese of Davenport would pay up to $37 million to sexual abuse victims
under a settlement plan revealed Monday that paves the way for the
diocese to emerge from bankruptcy protection after 14 months, the
Rapids
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Iowa
Gazette reported today . The diocese and its
insurance carriers would pay the money, and some individual parishes may
also contribute. The agreement also includes several non-monetary terms,
including Amos agreeing to write a personal letter to any victim or
relative of victims who requests one. It is expected that the diocese
will file a reorganization plan soon, and it expects that approval of
the plan by the bankruptcy court to occur around April 1.
href='http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071203/NEWS/712030025'>Read
more.
Approves Personal-Injury Claims Against
Vincent
Judge Adlai S. Hardin Jr.
approved 19 parties with personal-injury or wrongful-death claims to
pursue their cases against the bankrupt St. Vincent Catholic Medical
Centers, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. Judge Hardin's
order says that after the plaintiffs' claims are liquidated, they can
collect under
size='3'>St. Vincent
policies and treat any remaining unpaid amount as an allowed class 3
claim. The order also noted that St.
size='3'>Vincent's motion will serve as an objection to each general
liability claim that was not allowed as of Friday.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=41379'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
GM,
Ford to Cut Output on Falling Demand
Amid another month of
weak sales, two of
size='3'>Detroit's Big Three plan to
slash vehicle production early next year, reflecting toughening
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>economic conditions and mounting challenges keeping their
turnaround efforts on track, the
size='3'>Wall Street Journal reported today.
GM and Ford yesterday outlined production cuts aimed at keeping output
in line with falling demand. GM said it would build 950,000 vehicles
during the first three months of 2008, down 11 percent from the
year-earlier period. Ford cut its first-quarter production forecast 7.4
percent to 685,000 vehicles.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119643941326509603.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
International
name='10'>German Bank Acts to Help Its Programs Tied to
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>Mortgages
In an effort to limit
fallout from the subprime lending crisis in the United States, the
German bank WestLB said on yesterday that it would guarantee full
liquidity to several of its investment vehicles that had put money into
asset-backed securities, the
size='3'>New York Times reported today.
WestLB, based in Düsseldorf, has two major programs, known as
Harrier Finance Funding and Kestrel Funding, that borrow money by
selling short-term commercial paper to investors. They then invest the
proceeds in higher-yielding securities, including ones backed by
American mortgages. WestLB also has three other similar investment
vehicles, known as conduits. All five will have the option of drawing up
to 25 billion euros, or $36.6 billion, as the short-term paper comes
due.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/business/worldbusiness/04bank.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/business/worldbusiness/04bank.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print'>