subprime mortgages

Moore: I saw financial crisis coming

DavidIngram — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:49:48 -0400

Richard Moore says he has known for some time that something was up with the U.S. financial system.

WUNC radio reporter Jessica Jones asked the Democratic state treasurer whether, as an observer of Wall Street, he saw problems coming.

"Yes. Absolutely," Moore said in a segment dated Thursday. "Exactly when it was going to happen, what form it was going to take, I can't tell you I knew that. But everybody that I know of who was conservative and who wasn't getting paid to say, 'Everything is great,' kept wondering, 'How can you continue to have real estate prices go up, commodity prices go up, tremendous amounts of loans being made?'"

Moore also blamed poor enforcement of leverage requirements.

"There's a reason we put those regulations in place coming out of the Great Depression," he said. "We really have gotten away from that. And I'm not trying to sound partisan, but we have gotten away from that the last five to seven years."

In February, while he was running for governor, Moore said the state's roughly $70 billion pension fund had largely avoided securities backed by subprime loans.

Miller to liveblog on Talking Points Memo

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:02:21 -0500

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller will live blog the subprime mortgage problems today.

In a group discussion on the popular Web site Talking Points Memo, the Raleigh Democrat will talk about his legislation:

Congressman Miller's bill would give some homeowners caught in upside-down loans the chance to write down the loan to the value of the home and put the homeowner in a long-term, fixed mortgage. The bill is designed to reduce the number of foreclosures, not by putting them off with a temporary rate freeze, but by moving some families into long-term mortgages they can afford.

The discussion will be from 11 a.m. to noon at TPMCafe.

Tuesday quick hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:15:57 -0500

* Greg Dority will officiallly kick off his campaign for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor on Thursday in Beaufort County. (Beaufort Observer)

* U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole recognized for work encouraging air bags and seat belt laws while U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the 1980s. (Char-O)

* State's $78 billion pension system lost $306 million from June through September in part because of subprime mortgage meltdown. (Triangle Business Journal)

* Rep. Alma Adams says private auditor has been slow, expects full report on N.C. Legislative Black Caucus Foundation "by the end of the year." (GN-R)

Cooper targets subprime lending

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:39:37 -0500

Attorney General Roy Cooper is continuing his fight against predatory lending.

But this time, he's targeting the U.S. Congress instead of the lenders, Titan Barksdale reports.

Cooper announced today that a bill pending in the U.S. Senate would undercut a similar state law that strengthens protections for North Carolina homeowners against predatory lenders.

He's calling on Congress to strengthen the bill and eliminate any provisions that preempt North Carolina's predatory lending laws.

U.S. Reps. Brad Miller and Mel Watt and others co-sponsored the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act to address the amount of homes lost to foreclosures. The bill, which has passed the U.S. House, prohibits lenders from pushing borrowers into loans they can't afford.

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Cooper writes that the bill contains provisions that eliminate some rights homeowners have under state law.

Mortgage brokers back the bill saying it offers adequate consumer protection, and standardizes lending laws.

Friday quick hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:15:00 -0500

* Former Young Democrats leader Jay Ottivore officially announces he's running for the nomination to face U.S. Rep. Howard Coble. (Capital Beat)

* U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole says Gov. Mike Easley's request for more alternatives to a Navy landing field is "bizarre." (New Bern Sun Journal)

* U.S. Rep. Mel Watt says the fact that no one likes a bill cracking down on mortgage lenders "may be the best tribute of all." (AP)

* At debate, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton says John Edwards' attacks are "throwing mud" and "right out of the Republican playbook." (NYT)

Miller: Blame the brokers

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:15:38 -0400

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller says brokers are to blame for the high foreclosure rate.

In a post on his Daily Kos blog, the Raleigh Democrat points out that mortage brokers originated 71 percent of subprime loans, saying they are "much more aggressive" than traditional lenders.

He argues that the loans are rigged against unsophisticated borrowers, who often have to refinance a few years down the road, losing equity and racking up new fees.

As the debate in Congress heats up over predatory mortgage lending practices and the subprime foreclosure epidemic, you’ll see prosperous-looking industry spokesmen speak up for consumer choice, and argue that reform proposals would violate all that is sacred, and will only make things much, much worse.

He says they "made this mess in the first place."

Miller hopes to help homeowners

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:00:00 -0400

U.S. Reps. Brad Miller of Raleigh and Linda Sanchez of California have submitted legislation they hope will curb home bankruptcies and protect borrowers with sub-prime home loans on their principal residences.

The bill would allow bankruptcy courts to modify the terms of a home loan, Barb Barrett reports.

It also would prevent lending companies from adding fees or other debts to a borrower while a bankruptcy case is pending in court, unless the borrower is given "timely notice" of the fee.

The bill, called the Emergency Home Ownership and Mortgage Equity Protection Act of 2007, will be the subject of a news conference by Miller on Thursday on Capitol Hill. Among the sponsors is Democratic Rep. Mel Watt of Charlotte.

More from Moore on Countrywide

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:07:10 -0400

Richard Moore took another swing at Countrywide Financial Tuesday.

After attacking the troubled mortgage lender on CNBC last week, the state treasurer sent the company a letter accusing it of unethical and unsustainable business practices, the Triangle Business Journal reports.

In the letter Moore, writes that the company rewarded employees who gave subprime mortgages to customers it knew could not afford them.

"As an owner of this company and a large institutional investor, I ask that you provide me with an explanation of why the company implemented and continued this business model in the face of mounting evidence that the product was unsustainable," he writes.

The state retirement system, which Moore oversees, owns about $12 million worth of shares in Countrywide.

Moore is running for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Document(s):
moore-countrywide.pdf

Moore on Countrywide

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:53:39 -0400

Richard Moore criticized Countrywide Financial on CNBC today.

The state treasurer, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, appeared on "Squawk Box" with Becky Quick this morning.

He argued that Countrywide, a mortgage lender, loaned too much of its money, especially in hot real estate markets. The company has been in serious financial trouble lately because of defaulted mortgages in the subprime market.

"There's a reason that you don't loan 100 percent," he said. "Because history has told us it will go through a cycle where they can't repay."

He said North Carolina's retirement system owns about $12 million worth of shares in Countrywide — a relatively small amount of its overall $75 billion holdings. But he said he would use the state's authority as a shareholder to push for management changes.

He also criticized ratings agencies for not having more of an "arm's length" relationship with lenders.

"They're supposed to act as a safeguard, an independent referee if you will in the marketplace," he said.