Treasury Built Numerous Safeguards In HAMP To Avoid Foreclosure Says Official

At a hearing before the Financial Services Committee on foreclosure malpractice, Phyllis Caldwell, chief of the Treasury Department’s Homeownership Preservation Office, explains that the Treasury Department has taken many procedural safeguards in its Home Afforable Modification Program (HAMP) to avoid foreclosures. (0:55)

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Treasury Official: HAMP Is Key To Success In Fight Against Faulty Foreclosures

Phyllis Caldwell, chief of the Treasury Department’s Homeownership Preservation Office, tells the Financial Services Committee that the Home Afforable Modification Program (HAMP) is necessary in the effort against untimely and unnecessary foreclosure. (0:22)

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HAMP Offered Solutions For Troubled Homeowners, Claims Treasury Dept. Official

Chief of the Homeownership Preservation Office for the US Department of the Treasury Phyllis Caldwell says that through the Home Affordable Modification Plan has been efficient and prevented unfair mortgage modifications. (0:40)

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HAMP Has Been Good But Not Good Enough, Claims Oversight Panel Member

Damon Silvers, a member of a Congressional oversight panel tasked with investigating the financial crisis, notes that 467,000 homeowners have been aided by the Home Affordable Modification Program but feels that it has not done enough when compared to the seven million who face foreclosure. (0:40)

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Mitigation Misses Ultimate Foreclosure Goals, Says Departing Legislator

Congressional Oversight Panel Chairman and former Delaware Senator Ted Kaufman (D) uses the analogy of a baseball player who simply swings at any pitch to summarize the fact that simply offering three million homeowners mitigation in their mortgages misses the ultimate goal of saving them from foreclosure.  (0:25)

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"Where Wall St. meets Main St."

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) says dealing with the housing crisis is vital because it shows that the government wants to help all people. (1:03)
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Maxine Waters: foreclosed homeowners might lose their vote, too

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) asks FBI Director Robert Mueller about allegations that homeowners whose houses have been foreclosed upon will be challenged at the polling place. Waters says she "never dreamed that foreclosure would bring us even this additional problem." The comment came in an FBI oversight hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. (1:01)

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Subprime lending market has "preyed upon" people who can't afford loans

At a Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis on neighborhoods, Maryland Councilmember Nancy Floreen says that the market has "preyed upon people who cannot afford the situations in which they've been led."  She also says that the crisis has disproportionately affected minority communities, and said that blacks in Maryland are three times more likely than whites to receive a subprime loan, and Latinos are twice as likely as whites. (0:36)
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IMF economist predicts "minor contraction," then "slow recovery" for U.S.

At the Housing Crisis and Lessons for Monetary Policy discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution, Economic Counselor and Director of the International Monetary Fund Simon Johnson predicts a "minor contraction" for the U.S. economy this year, followed by a "slow recovery" next year. He also talks about the spillover effects of the U.S. housing market into other nations, and predicts a decline in global growth projection. (0:43)
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Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) discusses how "consumers have little leverage" in the loans they recieve

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), chair of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, discusses the problems concerning consumers stuck in the foreclosure crisis at a hearing on foreclosure prevention and sound mortgage servicing. (0:33)
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Hillary Clinton discusses housing foreclosures and trade agreements at AP luncheon

Senator Hillary Clinton talks about freezing housing foreclosures and NAFTA during her Associated Press luncheon speech. (0:29)
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Conference Call: McCain campaign discusses housing crisis response options

Today Senator John McCain's (R-AZ) campaign held a conference call to discuss his stance on economic policy, and the housing crisis and mortgage foreclosures in particular. RNC Victory 2008 Chair Carly Fiorina and Senior Policy Advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin outlined McCain's policy proposals on how to combat the crisis.
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Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) Links Foreclosure Crisis, Presidential Election

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) says the foreclosure crisis and the presidential race will both hinge on whether the nation wants to continue spending in Iraq at the expense of domestic programs for economic relief. (0:55)
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Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke Discusses the Global Response to Worldwide Economic Troubles at Senate Banking Committee Hearing

Chairman Ben Bernanke talks about the global nature of the current downward trends in housing and credit markets and describes the types of efforts being made jointly by the U.S. and other nations to address and correct them. (1:00)
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At Senate Banking Committee Hearing, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) Says Government Officials Should Have Acted Sooner On Foreclosure Crisis

Senator Menendez says that instead of a wake up call from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the nation got a 'wait and see' attitude. (1:00)
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Treasury Secretary Paulson Addresses Senate Banking Committee on the 'Heartrending' Effects of the Current Economic Turmoil

Responding to questions from Senator Robert Casey (D-PA), Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson discusses the 'heartrending' effects of predatory lending in the housing and credit markets as well as his efforts to mitigate them.
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Robert Steel, Undersecretary of the Department of Treasury, speaks about the Bush Administration's Plan to Slow Home Foreclosure at the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs

Robert Steel, Undersecretary of the Department of Treasury, speaks about the Bush Administration's plan to slow home foreclosure during this morning's Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing on "Strengthening our Economy: Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Preservation. (0:41)
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