The home mortgage crisis spirals, taking a toll in the U.S. - 2007-03-05
Even in affluent Orange County, California, the expanding wealth of executives and brokers in the booming mortgage industry was difficult to miss. For Kal Elsayed, a former executive at New Century Financial, a large lender based in Irvine, driving a red convertible Ferrari to work at a company that provided mortgage loans to people with low incomes and weak credit might have appeared ostentatious, he now acknowledges.
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Fed warns refinance mortgage lenders to be stricter - 2007-03-05
The U.S. Federal Reserve, seeking to limit defaults that have hit the subprime refinance mortgage lending market, has informed the banks to scrutinize their underwriting standards and be more transparent with customers about borrowing risks. Lenders must disclose more information about products like adjustable- rate mortgages to people with poor credit histories and make sure that borrowers are able to repay the loans, according to guidelines issued in Washington.
Read the full story at International Herald Tribune