Sustainability In Business

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“Emboldened by the fraud allegations against giant Goldman Sachs & Co., the Obama administration and Senate Democrats will push for a showdown this week on their sweeping overhaul of financial regulations — a confrontation that echoes the epic battle over healthcare.”

“In documents Goldman submitted to the SEC in September 2009, after the regulator officially notified Goldman of possible civil charges, the investment bank argued that other investment banks also hadn’t fully disclosed to CDO investors the involvement of third-party hedge funds, namely Magnetar.”

” The Arizona Department of Housing today received more than $2 million from NeighborWorks America, a national non-profit created by Congress to support community revitalization, for counseling to families and individuals facing a home foreclosure. The money will be disbursed by the department’s Housing Finance Authority.”

Bank of America plans to waive mortgage payments for up to nine months for those jobless and collecting unemployment benefits, according to the Charlotte Observer. There’s a bit of a catch though: borrowers must agree to hand over the house if they’re unable to find a job within those nine months.

“This day is just getting weirder by the minute, as the floodwall holding all the pent-up Goldman inquiries finally breaks. The latest comes from Hugh Son at Bloomberg who informs that Elijah Cummings and Peter Defazio now insist that the SEC should “widen its probe to determine whether securities backed by bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc. were improperly created.” “

A few weeks ago I pondered out loud if millions of troubled homeowners, without the burden of a monthly mortgage payment, were instead spending their money on other things — and if that might explain at least some of the recent strength in consumer spending. Wow, did that ever open a can of worms.

“GMAC Mortgage said it plans to launch a virtual sales network to market its mortgage products. The company, a subsidiary of Fort Washington-based GMAC Residential Capital, said it expects to attract more home buyers to its mortgage lending services by offering a more flexible alternative to traditional branches.”

“Going forward, borrowers who previously experienced a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure won’t have to wait as long to get approved for a subsequent mortgage.”

“Although housing is beginning to stabilize, excess inventory and shadow supply may hinder continued recovery, according to the April 2010 Economic Outlook released Monday by Fannie’s Mae’s Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group.”