Saturday May 21 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

European Leaders Agree: Greece Needs A New Bailout Plan That Could Include Restructuring - (www.businessinsider.com) But the UK wants no part in another bailout. European leaders have concluded that Greece needs changes to its bailout program that could include the restructuring of its debt, according to Reuters sources. The decision, made by those in attendance at a secret Friday meeting exposed by Der Spiegel, is likely to include a reduction in Greece's bailout interest rate and easing of austerity pressures on the country. Support for a debt restructuring in Greece also appears to be rising amongst European leaders. Such a move could hit banks throughout the eurozone, exposed to the country's sovereign debt. Further ratcheting up the pressure on the restructuring side, UK finance minister George Osbourne said Britain would not take part in another bailout because he didn't think the first one worked at alleviating market pressure on the country.

Fannie Mae seeks $8.5 billion from taxpayers - (www.reuters.com) Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae on Friday said it would ask for an additional $8.5 billion from taxpayers as it continues to suffer losses on loans made prior to 2009. The largest U.S. residential mortgage funds provider reported a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $8.7 billion, or $1.52 per diluted share, in the first quarter. Including the latest request, the firm has taken about $100 billion from the U.S. government since it was seized in 2008, though it has also paid about $12.4 billion to taxpayers in interest. Loans made in the past two years have been more profitable than loans made during the housing boom in preceding years. "As we move forward, we are building a strong new book of business that now accounts for 45 percent of the company's overall single-family guaranty book of business," said Michael Williams, the firm's president and chief executive officer.

Greek Aid Program Needs a ‘Further Adjustment,’ Juncker Says After Meeting - (www.bloomberg.com) Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the group of euro-area finance ministers, said today that Greece’s financial assistance program “does need a further adjustment” that will be discussed at the group’s next meeting. Juncker, speaking to reporters in Luxembourg said that EU officials are “excluding the restructuring option which is discussed heavily in certain quarters of the financial markets.” “We think that Greece does need a further adjustment program,” Juncker said. “This has to be discussed in detail.” European finance officials met in Luxembourg for an unscheduled session that included talks on Greece. Earlier, Spiegel magazine reported that ministers were convening an emergency meeting after Greece threatened to withdraw from the euro region. Greece rejected the report, according to a finance ministry statement.

The ULTIMATE Proof That Silver And Gold Mania Has Gone Insane - (www.businessinsider.com) If you thought that gold-dispensing ATMs were a sign of a top to the precious metals bubble, think again. We've found the ultimate. On eBay, you can find people selling 1 lb. ingots of .999 pure ... copper! That's right. Obsession with collective metals has reached its absurd conclusion of people thinking that this purely industrial metal is somehow a collective because it's stamped out into gold-like bars. Even more hysterical? The seller advertises copper as "the New Silver." (Gold is so old hat). And even more hysterical than that. The scarcity value is completely undermined by the seller's line: "There is no limit to how many you buy!"

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Debt doesn't go away when lender writes it off - (www.latimes.com) Dear Liz: About two years ago, I bought a new car but was lied to about how much it would cost. After a year I simply could not afford the car and could not refinance as I was incredibly upside-down. The auto lender wasn't willing to help, so I did a voluntary repossession. Nissan came after me for the balance remaining after auction but eventually wrote it off as a bad debt (this shows on my credit report). The debt has been sold twice to collection companies that call me on my cellphone and at work but don't leave messages. I can see they're checking my credit but they haven't reported the debt on my credit report. Is this legal? I feel if Nissan wrote the debt off (and I am suffering from that via credit reporting), there should no longer be debt to collect. Answer: When a lender charges off a bad debt, the debt itself doesn't disappear. The lender is simply declaring that it doesn't think it will be able to collect. The debt can be sold to collection agencies, which can post the collection account on your credit reports. The charge-off is what typically does the most damage to your credit scores, although the collection accounts increase the toll. There are limits to how long creditors can pursue you in court over debts. The limits vary according to each state's statute of limitations. There is also a limit on how long bad debts can show up on your credit reports (typically seven years and 180 days from when the account first went delinquent).

OTHER STORIES:

SAC Capital’s ‘Cohen Account’ Examined by U.S. in Insider-Trading Probe - (www.bloomberg.com)

German MP says Berlin should help Greece leave euro - (www.reuters.com)

EU Said to Consider Requiring Collateral for Extra Greek Aid - (www.bloomberg.com)

Ireland expects debt restructuring in 3 years: report - (www.reuters.com)

Analysis: Europe groping for new Greek crisis plan - (www.reuters.com)

Volcker warns of danger from U.S. deficits - (www.reuters.com)

Wells Fargo Boosts Excess Legal Costs to $1.7 Billion on Mortgage Probes - (www.bloomberg.com)