The Credit Fallout Continues...Letter to Senator

Below is another letter I have written to my beloved Senator from Maryland. I think the nice lady actually listens because as before, the day following my letter Dow Jones Newswire posted a note related to the subject:

By Damian Paletta Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., urged the Senate on Friday to pass legislation that would allow Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) to purchase even more expensive mortgages than a bill Frank steered through the House earlier this year permitted.

"It now is clear we underestimated in the House bill how far we should raise the conforming loan limit, and the current crises in the mortgage market demonstrate we should raise it to a higher level." Frank said in a press statement. "I urge the Senate to make this a priority as part of GSE reform, because we now have the opportunity to help homeowners get access to needed credit by allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to play a larger role."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are only allowed to purchase mortgages on the secondary market known as "conforming loans," and these loans cannot be higher than the conforming loan limit, which is presently at $417,000. The House-passed bill would allow government-sponsored enterprises to purchase more expensive mortgages in states where the cost of housing is higher, but Frank and Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., said Friday that the companies should be able to buy even more expensive loans.

Many of the current problems in the housing and credit markets are with subprime mortgages and "jumbo" loans that the GSEs aren't permitted to buy.

If the Senate passed a bill raising the conforming loan limit, House and Senate negotiators could agree on compromise language before the bill is sent to the White House. [end]

Seems someone may be listening:-) Now to my letter...

Dear Senator Mikulski, 15 August 2007

I am writing to follow up on my urgent request that you engage the Fed and Treasury in sorting out a solution for the secondary mortgage market crises that is upon us.

I was pleased to see some recognition of the problem by Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Paulson however no action has been taken other than to calm bank interchange rates with short term cash infusions of various sorts.

This letter is to offer specific actions that need to be taken immediately.

1) Increase the cap on Fannie Mae conforming loans by no less than 50%.
There has been talk of raising their overall portfolio limit. This is not necessary. It is absolutely crucial that the cap be lifted dramatically. As you know there are states like Maryland, New York and California where average home prices exceed $417,000 (the current cap) by a large margin.
Fannie & Freddie will NOT buy any junk off the market or be given the authority to invest in any sub prime loans existing on the market.

2) Force the major Wall Street banks (i.e.; JP Morgan, Goldman, Bear Sterns etc.) to pony up enough cash to create a “Fund” that will have the purpose of providing liquidity to the secondary market for loans. This “Fund” will likely need $250 billion in hard cash to function.
Note: This fund is NOT to “rescue” the garbage loans Wall Street packaged and sold to “investors” over the past few years. These loans were garbage, the credit standards ignored and “investors” should loose, period. There should be no purchases of these loans by this fund.
However, this fund is to provide whatever liquidity is necessary for sound lenders currently operating in the market to continue making qualifying home loans. This means purchasing their loans to be securitized and sold when market conditions improve.
In addition, this fund should provide the liquidity lenders need to refinance the garbage loans made by mortgage brokers with Wall Street’s blessing ONLY where the borrower (i.e.; citizen homeowner) has QUALIFING INCOME & CREDIT for a new loan. These refinances should be done where the borrower’s total out of pocket refinance costs are capped at 1% of the new loan amount (including transfers, taxes etc.)
This fund will NOT act as a “bail out” for any individual lender.

3) The government should seriously consider using Social Security receipts to purchase high quality AAA rated home loans form the market immediately.

Thank you for considering my options. Action needs to be taken now.

As you know the latest potential victim is the largest home lender in the country, Countrywide Finance. This company also functions as a bank taking deposits from citizens. The failure of institutions that are also retail banks will be of grave consequence to the American Economy!

Sincerely,