Sub-Prime Lenders Rescued...

The risky-mortgage meltdown appears to be heading for a softer landing thanks to a new $20 billion safety net thrown up by Freddie Mac yesterday. As foreclosures on home mortgages peaked - soaring 47 percent in March - leaders in Congress and the banking industry applauded the aggressive rescue move, the largest yet to curb the crisis for slow-paying mortgage holders.
Freddie Mac - a government-created money pool that finances most American mortgages - said it would buy at least $20 billion of troubled mortgages to curb their collapse, and give homeowners a chance at keeping up with mortgage payments.

Washington Mutual also said yesterday it would refinance $2 billion in shaky mortgages to prevent borrowers from losing their homes. Fannie Mae, the No. 1 mortgage financer, announced it also is offering new options so that lenders can help subprime borrowers refinance out of high-interest adjustable-rate mortgages or other difficult loans.

More than 149,000 of the risky mortgages went into foreclosure last month - triple the level of a year earlier and the highest mark since market watchers began collecting such data in 2005. more... PAUL THARP,April 19, 2007