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Newsbytes
FDIC Issues Foreclosure
Guidance
With the weakness in the housing market and
rising foreclosures, FDIC reminded bankers on July 1 of their
responsibilities for acquiring, holding, and disposing of other real
estate. The agency said a bank’s policies and procedures should
ensure that the institution’s interests in the ORE are protected,
while mitigating the impact on the value of surrounding properties. Some
of the steps outlined in the guidance included: obtaining a new or
updated valuation of the property that complies with state law
requirements; maintaining and protecting the property to maximize the
recovery value; and properly accounting for the value of the property
during the acquisition, holding and disposition phases. Read more
Sanford Joins FFIEC
Paul Sanford was named the new executive
secretary of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on
July 2. He replaces Tamara Wiseman, who returned to the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency. Sanford will be responsible for
coordinating interagency staff task forces that have been established by
FFIEC and for directing the council’s staff. Sanford comes to the
post from serving as a senior instructional designer for Educational
Program Development at OCC. Immediately prior to joining OCC, Sanford
served with FFIEC as a senior program administrator in the Education
Office. He also has served at FDIC as an examiner. Sanford earned a
Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of
Massachusetts and a Masters of Science in Finance from Boston
College. Read more
FTC to Study Identity
Theft
The Federal Trade Commission plans to study
the experiences of identity theft victims by conducting a survey of
consumers who contacted the agency after they were victimized. The
survey would examine the remedies available to victims under the Fair
and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. Among other things, the
law gave consumers the right to place fraud alerts on their credit files
if they are, or suspect they may become, victims of identity theft;
block information on their credit reports that resulted from identity
theft; and obtain free copies of their credit reports. The survey would
seek information from identity theft victims who contacted FTC between
Jan. 1 and May 30, 2008, and would inquire about their experiences when
they contacted one or more credit reporting agencies; and when they
sought to use their legal rights. The agency plans to use the survey
results to guide efforts to enforce the law and educate consumers and
the consumer reporting industry about their rights and duties. Read
more
Home Equity Delinquencies
Rise
Continued stress in the housing market
combined with general weakness in the overall economy contributed to an
increase in the delinquency rates for home equity lines of credit and
bank cards during the first quarter of 2008, according to statistics
released on July 2 by the American Bankers Association. The percentage
of home equity lines that were more than 30 days past due rose by 14
basis points to 1.10 percent during the first quarter. This was the
highest recorded rate for this category since 1997. In the same
period, bank card delinquencies rose by 13 basis points to 4.51
percent. This is slightly above the five-year average delinquency
rate of 4.40 percent. ABA Chief Economist James Chessen blamed the rise
in delinquencies on the confluence of anemic personal income growth,
falling home equity and stock values, job losses, and rising food and
energy prices. The composite ratio, which tracks eight closed-end
installment loan categories, fell by 3 basis points to 2.62
percent. This was largely due to a decline in indirect auto loan
delinquencies, which fell by 4 basis points to 3.09 percent. Read more
FDIC Hosts Mortgage
Forum
Strategies for promoting responsible and sustainable mortgage lending to
low- and moderate-income families will be the focus of the
FDIC-sponsored forum on July 8th in Arlington, Va. The forum will
feature speakers from banking, investment, government, academia and the
nonprofit community to discuss market and regulatory incentives for
encouraging responsible mortgage lending to these borrowers. Some of the
speakers include: Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer James Dimon. After the forum, FDIC will hold
a meeting of its Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion to examine
ways to encourage mortgage credit availability to lower-income
households. Both events will be available for viewing live via a Web
cast on the Internet. Read more
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