Bernanke pushes government help to curb foreclosures [View All]

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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fed6-2008may06,0,5830243.story

The Fed chairman says failure to act could destabilize communities, reduce property values and lower tax revenues.
By Peter G. Gosselin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 6, 2008
WASHINGTON -- As the House prepared to take aggressive steps to stem the wave of home foreclosures, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke on Monday night endorsed the need for government intervention, saying that letting markets take their own course could "destabilize communities, reduce the property values of nearby homes and lower municipal tax revenues."

In a speech in New York, the central bank chairman reiterated his controversial call for lenders and mortgage service companies to consider cutting the principal of some customers' loans to prevent foreclosure.



Blog: L.A. real estate market"When the source of the problem is a decline of the value of the home well below the mortgage's principal balance, the best solution may be a write-down, perhaps combined with" a government-orchestrated refinancing, Bernanke told a Columbia Business School audience.

regh regh regh write down regh