The Federal Housing Administration is on the brink of the next big government bailout. Potentially. Yet Commissioner Carol Galante insists there is strength ahead.
Dennis Smith has been watching homebuilder numbers in Las Vegas for 23 years, and he hasn't seen anything like this. When asked about a recovery in housing, he laughs. "You're joking, right?" he says.
It's probable that half of all the low-FICO score and high-loan-to-value loans that were backed by the FHA during the peak of the housing bubble will default.
Given the magnitude and range of legal claims facing Bank of America, my view is that the bank's parent company must be restructured in order to end the uncertainty with respect to the liquidated and unliquidated claims against the bank.
