Treasury officials met with about 10 leading mortgage firms yesterday to figure out why they have not helped more distressed homeowners, pressing the lenders to do better.

A federal appeals court is nearing a decision on a battle between Chevy Chase Bank and a Wisconsin couple that could for the first time enable homeowners across the country to band together in class-action lawsuits against mortgage firms and get their loans canceled.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mortgage firms Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) would require their mortgage lending partners to have independent appraisals of home values under a deal being thrashed out with New York's attorney general, sources familiar with a draft deal said on late Monday.

Banks were reeling from a credit crunch. Mortgage firms were collapsing. A steep recession was looming. So the U.S. government set up a corporation to buy troubled home loans and distressed properties, stabilizing the financial system.

President Bush will announce this afternoon an agreement with major mortgage firms to freeze interest rates for five years for financially troubled homeowners -- a plan advocates say will help forestall a major foreclosure crisis but some conservatives say amounts to a bailout of people who made bad financial decisions.

Discussions bubble about whether the current real estate woes in many parts of the country -- slow sales, rising foreclosures, collapses of mortgage firms -- could push the U.S. business climate into a deep economic quagmire. What do you think the chances are that the national economy falls into a true recession in the coming year? Very high High Low Very low

Discussions bubble about whether the current real estate woes in many parts of the country -- slow sales, rising foreclosures, collapses of mortgage firms -- could push the U.S. business climate into a deep economic quagmire. What do you think the chances are that the national economy falls into a true recession in the coming year? Very high High Low Very low

Discussions bubble about whether the current real estate woes in many parts of the country -- slow sales, rising foreclosures, collapses of mortgage firms -- could push the U.S. business climate into a deep economic quagmire. What do you think the chances are that the national economy falls into a true recession in the coming year? Very high High Low Very low

Uganda: Affordable Mortgages; Kampala Slums Sitting On GoldAllAfrica.com, Washington - 17 hours agoI pointed out that instead of the mortgage firms advertising their interest rates, it would be more attractive if their adverts were more informative in ...