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U.S. unveils plans for offshore wind farms
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Federal Housing Administration Commissioner David Stevens said an independent audit will show FHA reserves have dropped below their mandated limit.
The FHA, which now insures almost 25 percent of the nation's new mortgages, has been hit with escalating defaults. For the first time in its 75-year history, it could be forced to ask Congress for emergency assistance, The Washington Post reported Friday.
It could also raise premiums for borrowers, but raising prices would be politically unpopular as the housing market has only recently begun to recover from a prolonged slump.
Congress has mandated the FHA keep reserves at 2 percent or more of all loans it guarantees.
"There's nothing more serious that we're addressing right now, outside the housing crisis in general, than this issue," Stevens said.
Stevens said the FHA was "absolutely not going to Congress and asking for money."
Instead, he proposed a series of measures, including hiring a chief risk officer and having lenders raise their own reserves that cover cases of fraud.
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The stampede by wealthy states for arable land across Africa and other developing regions could trigger a series of conflicts.
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The French military electronics giant Thales is negotiating with Saudi Arabia for a contract, worth up to $3 billion, to upgrade the kingdom's air-defense network, particularly those guarding key military and government sites.
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Home prices in the U.S. decreased 4.7 percent in 2011, achieving the fifth consecutive annual loss after prices fell five straight months in a row in the second half of the year....
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The U.S. economy took a solid jump forward in January with the addition of 230,000 jobs, the Department of Labor said Friday.
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