WASHINGTON - Federal regulators, who met with bankers yesterday at the Treasury Department in Washington, still lack reliable estimates on the extent of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Three months after they asked banks to modify loans for borrowers at risk of default, agencies have little data on what lenders and loan servicers have done, officials say. The authorities, including the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., want to stem defaults jeopardizing the six-year economic expansion.
"There needs to be agreement and commitment to modify the loans, and there needs to be a transparent process whereby we can monitor the agreement," said FDIC chairwoman Sheila Blair.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson convened the meeting as reports showed a deepening housing recession. The median price of a new house dropped 13 percent in October from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said yesterday, while fewer homes were sold than economists anticipated.
"The purpose of this meeting was to have a joint briefing on progress from the mortgage industry on reaching as many struggling homeowners as possible," said Treasury spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli.
