| Federal home loan banks get extra mortgage power
The Federal Home Loan Bank system can increase purchases of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities by $100 billion over two years in the latest government effort to stabilize the devastated market for mortgage-backed assets.
The 12 regional banks, including Federal Home Loan Bank Des Moines, can up purchases of securities issued by the two government-sponsored companies to 600 percent of capital from 300 percent, the Federal Housing Finance Board, which oversees the banks, said Monday.
The aim is to inject liquidity into a market that has seized up amid a global credit crunch sparked by the U.S. housing market downturn. .
Citizens' Rates Likely Static
TALLAHASSEE - Legislation to maintain below-market rates of state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and lessen the amount all Florida policyholders would pay in assessments after a big hurricane won approval from Senate lawmakers Tuesday. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee approved a bill, backed by Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, to reduce the state's Hurricane Catastrophe Fund by $3 billion, which would shed some of the risk the state took on last year to lower premiums. A House committee approved a similar measure last month. But there's a downside: Homeowner rates statewide might go up about 3 percent if the "cat fund," which provides low-cost reinsurance to private insurers, is reduced. The possibility of slightly higher rates is a risk some lawmakers and state officials are willing to take if it means less exposure for the state.
Keep homes safe with wind inspections
Tami Torres is program administrator of the My Safe Florida Home program, which has mounted a new publicity initiative to let Florida homeowners know they're eligible to receive free wind inspections. The inspectors can let homeowners know whether they're eligible for discounts on their property insurance, and make recommendations for improvements to harden homes and make them eligible for additional discounts. In coastal areas of the state, homeowners even may be eligible for a $5,000 grant to help with the cost of hardening their homes. Torres spoke with Sentinel staff writer Anika Myers Palm.
Question: Even though you're trying to get more people through this publicity initiative now, has the drumbeat of calls seeking wind inspections from My Safe Florida Home remained steady?
Answer: On April 23, 2007 [when we relented], what we found was fewer people were applying.
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