California AG asks halt to foreclosures in state on GSE mortgages.

The New York Times (2/28, Dewan, Subscription Publication) reports, "California's attorney general, Kamala D. Harris, has ratcheted up the pressure on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to allow debt reduction on their home loans by asking the mortgage finance giants to halt foreclosures in the state. In a letter to Edward J. DeMarco, the regulator who controls Fannie and Freddie, Ms. Harris asked that foreclosures be suspended until his agency, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, completes a promised review of its policy forbidding debt reduction for delinquent homeowners who owe more than their home is worth." Harris has already "suggested that Mr. DeMarco should resign because he was not doing enough to help the housing market recover." DeMarco has cited costs to taxpayers in opposing debt reduction.

        The Los Angeles Times (2/28, Lazo) reports, "Harris' request for a foreclosure pause comes on the heels of a multistate mortgage settlement that will require the nation's largest mortgage servicers to reduce principal for certain borrowers."