WASHINGTON — He helped bring the US economy back from the brink — but now former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke can't even get a mortgage loan.
Bernanke made the eye-opening disclosure — which may reveal more about bean counting by skittish lenders than about any glaring problems with his finances — at a conference in Chicago.
"Just between us," he told Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics at the event, "I recently tried to refinance my mortgage and I was unsuccessful in doing so."
After the audience laughed at the idea of the financial guru's credit woes, Bernanke insisted: "I'm not making that up," Bloomberg News reported.
He then chided the lending industry — which contributed to the US economic meltdown in 2008 by pushing loans to people who were bad credit risks.
"I think it's entirely possible [that lenders] may have gone a little bit too far on mortgage-credit conditions," he said.
"The housing area is one area where regulation has not yet got it right. I think the tightness of mortgage credit lending is still probably excessive."
Bernanke was addressing the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care when he broke the startling news.
On its Web site, the group touts the financial power of the "demographic cohort of age 75-plus totaling 19.2 million and a sector with a market value of approximately $330 billion" — and says Bernanke "is credited with leading the country from a deep recession into recovery."
Property records show the former Fed boss plunked down $839,000 in 2011 for a stately row house east of the Capitol — but took out a sizable $672,000 mortgage. He appears to have put down roughly 20 percent of the home's value.
The property is currently assessed at $885,000, so Bernanke may have been trying to take out some cash or take advantage of low interest rates.
Getting turned down was a stunning slight to Bernanke, who during his years at the helm loosened the Fed's monetary policy and bought back billions of mortgage debt from lenders to stimulate the economy.
His efforts helped bring down mortgage rates to historic lows — and a wave of mortgage refinancing put a huge amount of cash into homeowners' hands.
The former Fed chief appears to be a good credit risk.
He was paid $199,750 a year as head of the central bank and made $250,000 in his first public speaking engagement in March, after stepping down in January.
He is writing his memoirs, which reportedly landed him a $1 million book deal with W.W. Norton.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Ex-Fed boss Bernanke says bank won’t refinance his home loan
Dengan url
http://makananrasaenak.blogspot.com/2014/10/ex-fed-boss-bernanke-says-bank-wonat.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Ex-Fed boss Bernanke says bank won’t refinance his home loan
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Ex-Fed boss Bernanke says bank won’t refinance his home loan
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar