durban

WASHINGTON — A top Democrat on Monday warned the nation’s banks that, unless they get more aggressive in modifying mortgages to prevent foreclosure, Congress will renew previous efforts to empower families to keep their homes through bankruptcy. But U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the upper-chamber’s second-ranking Democrat, also gave the banks three months to comply with his ultimatum — a span over which roughly 1 million new homeowners are projected to enter foreclosure.

As The Washington Independent reported yesterday, a small group of Senate Democrats is pushing to revive the mortgage loan cramdown idea — a sure sign of frustration as foreclosures continue to pile up. The Senate in April defeated a cramdown proposal, which involves allowing federal judges to modify, or “cramdown,” the terms of a [...]