Treasury Dept.

October 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan called on Congress to approve three important measures to improve housing and the housing market for Americans: extension of the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit for a limited period, extension of higher loan limits for home mortgages, and secure funding for the Housing Trust Fund.    » read more »

Hundreds of Thousands Illegally Taking Advantage of Credit, Costing Taxpayers Over $100 Million

October 29, 2009 -- Washington, DC - With new reports that hundreds of thousands are illegally taking advantage of a tax credit to help get first-time homebuyers into the housing market without actually purchasing a home, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today co-sponsored legislation that would crack down on fraud and improve oversight of the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

The U.S. Treasury Department Inspector General released a report this month revealing167 schemes and over 100,000 individual cases of fraud related to the first-time homebuyer tax credit - costing taxpayers over $100 million.    » read more »

Clean Renewable Energy Bonds Awarded to More Than 800 Recipients Nationally

October 27, 2009 --
WASHINGTON--As part of the Obama Administration's efforts to spur renewable energy production, the U.S. Department of Treasury today announced the allocation of $2.2 billion in Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) for 805 recipients across the country.

Funded by the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), these energy bonds help government agencies, public power providers, and cooperative electric companies obtain lower cost financing for clean energy development projects.    » read more »

Sen. Kohl Announces Treasury Initiative To Help Wisconsin Families Gain Access To Affordable Housing

10/19/09 -- WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Herb Kohl announced that the United States Treasury Department will begin purchasing mortgage revenue bonds allowing housing finance agencies, such as the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), to continue their affordable home loan program and other housing development projects move forward. These programs provide housing solutions for low and moderate income families across the state.    » read more »

Report Fails to Indicate Chinese Currency Manipulation

October 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) issued the following statement in response to today’s release of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s semiannual Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies:

“China’s unfair currency manipulation hurts Ohio manufacturers and workers. For the better part of this decade, the federal government has ignored this unfair advantage while our trade deficit with China has grown from $85 billion in 1999 to $268 billion in 2008. As a result, we have lost more than four million manufacturing jobs. Best estimates show that currency manipulation amounts to a 40 percent subsidy for Chinese products.    » read more »

62,989 Home Affordable Modifications done under U.S. program through Sept. 30; total of 354,994 trial and completed modifications done in 2009

DES MOINES, Iowa — October 8, 2009 -- Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) said today that it has done 62,989 trial and completed Home Affordable Modifications through Sept. 30; nearly double what the U.S. Treasury reported last month. Also, using its own programs, Wells Fargo has done 292,005 trial and completed home loan modifications.

This brings the total number of modifications Wells Fargo has done this year to 354,994; a 25 percent increase over last month. In addition, the company has refinanced about 987,000 mortgage loans, thereby assisting more than 1.3 million households this year with mortgage payment relief.    » read more »

October 6, 2009 -- Washington, DC -- Congressman Paul Hodes issued the following statement after the release of a new report that shows that the Treasury Department misled the public in statements on the TARP program. Special Inspector General Neil M. Barofsky’s report charges that Treasury officials made inaccurate statements regarding the financial health of some of the nation’s biggest banks while they were receiving billions of dollars in aid from taxpayers.

"The details of this report are troubling," said Congressman Hodes. "Treasury officials must be accountable to American taxpayers, especially when taxpayers are being asked to pay for the mistakes and greed of Wall Street. Granite Staters have a right to know exactly how their tax dollars are being spent.    » read more »

October 1, 2009 -- Individuals’ genetic information will have greater protections through new regulations issued today by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury.

The interim final rule will help ensure that genetic information is not used adversely in determining health care coverage and will encourage more individuals to participate in genetic testing, which can help better identify and prevent certain illnesses.    » read more »

Funding will expand loan opportunities to small businesses, support community-based organizations

October 2, 2009 -- (Washington, D.C) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) announced that three Washington state community-based financial organizations have been selected to receive a total of $2,455,000 under the fiscal year 2009 funding round of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The funding will allow the organizations to expand capital and economic opportunity to small businesses and low-income families across the state.    » read more »

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 2 -- Bank of America Corporation today said the Board of Directors has authorized approximately $713 million in dividend payments to the U.S. government under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The company this year has paid the government $1.83 billion in TARP dividends through September 30.

Dividends related to the government's investment in the company under TARP include the following:    » read more »

Geithner, Chu Hold Roundtable Discussion with Energy Companies on Expanding Development of Clean, Domestic Sources of Energy

September 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON– This morning, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu hosted a group of clean energy developers and manufacturers at the White House to discuss how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) is creating jobs and helping expand the development of clean, renewable domestic energy.

At the meeting, Secretaries Geithner and Chu announced $550 million in new awards through the Recovery Act’s 1603 program, bringing the total to more than $1 billion awarded to date to companies committed to investing in domestic renewable energy production.    » read more »

Program Continues to Boost Investment, Employment

September 22, 2009 -- The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) welcomed today’s announcement from the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and Energy of the second round of renewable energy grants (in lieu of tax credits) from the Obama Administration under a program enacted by Congress in the economic recovery package earlier this year. The announcement included grants of $550 million total, with $464 million going to five wind projects.    » read more »

September 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – This morning, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner hosted Attorney General Eric Holder, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director Jim Freis and attorneys general from 12 states to discuss emerging trends and proactive strategies to combat fraud against consumers in the housing markets as well as best practices to bolster coordination across state and federal agencies.

This meeting follows up on an announcement by the Obama Administration in April of a multi-agency crackdown on foreclosure rescue scams and loan modification fraud designed to protect homeowners from predatory financial practices.    » read more »

August 26, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama Administration's effort to strengthen communities and ease pressures on the housing market, the U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced $309 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funding to spur the development of affordable housing units in Arizona, Connecticut, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Vermont.    » read more »

Initial Round of Cash Assistance for Wind, Solar Projects in Eight States Will Create Jobs, Increase Development

September 1, 2009 -- WASHINGTON– Marking a major milestone in the effort to spur private sector investments in clean energy and create new jobs for America’s workers, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced $502 million in the first round of awards from an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) program that provides cash assistance to energy production companies in place of earned tax credits.

The new funding creates additional upfront capital, enabling companies to create jobs and begin construction that may have been stalled until now.    » read more »