By Ilaina Jonas
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. housing crises, which began in the subprime mortgage market and grew to hobble the U.S. credit and global banking systems, is in severe need of fixing, experts at the Reuters Housing Summit said this week.
Here are few solutions mortgage, housing, construction and consumer advocates suggested:
*Stephen Ross, chief executive office, The Related Cos, on of the largest U.S. developers.
The roughly $150 billion in losses large banks have been forced to take reflects an estimate by accountants of what those banks could incur if the securities were sold. This requirement was born out of the Enron scandal. Ross said it has stifled the banks' willingness to lend and make credit available.
"I think there should be some relaxation of the regulations and recognizing that there's a panic going on. You certainly can't' say in a market where everybody's panicked that it's a real market and that's a real loss. It's one thing if we had those losses, but the delinquencies aren't there. You have to look to see where your delinquencies and where your losses are and, they don't match up."
*Ronald Hermance Jr, CEO of Hudson City Bancorp Inc (HCBK.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a former thrift and now the largest bank in New Jersey.
"A radical way to solve this -- go back to RTC (Resolution Trust Corp) model. Let's bring the assets in. Let's figure out what they're worth. Let's redo them in whatever fashion for these mortgagors. The premium should be paid by the people who originally bought and originated those loans. It should be Citibank , Merrill Lynch, go right down the list. That's what solved the S&L (Saving and Loan) crisis. We all got tagged with the premium. You could actually tag everybody that literally led these people to the trough."
*Bruce Marks, CEO, Neighborhood Assistance Corp of America. Continued...
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