Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has a new job at a think tank, makes $250,000 a speech, and has a lucrative tell-all book in the works, but he and his wife were recently turned down when they tried to refinance the house they bought a decade ago for $839,000.
Bernanke shared that tidbit to illustrate how tight mortgage credit remains. The New York Times’ Neil Irwin says there’s a larger point to be made: Mortgage lenders are too reliant on automated underwriting and Fannie and Freddie. The fact that Bernanke just changed jobs a few months ago probably made him look like a steeper credit risk than he really is, Irwin says. Source: nytimes.com.
