President Bush announced last Friday that troubled homeowners may be able to receive help from the federal government. His focus is mainly on reforming the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) by allowing sub-prime borrowers to refinance into FHA-insured mortgages. Bush urged Congress to further reform the FHA by lowering down payment requirements, increasing loan limits, and creating pricing flexibility. He also called for a foreclosure-avoidance initiative and warned that the Administration would be increasing its efforts to hold brokers accountable for fraud and force them to disclose complex fees clearly to borrowers. Please read the full statement and view additional resources on President Bush's initiatives to avoid foreclosure. Additionally, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke also warned that sub-prime lending problems were affecting financial markets and threatening to slow economic growth in his speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's economic summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. These remarks have led many industry leaders to believe Congress will remain focused on financial services issues.