Alt-A

Banks Tighten Belts Further on Mortgages Amid Credit-Freeze 

As the nation’s troubled economy incites fear and loathing among consumers and lenders alike, foreign and domestic banks further tightened access to mortgage credit over the past three months, the Federal Reserve reported Monday. The Fed’s senior loan-officer survey, sent out to 55 domestic banks and 21 foreign banks in early October, indicated that the large majority of domestic banks reported tightening their lending standards on prime, nontraditional and subprime residential mortgages over the past three months.