Getting a Second Opinion on Second Liens

"The Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., late last week dispatched a letter to the heads of bank regulators, calling for action on the issue of second liens. Second mortgages held on banks’ balance sheets, according to the congressmen, might be virtually worthless now that house prices across the country have plunged so many homeowners underwater."