Ms. AMY WALTZ(ph) (American Home Mortgage, Bethesda, Maryland): I was pretty openmouthed, stammering, flabbergasted.

NPR: Housing Market Problems Lead to Job Cuts

Last week, American Home Mortgage Investment, the 10th-biggest home lender, filed for bankruptcy.

FORBES: Magazine Article

American Home Mortgage joins more than 50 lenders in bankruptcy this year.

NPR: Sen. Clinton to Call for Foreclosure Bailout Fund

Bankinter, a retail bank, has responded to fury over home repossessions by introducing the first Spanish mortgage that can be walked away from, American-style, simply by handing over the keys.

ECONOMIST: Spain's indignants

Freddie Mac was started in 1970 to expand the market for American home buying by purchasing mortgages from lenders and repackaging them as mortgaged-backed securities to create a secondary mortgage market.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The housing bubble burst and caused a situation where a vast number of American homeowners saw their mortgages go underwater, the values of their home go lower than the cost of their mortgage.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing