Lack of oversight and regulation paved the way for the subprime lending collapse and the nation's current credit crunch. Steve Tripoli has been covering the story and says the root problem was people forget about risk. He explains with host Amy Scott.

While most Americans seem to be riding out the credit crunch, a large number are struggling to stay afloat. Steve Tripoli reports on the people increasingly swamped by a second wave of debt distress.

Imagine an eBay auction for $20 billion. That's what the Federal Reserve conducted this week to pump cash into our struggling financial system. Banks gobbled the money up at a high penalty rate of 4.65%. Jill Barshay reports.

The Fed's Board of Governors has endorsed new rules to protect home buyers from shady lending practices. But critics are wondering where the Fed's been since August. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.

Construction of new single-family homes hit a 16-year low last month, according to a Commerce Department report this morning. Amy Scott reports this could affect many other industries well into next year.

The Senate today passed a bill that would allow the federal government to back larger refinanced loans and help first-time borrowers. The bill's supporters are hoping it will jump-start the sagging housing market. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.

The world's biggest bank has done something very unusual. It has voluntarily taken $49 billion in potential liabilities and put them on its balance sheet. Jill Barshay reports.

It's not just mortgage holders that suffer when they can't make their payments. Tess talks to Aleksandra Todorova about what happens when your landlord can't pay the bills.

The Fed, the White House and Congress have all put forward their plans to clean up the mortgage mess. Marketplace's Bob Moon asks if any of it will do the trick.