Countrywide ordered to provide internal records (Washington Post)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N) was ordered to turn over internal records to a pension fund that says the mortgage lender may have manipulated stock options granted to top executives.

Nearly Four in 10 Mortgages to Minorities Were Subprime in 2006 (PR Newswire via Yahoo! News)
Mortgage lending to minorities was down seven percent in 2006, according to a new analysis released today at the 3rd Annual Mortgage Lending Industry Emerging Markets and Diversity Conference outside Washington, D.C. The only exception was among African Americans, which showed an increase of 0.6 percent over the prior year.

Schumer `Won't Take No' as He Wields Political, Policy Clout (Bloomberg via Yahoo! News)
Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Charles Schumer has been finding himself in an unfamiliar place among fellow New York Democrats in recent months: the shadows.

House Passes Tax Break For Homeowners Who Rework Mortgages (Nasdaq)
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. House of Representatives moved to help homeowners Thursday by approving a bill that provides an estimated $1.4 billion in tax relief over the next five years.

Lender Countrywide fights back, tells workers, 'Protect our house' (The Tennessean)
For Countrywide Financial Corp., this time it's personal. At least that's what a top executive said.