After Treasury Secretary Geithner’s speech was postponed Monday to allow lawmakers additional time to focus on the stimulus package, Mr. Geithner is set to address America tomorrow — laying out the Obama Administration’s plan to rescue the financial industry. While many strategies are expected to remain unchanged, here’s a short breakdown of a couple important issues surrounding the second-half of the TARP funds:

Bad Assets: According to CNBC, the bad-bank strategy for dealing with financial institutions’ bad assets will not be included in the Treasury’s financial-rescue plan. Instead, Treasury officials are seeking a solution that utilizes private firms to purchase the bad assets.

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There’s a lot of interest in foreclosure these days from people facing the loss of their home. For those who need to know what to do, we’ve added some information about foreclosure to our website.

This page warns about foreclosure scams that exist primarily to take advantage of people in a precarious situation.

A companion page provides information about the subject — what you need to know and where you need to go. If you are having trouble making your payments, and especially if you’re thinking of responding to offers that promise to make the problem go away, you’ll want to spend some time here.

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) testified before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee yesterday, urging lawmakers to invest a significant portion of the remaining TARP funds in a large-scale loan mod program. Here’s the twist: the coalition is urging lawmakers to do so via eminent domain.

Built upon the argument that current federal loan mod programs have proven ineffective, the NCRC believes that by utilizing the government’s power of eminent domain, “legal impediments regarding the complexity of selling loans held in securitized pools” can be avoided. Under the plan, eminent domain eliminates an investor’s say in the loan mod process, since the government would purchase the property directly.

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For the purposes of a follow up to a story we published on October 30, be sure to read this post from Calculated Risk and the accompanying Wall Street Journal article “Homeowners Wait as Relief Plan Drags.”

The FDIC’s plan to stem foreclosures is designed to convince lenders to rework certain mortgages with the guarantee that the government will cover part or most of any loss sustained from the restructured loan. The plan is expected to benefit between two and three million homeowners. Between $40-$50 billion would be utilized from the Treasury’s $700 billion rescue plan.

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JP Morgan Chase is the latest financial institution to announce a venture that will provide foreclosure assistance to its customers. JP Morgan announced Friday (Oct. 31) they plan to modify $70 billion in subprime and option ARM loans — a plan that could service 400,000 homeowners with either a lower interest rate, a smaller principal, or another more-affordable term. The bank currently holds $27 billion in subprime and $51 billion in option ARM mortgages after purchasing Washington Mutual in September.

Currently, rival Bank of America has two separate foreclosure-assistance initiatives underway. The first which is aimed at providing foreclosure relief to 265,000 of its customers with various types of mortgages, and the other which has been constructed in conjuncture with various states’ attorney generals as part of BOA’s takeover and settlement of Countrywide. BOA plans to spend $8.4 billion in restructuring subprime and option ARM loans from former Countrywide customers.

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The Federal Reserve Banks have established Foreclosure Resource Centers across the US to “help address local and regional challenges in their mortgage markets and local communities.” This page also provides links and information to agencies and organizations that can help consumers get the assistance they need.

According to a report released yesterday by RealtyTrac, foreclosures rose 55% in July from a year ago, and increased 8% in just one month. With policies in place to aid and help homeowners avert from defaulting on their mortgages, why do foreclosures continue to increase?

Diana Olick of CNBC shares the evidence she found that answers why:

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