Growing problems in commercial real estate won't set off a new banking crisis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Friday.

The House Financial Services Committee passed by a large margin a bill that toughens regulation on credit rating agencies, and for the first time, sets conditions that would allow investors to sue the agencies.

It looks like another round for David against Goliath as renters appear to have foiled the landmark $5.4 billion 2006 deal for two Manhattan apartment complexes.

The rate of decline in home prices is slowing so that the bottom of the market is now expected to be reached in March, First American CoreLogic said in its monthly analysis.

The federal bankruptcy court in Rhode Island announced it would follow a loss-mitigation program pioneered in New York that applies when a debtor's principal residence is at risk of foreclosure.

While recent changes to the Internal Revenue Service's rules relating to modifications held by real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs) allow more flexibility in restructuring commercial mortgage-backed securities, the overall impact of the changes is not expected to be significant, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said.

A number of banks are likely to return government bailout money soon, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Wall Street's main trade group.

Investors are slowly regaining their appetite for risk and looking for gems or even valuable scrap among the wreckage of the commercial real estate market.

A federal bankruptcy judge in New York created new uncertainties for mortgage servicers when he expunged a mortgage debt after the servicer could not provide sufficient documentation that it had a claim on the home.

Faced with continuing deterioration in the commercial real estate market, Capmark Financial Group proceeded to file for bankruptcy protection as it warned it might last month.