Committee launching probe into efforts to buoy housing market

" Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Saturday that his committee would look into ways for the Treasury Department to speed up policies to help the housing market and whether loan servicers and banks are carrying through on their obligations. Towns said that the panel would look into how the Treasury Department defines "net present value," a key criteria for homeowners participating in the mortgage modification program."