by Tanta on 8/22/2008 01:05:00 PM

Long-time readers will remember the MMI, or Muddled Metaphor Index, which was basically a long-running gag at the media's expense. Now I've been provoked again, and so I introduce the MTI, or Mortgage Telephone Index. I'm sort of hoping this will be the only entrant into the series, but you never know. The MTI features reporters and editors who apparently spend all their day on bad cell phone connections and do not actually read much about mortgages. This produces an effect like the old game of "Telephone," with equally hilarious results.

Today's Washington Post brings us "Bad Begets Worse," which is actually the title of this article and did I not make that up.

Freddie Mac, for instance, no longer finances no-money-down mortgages, nor does it continue to buy or guarantee mortgages given to people who have failed to document their finances. Fannie Mae has withdrawn from the market for all-day loans, which are considered risky because they require less documentation than traditional prime loans.

No, Fannie Mae has not suddenly decided that mortgage loans need to have terms of more than 24 hours to be eligible for purchase. It appears that someone said "Alt-A" and someone else heard "all-day."

Presumably we will be able to tell if we have any readers at the Washington Post by how long it takes for that to go away . . . .

(Hat tip, Michael!)