The F.D.I.C. may have been too soft on the private equity firms buying IndyMac, the failed California-based bank.

Sheila C. Bair will most likely be kept in her job by the Obama administration, two senior advisers to the Obama transition team said on Wednesday.

Fannie Mae is in talks with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and IndyMac to force it to buy back certain mortgages.

The proposed deal is unusual because it is one of the first transactions involving unregulated private equity firms acquiring a majority stake in a bank holding company.

A proposal from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation could make it harder to get a mortgage from small community banks.

Sheila C. Bair, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, has called for billions in aid for homeowners.

Breaking with the Bush administration’s position, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation proposed to use $24 billion in government financing to help 1.5 million households avoid foreclosure.

The Bush administration is finalizing a plan that could help up to three million homeowners pay their mortgages, people briefed on the proposal said.

The Bush administration is finalizing a plan that could help up to three million homeowners pay their mortgages, people briefed on the proposal said.

Senate lawmakers urged government officials, in effect, to make banks do something for homeowners in return for the billions that the banks are getting from Washington.