JPMorgan: Banks Won’t do Mortgage Principal Writedowns

The head of JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday that banks would not consider writing down mortgages for homeowners who can make payments, an idea at the center of talks aimed at fixing the mortgage mess.

“Principal writedown for people who could pay their mortgages? Yeah, that’s off the table,” JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) CEO Jamie Dimon said when asked about the idea after an appearance before a U.S. Chamber of Commerce forum in Washington.