Posted on 02/18/2009 9:22:44 AM PST by sickoflibs
PHOENIX - President Barack Obamas plan to tackle the foreclosure crisis will spend $75 billion in an effort to prevent up to 9 million Americans from losing their homes.
In tandem, the Treasury Department said it would double the size of its lifeline to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government, which seized the mortgage finance companies last fall, said Wednesday it would absorb up to $200 billion in losses at each company.
The plan, which Obama is releasing later Wednesday, is more ambitious than initially expected and more expensive. It aims to aid borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are currently worth, and borrowers who are on the verge of foreclosure.
All of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis, Obama says in a prepared text of remarks scheduled shortly after 12 noon EST Wednesday at a Phoenix area high school.
Headlining the plan was a $75 billion Homeowner Stability Initiative, under which would provide incentives to lenders to cut monthly mortgage payments to sustainable levels. It defines this at no more than 31 percent of a homeowners income.
Another key component: a new program aimed at helping homeowners said to be under water with dwellings whose value have sunk below the principal still owing on their mortgages. Such mortgages have traditionally been almost impossible to refinance. But the White House said its program will help 4 to 5 million families do just that.
Of the nearly 52 million U.S. homeowners with a mortgage, about 13.8 million, or nearly 27 percent, owe more on their mortgage than their house is now worth, according to Moodys Economy.com
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
“IF you have equity in your home...NO help for you”
sarc was “on” in my previous post...
0bama is rewarding bad behavior. Noyhing good will come of this.
Thanks for the detailed examination.
I still do not see this as a broad miracle worker as the press will frame it even if it is not limited to Fannie/Freddie for verge of foreclosure category.
We should all call and demand our mortgage get reduced and a government job. Lets all jump in the wagon.
I feel ya...and by that logic, what's the point in paying off student loans once you've graduated???
Good point. That will be the second argument in my arsenal.
To clueless president: We are all paying a price for the devastation in 401(k) values, too. Maybe we should chip in and restore the value of all poor people's 401(k) plans so they don't feel bad? /sac/
This idiot who is falsely occupying the White House is every bit the communist that we think he is.
I like the addition idea. mmmmmmmmm
Yeah.... we're in this thing from the PAYING side...
Spot on! The black communist movement in high gear. Where, oh where, is Angela Davis in all of this? I miss her hair!
I think we need to ask which, at this moment, is the greater social ill: allowing people to escape the consequences of bad financial decisions, or removing them from their homes?
The housing market is undergoing a readjustment. Overvalued homes will never again be worth as much as they were in, say, 2005. Obviously, people were not expecting that when they bought in. Also, unemployment is going up, and people weren’t expecting to lose the jobs that allowed them to pay those mortgages.
Beyond the crime bred by empty houses, there’s also the fact that home ownership makes people better citizens. Home owners are more law-abiding and more likely to be involved in their communities. So, there is some good in helping people ride out this readjustment.
Probably a dumb question, but how can the Government force these lenders to refi/restructure a loan to somebody that lost their job and there is no job for the lender in the near or far future?
Sorry, meant how can a mortgagee afford the payments if he does not have a job!
All of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis, Obama says...
Us? Correction: all of YOU are paying a price for this home mortgage circus. Obam-bam, do me and US a big favor by not including yourself with US. You are not welcome here.
Gawd, this man makes me sick.
So does this mean Hussein is going to help Octomom, Nadya Suleman? Hell, she’s only *10* months behind in her mortgage payments.
http://www.tmz.com/2009/02/18/octomom-nadya-suleman-foreclosure/
Are you by chance one of those who “bought” a house with no money down or cashed out with home equity loans during the mania—and are now thrilled to have won a jackpot paid for by your fellow Americans?
We used to have a term for people without equity in their houses, they were called renters—and like all renters they can’t stay on beyond what the actual owners agree to. There are worse things in life, and letting prices drop back to where they belong is the quickest and least nationally bankrupting way for us all to get out of this downturn.
My “sarc-dar” wasn’t working
They are adopting the “Cuban plan”...soon you will see 2 or more families in the same house. Probably the tax payer and 2 dead beat families....snicker....(end sarcasm)
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