Free Republic

PHOENIX, Ariz. – ACORN members are celebrating President Obama's announcement today of the "Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan," the first federal effort to fight foreclosures since the crisis that brought down the economy began two years ago. For years, ACORN has been advocating repeal of the ban on judicial modifications, a central plank in the Obama plan that Congress should immediately take up in a must-pass bill and get to the President in March. Obama also proposes administrative actions to spend $75 billion of the Financial Stabilization Fund on facilitating modifications and to require companies receiving taxpayer assistance to use...

President Obama, calling the housing meltdown a "crisis unlike we've ever known," rolled out a $75 billion plan Wednesday that his administration hopes will keep as many as 9 million families in their homes. The announcement in Phoenix comes a day after he signed a $787 billion economic rescue package that combines spending and tax cuts aimed at saving and creating millions of jobs. The foreclosure prevention plan 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...

If you are a mortgage holder who is either struggling with crushing payments, bitter for having overpaid for your home during the bubble, or who has extravagantly refinanced when prices were rising, the government's landmark $700 billion bailout package has an important message for you: stop making your mortgage payments . . . immediately. Furthermore, if you believe that with some planning and sacrifice you may be able to meet your mortgage obligations, the government's message is clear: relax, don't bother. While angry voters have labeled the package as a bailout for Wall Street, it is more akin to a...

Based on the federal government's figures, drawn from all the alleged troubled financial institutions' own records after the close of 2007, 1.3 million households were in the initial stages of foreclosure in the entire United States. It is my own best educated guess that nonforeclosures, with on-time-paying homeowners in America, range from 100 million to 130 million households. This would make the percentage of home foreclosures, out of the total number of home buyers, approximately 1 percent at the minimum and 2 percent at the maximum. Where's the crisis? Even if the percentage of home foreclosures today is 4 percent,...

VAN NUYS (CBS) ― As much as I hate hospitals (and let me be clear, I find the combination of suffering and germs truly unbearable), there are few things more depressing than animal shelters these days. Impacted with fuzzy friends sitting behind bars and "surrendered by owner" signs, they have become one of many starkly painful indicators of these trying times. This is no longer just an economic downturn or a debate over whether we're experiencing a recession; the mortgage meltdown is robbing Los Angeles residents of their homes, pride, and most devastating for some, their pets. The city, desperate...

Have you ever heard of a 1099 shortfall? Well, if you're about to lose your house through foreclosure, you had better bone on this little gem the IRS has waiting for you! You can't pay your mortgage. The lender forecloses. Nobody bids for your home at auction, or they don't bid enough to pay off your loan. The mortgage company forgives the balance you owe on your loan ... and guess what? You have to declare the loan balance that has been forgiven as income .. and pay taxes! Don't you just love our present tax system? Don't you wish...

Foreclosures May Jump As ARMs Reset By J.W. ELPHINSTONE NEW YORK - In 2003, Anita Britten refinanced her two-story brick cottage in Lithonia, Ga. using a hybrid adjustable rate mortgage, or ARM. Her lender reassured her that she could refinance out of the riskier loan into a traditional one when her interest rate started to reset. Three years later, Britten can't get a new mortgage and her monthly payment has jumped by a third in six months. She can't afford her payments and may face foreclosure if her financial situation doesn't change. As more ARMs adjust upward and housing prices...