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John McCain will direct his Treasury Secretary to implement an American Homeownership Resurgence Plan (McCain Resurgence Plan) to keep families in their homes, avoid foreclosures, save failing neighborhoods, stabilize the housing market and attack the roots of our financial crisis. America’s families are bearing a heavy burden from falling housing prices, mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and a weak economy. It is important that those families who have worked hard enough to finance homeownership not have that dream crushed under the weight of the wrong mortgage. The existing debts are too large compared to the value of housing. For those that cannot...

Received by email: My Friends, Millions of Americans on Main Street are feeling the effects of our current economic crisis largely brought on by corruption and greed at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Wall Street. Our next president must come into office with a plan to address the very root the failing housing market. Last night, during my debate with Senator Obama, I announced my plan to fix the root of our problem and I'd like to share a little more with you today. If elected president, I will direct my Treasury Secretary to implement an American Homeownership Resurgence Plan...

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 18, 2002 THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you all very much for that kind welcome. I'm here for a couple of reasons. First, I want to thank you all for your service to the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. (Applause.) I'm here to celebrate National Homeownership Month, because I believe owning a home is an essential part of economic security. And I'm concerned about the security of America. (Applause.) ... One of the things that we've got to do is to address problems straight on and deal with them...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In May, Alvin Clavon received a foreclosure notice on the simple, Spanish-style house in South Los Angeles that he shares with his wife and three boys. Clavon bought the place in 2003 with a fixed-rate loan. They painted the walls, fixed the yard and made friends with the neighbors, who let the Clavon boys pick their basil. In 2005, he worked with a mortgage broker to refinance his home with another fixed-rate loan. But on the night before signing, the family was offered an interest-only, adjustable-rate mortgage. Clavon, a 35-year-old executive assistant at a bank, said...

Star Parker The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007 has passed out of Chairman Barney Frank's House Financial Services Committee. It's now headed to the full House for a vote. In the name of protecting the poor from market predators it will in actuality protect the poor from wealth. This is yet a new chapter in the grand liberal tradition that advances the illusion that government micromanagement of private lives and markets will make us better off. We already have laws against fraud and theft. But for liberals, government isn't there to enforce the law. It's there...

One advantage of having a subscription to The Atlantic is finding out what the Democrats propose to do next. Clive Crook in under the rubric of "The Agenda" wrote a recent article on homeownership called Housebound. After agreeing with some benefits of homeownership he then lists the reasons why this is a bad idea. Among his complaints are: Homeowners are less mobile. Homeowners act as cartels interfere with zoning changes, suppress new developments, etc. And, not the least is that they have an unfair advantage in mortage-interest deductions. The last of these, interest deduction for mortgage interest, seems to be...

For the first time since the Carter administration, homeownership in the United States is set to decline over a president’s tenure. When President Bush took office in 2001, homeownership stood at 67.6 percent. It rose as the mortgage bubble inflated but is projected to fall to 67 percent by early 2009, which would come to 700,000 fewer homeowners than when Mr. Bush started. The decline, calculated by Moody’s Economy.com, is inexorable unless the government launches a heroic effort to help hundreds of thousands of defaulting borrowers stay in their homes. ... Federal regulators and Treasury officials are urging mortgage lenders...

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Thank you for joining me. Secretary Paulson and Secretary Jackson gave me an update on the strong fundamentals of our nation's economy. Economic growth is healthy, and just yesterday we learned that our economy grew at a strong rate of 4 percent in the second quarter of this year. Wages are rising, unemployment is low, exports are up, and steady job creation continues. We also had a good discussion about the situation in America's financial markets. The markets are in a period of transition, as participants reassess and re-price risk. This process has been unfolding for...

Like so many young professionals, Pulak Bhuiya wanted a place he could call his own. He graduated from college, got a decent job as a systems analyst for Credit Suisse Bank in Manhattan and got married. -snip But because Bhuiya's Islamic faith prohibits him from taking out an interest-bearing loan, homeownership was out of reach. Then, through friends, Bhuiya, 32, heard about a financing program geared toward Muslims -- one approved by religious scholars and structured to avoid paying interest. Last year, he closed on a four-bedroom, three-bath ranch in Levittown. -snip In 2002, HSBC Bank USA was the first...

Timing is everything. And the critics of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant national mortgage market makers, think the political timing could hardly be better to enact strict limitations on their operations. But the economic timing for the critics' favorite reform -- a draconian reduction in the mortgage portfolios held by the two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) -- could hardly be worse. Just as you don't raise taxes in a recession, neither do you reduce mortgage market liquidity when housing prices are sliding.

California's home ownership rate is the second lowest in the nation, a trend that can only be reversed by easing up on land-use regulations and passing bonds for roads and other infrastructure, an industry group said Wednesday. The home ownership rate is 70 percent nationwide but only 57 percent in California and the Bay Area, according to a report released by the California Building Industry Association, which represents the home building industry. The report ranked California 49th nationwide in terms of home ownership. Only New York, with a home ownership rate of 55 percent, is lower. "There was a time...

With predictions of 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages creeping up to 7 percent next year, mortgage and real-estate brokers say 40-year, fixed-rate loans could become commonplace as people try to get into a home. In its annual forecast, the California Association of Mortgage Brokers, based in Sacramento, projected that mortgage rates will reach an estimated average of nearly 7 percent for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages and that 40-year, fixed-rate loans will become an important option for buyers. "It's all about affording the home," said David DiDio, a mortgage broker and real estate agent with Greene Dream Homes and Loans in Stockton. "Everybody's looking...

Buy a Home, and Drag Society Down is the title of a chin-stroking meditation in the Sunday New York Times News of the Week in Review section. Home ownership has traditionally been viewed as a good thing all around. But is it, after all… entirely? wonders the Times. Certainly, there are positives, but it’s hard to be sure about the role of home-ownership in some things the Times is not at all keen on: "Owning a home relates to a bunch of other things, too, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that homeownership causes or encourages them. For instance, according to...

Dems complain plan would hit California, other blue states hard. A tax reform proposal agreed upon Tuesday by President Bush's advisory panel would eliminate the federal deduction for state and local taxes and sharply limit the tax break for home mortgage interest. That's leading some Democrats in California and New York to assail it as an attack on the blue states -- the ones that voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential election -- which tend to have higher taxes and housing costs. "The Bush panel's recommendations are a double-barreled blast aimed squarely at California and the middle class," state Treasurer...

John Augustus Sutter had a vision. In the 19th century, when Mexican Territoral Gov. Juan Alvarado offered Sutter a grant of land in the great valley of California, the landscape was considered as unremarkable as a sea of grass. But Sutter, who pictured his land as an agricultural empire, wasted no time establishing a trading post in what proved to be a most propitious location. The post, which soon grew into a settlement, was positioned at the confluence of two rivers and was a natural destination point of the overland trails of the Sierra Nevada. As the settlement grew, it...

Things got ugly after Daryl R. Cook's neighbors turned against him. Really ugly. Cook spray-painted his Dunwoody ranch house bright orange and blue. After all, he's a University of Florida graduate. But he wasn't done. Next came the farm animals, some named after famous UF athletes and coaches. Three pigs — Spottie, Dottie and Sausage Patty — root through the dirt in the shade of the house. A trio of goats, known as Donovan and the Gatorettes, keep them company. Spurrier the rooster struts around crowing at all hours. Blue-and-orange concrete alligators, Cook's version of lawn ornaments, dot the landscape....

NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 6-10   Jobless Claims Dropped 21,000 To 330,000 For The Week Ending June 4. (Robert Schroeder, "U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall 21,000 To 330,000," CBS MarketWatch, 6/9/05)   Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan Said The Unemployment Rate Is At "Quite Low Levels Historically." (Alan Greenspan, Testimony, Joint Economic Committee, 6/9/05) May 2005 Was The 24th Straight Month Of Job Growth. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics Website, www.bls.gov, Accessed 6/3/05) The National Association Of Realtors Now Believes Home Sales Will Increase 1.8 Percent Over Last Year. (Kemba J. Dunham, "Home Sales Headed For Record '05," The...

Dalila and William Timal look like any other couple signing a home mortgage. They've picked out paint colors for their new four-bedroom house and can't wait for their 18-month-old son to play in the yard. But they differ from others you'd sometimes see at a loan officer's desk: Neither is a U.S. citizen nor a legal resident. The Timals came to this country from Guatemala in the late '90s and illegally overstayed their visas. Advertisement They are the beneficiaries of a new program by Fifth Third Bank that bases mortgages on an individual taxpayer identification number, or ITIN. Nationwide, increasing...

Fewer single women are waiting for Prince Charming to sweep them off their feet before they buy their first home. The Wall Street Journal reports single women are buying homes in record numbers. "It's like a dream,” said MiMi. “You are just not really there yet. It takes a few weeks to settle in, and say, ‘OK, this is my house!’” MiMi, 29, isn't wasting anytime securing her future. She recently bought her first home. Mimi is a part of a growing segment of single women, armed with buying power, that are unwilling to wait around for Mr. Right before...

Remember all that talk during the just concluded presidential campaign about this being the worst economy since the Great Depression? Or that President Bush's jobs performance is the poorest since Herbert Hoover was in office? Well, with the close of the 2004 calendar year comes the end of Mr. Bush's first term. Maybe without all the distractions and distortions that accompany a political campaign we can better determine what the real economic results are since our 43rd president was inaugurated. Let's begin with jobs. This past Friday's December employment report paints quite a different picture of the U.S. economy than...

By Kathleen Hennessey, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — Rising prices, scant savings, low incomes, complicated industry practices and cultural barriers are shutting many Latinos out of the housing market, according to a study released Tuesday by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. The study, based on focus groups with consumers, real estate agents and advocates in 11 cities, including Los Angeles, is one of the broadest attempts to explain Latinos' lagging rate of homeownership in America. In 2004, 47% of Latino households owned their homes, compared with 68% of all households, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In...

America's Ownership Society: Expanding Opportunities http://www.gop.com/news/read.aspx?ID=4528

Democrats left Boston last week all fired up about John Kerry, save for one surprising group: The black vote. That may explain why the Democratic nominee is dumping $2 million into outreach ads on Black Entertainment Television and urban contemporary radio. The Kerry camp's concern is that black support is miles wide but only inches deep. A BET/CBS poll released on the eve of the Democratic Convention found that just 27% of black voters are "enthusiastic" about the nominee, and 45% say a Kerry presidency would make little difference in their lives. ... Six months before an election, the black...

For Immediate Release June 19, 2004 President's Radio Address      Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, we received more good news showing that our economy is gaining momentum. The Department of Labor reported state-by-state job gains for the month of May. In every region of our nation, and across many growing industries, more Americans are finding work. The state of Arizona added 8,400 new jobs in May. New Jersey gained 9,500 new jobs. Pennsylvania added 10,700 new jobs. And North Carolina picked up 13,400 new jobs.  Radio Address 2004200320022001  Radio Interviews 2004 The unemployment rate has fallen in 46...

Foreclosures caused by bad choices, the allure of low interest rates and predatory lenders. The cleaning crew and real estate agent arrived early. An Allegheny County Sheriff's deputy was there, too, watching Joyce and Konrad Schachner run back and forth from their North Side home of five years to the U-Haul truck that now carried their lives. "Why are the cops here, Mom?" asked 5-year-old Konrad Jr., standing wide-eyed in front of his house on Van Buren Street. "Because we gotta go," she answered. "I told you, we gotta go." And within 45 minutes the Schachners were gone, driving to...

WASHINGTON — Families that can afford a monthly mortgage payment but do not have enough money for a down payment on a home can apply for assistance through a government program that got under way yesterday. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will distribute more than $161 million to state and local agencies as part of the program. It is intended to help first-time home buyers defray the costs of the down payment and closing costs typically due at settlement. Grants will be worth up to $10,000 or 6 percent of the purchase price of the home, whichever is...

The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority has launched a mortgage lending program in which immigrants without Social Security numbers can obtain loans. The program may help correct a situation in which Madison ranked No. 1 in rejected mortgage loans to Latino applicants in 2002. But some question whether the program unfairly favors illegal residents. The pilot program, authorized by WHEDA in April, will provide mortgages through certain banks in Madison and Milwaukee for those who have Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers issued by the IRS. Antonio Riley, a former state legislator who is now executive director of WHEDA, said the...

Program Earmarks Grants For Hispanic Homebuyers BALTIMORE -- Some observers are praising efforts to encourage Hispanic immigrants to buy homes in Baltimore, but critics said the city's latest program goes too far. Baltimore is offering 15 $3,000 grants to Hispanics who buy homes in the city. The grants have no income limits and are also available to Hispanics who are not new arrivals to the United States. Legal scholars aren't sure the program could pass legal scrutiny -- in part because it singles out one minority group for special treatment. The grants are being offered under a broader program to...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last week published the interim regulations for the American Dream Downpayment Initiative. The program, which will go into effect on April 29, will provide an average of $5,000 in downpayment and closing-cost assistance to help first-time homebuyers with annual incomes that do not exceed 80 percent of the area median income. Funds will be allocated to state and local HOME participating jurisdictions based on their need for assistance to homebuyers as measured by the number of low-income renter households. Individual jurisdictions can establish the terms of the assistance, which can include interest-bearing...

PHOENIX (Reuters) - President Bush courted Hispanic voters in two Southwestern battleground states on Friday with upbeat messages about minority homeownership and immigration reform.  In New Mexico and Arizona, two states which could be key in his battle with Democrat John Kerry, the Republican president sought to portray himself as a neighbor from Texas familiar with the concerns of low-income families struggling to lay claim to the American dream.  "The great dream about America is: I could own my own home, people say," he told an out-door audience in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while touting federal aid for low-income home-buyers that...

<p>PHOENIX -- President Bush traveled to two swing states with sizable Hispanic populations yesterday and talked up his proposals to increase home ownership opportunities for minorities.</p> <p>"Not enough minorities own their own homes," the president said during a stop at a carpenters' training center in Phoenix, which followed a talk about home ownership at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque. "And it seems to me it makes sense to encourage all to own homes."</p>

<p>President Bush, hunting for votes in hotly contested Sun Belt states, said Friday his administration is working toward wiring homes throughout America with high-speed Internet access by 2007.</p> <p>"We've got to make sure this country's on the leading edge of broadband technology," Bush said. It is vital, he added, to open "new highways of knowledge" to spread innovations in education, medicine and other areas, and keep the country competitive in global trade.</p>

President George W. Bush spoke about homeownership while at the Leon Harris Youth Hall at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 26, 2004. The President spoke at the Phoenix Carpenters Training Center Friday, in Phoenix, and will campaign in Arizona later today before continuing on to his Central Texas ranch in Crawford for the weekend.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Prospective homebuyers struggling to scrape together a down payment could get a little help from a tax deduction under consideration in Congress. The tax break would allow homeowners to deduct the cost of private mortgage insurance, charged by banks and lenders when the homebuyer cannot amass a down payment covering 20 percent of the purchase price. Homeowners can already claim a tax deduction for mortgage interest paid during the year. Homeownership advocates said the mortgage insurance benefit could help younger homebuyers and lower-income families afford a home. "For first-time homebuyers, getting that initial down payment is usually...

Opening Doors for Muslim Families While the dream of homeownership remains one of the core values of American society, there's a new and growing segment of our society for which expanding homeownership will take innovative thinking. Observant Muslims are forbidden by religious law to pay interest. As a result, financing homes for these families presents a challenge to the mortgage industry. Homeownership is one of the primary methods by which American families accumulate wealth. Over 68% of American families own their own homes. The pride of owning a home and the opportunity to build wealth through appreciation and federal tax...

Just heard this on Neal Boortz radio, no details

(January 20) -- A White House proposal would remove downpayment requirements for Federal Housing Administration loans, potentially putting 150,000 more families annually into homes. Federal Housing Commissioner John Weicher called the proposal, announced on Monday at a home-builders show in Las Vegas, the "most significant FHA initiative in more than a decade." It would extend the zero money down option, available in the private market only to consumers with stellar credit, to borrowers who have less than perfect credit, but who earn enough income to make monthly payments. President Bush is seeking to add 5.5 million minority homeowners this decade.

<p>In a bid to boost minority homeownership, President Bush will ask Congress for authority to eliminate the down-payment requirement for Federal Housing Administration loans.</p> <p>In announcing the plan Monday at a home builders show in Las Vegas, Federal Housing Commissioner John Weicher called the proposal the "most significant FHA initiative in more than a decade." It would lead to 150,000 first-time owners annually, he said.</p>

Single, but Laying Down Roots By ABBY ELLIN Published: January 18, 2004 VIRGINIA WOOLF was wrong. Women don't need just a room of their own. They need an entire home. Many young single women are reaching that conclusion. As they earn higher wages and delay marriage, more of them are realizing that equity-building is not just smart but also essential - and that real estate is often the wisest way to do it. The National Association of Realtors in Washington reports that single women accounted for 21 percent of all home purchases in 2003, up from 18 percent in 1997....

"On the day I made the final payment on the house, I sealed the envelope and put the stamp on it," said Karen Manzo, 58. "Then I got up and walked through the house as if I owned it." "Because we did," said her husband, Joe, 56. "That was a powerful moment for me," Karen said. At a time when the average American family has credit-card debt estimated at $9,000, the Manzos walk a different path. Middle-class people who live completely without debt, they follow the frugal prescriptions of one of their favorite books, "The Millionaire Next Door," a 1996...

A coalition including Citibank, Bank One, and 33 other banks—banded together as the New Alliance Task Force—are rolling out a model loan program meant to bring undocumented Chicago immigrants into the mortgage mainstream. A few lending pioneers already provide home financing to immigrants with no Social Security numbers, and the task force's hotly debated plan provides guidance to other banks that are interested in following this lead. Without Social Security identification, banks can quantify applicants' credit risk by contacting employers, landlords, and utilities; but the greater risk of extending credit to these borrowers is reflected by a higher interest rate....

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Wichita — Home foreclosures in aviation-dependent Wichita have soared in the past two years as more families struggle to make ends meet in this hard-hit Midwest manufacturing community. On average, between 30 and 40 Wichita families each week are losing their homes at sheriff's auctions in the Sedgwick County Courthouse. Extended unemployment benefits and family savings have run out for thousands of laid-off aircraft workers and others who still are having a hard time finding jobs two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks triggered massive layoffs in Wichita's four...

Moving to America: Some Foreign-Born Groups More Likely to Own Homes Than People Born in U.S., Census Bureau Reports 10/7/03 9:48:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk, Foreign and Real Estate Reporters Contact: Mike Bergman of the U.S. Census Bureau, 301-763-3030, 301-457-1037 (TDD), or pio@census.gov WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Blacks, Asians and Pacific islanders, and Hispanics who are naturalized citizens had higher homeownership rates than their U.S.-born race and ethnic counterparts, according to a newreport from the U.S. Census Bureau. The report, "Moving to America -- Moving to Homeownership: 1994- 2002," shows that a slightly higher proportion (51...

WASHINGTON - Calling homeownership the cornerstone of the American dream, an advocacy group launched a program last week designed to raise the purchasing rate among Hispanics nationwide. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute said buying a home is one of the best ways for Hispanics to achieve financial security and stability, but the lack of knowledge among some Hispanics about the purchasing process has caused a "homeownership gap" that threatens their long-term economic mobility. "While homeownership is not typically seen as a civil rights issue ... it serves as a critical component of our democracy," said Ingrid Duran, the institute's president....

Home ownership embodies the American Dream. It is something to which most of us aspire. By and large, we do pretty well as a nation in fulfilling this dream. U.S. Census Bureau data show the home ownership rate in America stood at 67.9% in 2002, a figure that's been steadily trending higher since 1982. One wouldn't guess this by reading the headline of the May 5 announcement from the National Housing Conference, which stated, "New National Data Reveals Annual Salaries for Five Vital Community Occupations Fall Short of the $50,000 Necessary to Own a Home." In even more dire language,...

A 31-year-old man killed his girlfriend's estranged husband with a choke hold early Monday, police said. Police said they may find the homicide was justified because the victim, Gerardo Ultreras, 38, of Juárez, allegedly broke into the house where his estranged wife and her boyfriend live in the 1900 block of Chris Scott at 1 a.m. and assaulted the boyfriend. The identity of the boyfriend was not released Monday because he had not been charged with anything. Police spokesman Sgt. Al Velarde said there have been seven justifiable homicides in El Paso since 1999. "Those normally involve self-defense," he said....

Bush Touts Low - Income Homes Plan By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush pitched a plan to make it easier for black people and Hispanics to become homeowners through government incentives and grants to help on down payments. In his weekly radio address Saturday, the president said he wants to remove obstacles ``that prevent minorities from owning a piece of the American dream.'' Bush noted that while three-quarters of white Americans own their own homes, fewer than half of all black and Hispanic Americans are homeowners. ``We must begin to close this homeownership gap by dismantling...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryJune 15, 2002 Radio Address by the President to the Nation      Listen to the President's Remarks THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Owning a home lies at the heart of the American dream. A home is a foundation for families and a source of stability for communities. It serves as the foundation of many Americans' financial security. Yet today, while nearly three-quarters of all white Americans own their homes, less than half of all African Americans and Hispanic Americans are homeowners. We must begin to close this homeownership gap by dismantling the barriers that prevent minorities...

America's drive for acreageBy RICK MARTINEZ RALEIGH - The problem with "Smart Growth" is that it's almost always smart for someone else. Given a choice, most folks want what Smart Growth denies -- a big house with a big yard and at a bargain price. If they have to drive to a former cow pasture to get their piece of the American dream, so be it. Espousing this position has earned me the title of urban neanderthal, but it appears I'm not the only member of this new species. The National Family Opinion organization recently conducted a survey for the...