President Bush Announces Plan to Aid Mortgage Holders in Trouble
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Instead of a wholesale bailout of subprime borrowers that are getting into trouble with their mortgages as many are calling for, President Bush has outlined his plans to help borrowers that are caught in some of the toxic loans in the marketplace.
An aide to President Bush leaked his plans overnight before the formal announcement today.
- Urge Congress to pass Federal Housing Administration overhaul legislation that would give the FHA more flexibility in assisting mortgage holders with subprime mortgages.
- Pledge to work with Congress to reform the tax code to help troubled borrowers rework their loans.
- Call for rigorously enforcing predatory lending laws and strengthening lending practices. My Way News



Comment by Austin REALTOR on 31 August 2007:
I am happy to see that the feds aren’t throwing money away to bail out bad lenders. Other actions and even lack of action is more desirable than throwing money at the problem.
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Comment by Mike Roach on 1 September 2007:
I think the president understands the political fallout of this situation, but not it’s economic or financial consequences. It is a lot of trouble to go through to protect people from the consequences of their own financial decisions. The reason these loans were classified subprime is 1) They were made to borrowers with “less than perfect” credit; 2) They were made with little down payment, so the collateral pledged was not very secure; 3) They were made without verification of assets, income, or employment, so the expectation of loan payments was guesswork at best; and to top it off, they were made at the crest of a real estate boom (bubble) with interest rates at 40 year lows…they were imperfect loans priced for perfection. The problem wasn’t that money was lent to these borrowers, the problem is that it wasn’t priced right…it was wrong for the borrowers and wrong for the investors.
Now we are facing proposals to change the rules, get the
Federal government involved, fire up the old FHA again…none of which are dealing with the real problem - these loans are RISKY. Risky loans need to be priced so that borrowers without the capacity to repay don’t take out the loans, and investors who provide the capital are being compensated for their risk. Government proposals take the risk out of the market (where it belongs) and pass it onto American Taxpayers. We will end up subsidizing interest rates that risky borrowers pay, and eating the losses in the event of default…all without compensation. Land of the free…lunch?
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Comment by Ryan Ward on 9 December 2007:
Considering the alternatives being proposed, I think this was the better alternative. Some in Washigton were calling for a freeze on foreclosures while others called the mortgagees ‘victims’. While I agree that it is terribly unfortunate and some were victims, the majority were not. I’m glad to see that this will turn out to be more of a brokered transaction than a federal bailout. This was about the most fiscally responsible way to help people while doing as little harm as possible to the real estate market. That said, it will prolong the slower market, but, politically something was going to be done one way or the other. This, in my opinion, was the better of the ways to handle it.
Comment by Paula Knapp on 5 September 2008:
My husband and I got Married in July 2007. I have my own home and
he has his, We rent out mine to our daughter for less than the morgage
We bought a house, w/ the mind set that his house would sale in
a month of being on the market. But to our dismay it hasn’t and
we are paying for that mortgage and the mortgage we have now, plus
some of the mortgage from my house. Most people would say it was our own fault, but we feel we made a mistake by not selling the house first. We are sinking to financial disaster and we are desperate for
government aid. Is their some thing that we could apply for that
that may help us. Thank you, Paula Knapp