1 Posted by Wayne Longman at 02/19/09 10:15 AM

The plan does not cover Jumbo Loan foreclosures, which exposes many wage, salary and small business earners. The CU letter to Congress on cram-downs should be modified to note this rescue-gap. Lenders should be required to quantify their claimed future losses from this rather than get away with hand-waving. Their issue of "breaking contracts" is a legal non-issue in a foreclosure action. The moral hazard insofar as increasing costs to non-defaulters is also a red herring, as foreclosures cause more loss in property value than any cost of cram-down mitigation.

2 Posted by Bruce Hahn at 02/25/09 12:06 PM

Although the plan is imperfect, it is critical to help many homeowners who were the victim of unsound underwriting practices. It is equally important that Congress pass the housing bankruptcy reform legislation that will enable bankruptcy judges to restructure mortgages to the mutual benefit of both the homeowner and the lender in cases where lenders are unwilling to take such steps on their own.
Bruce Hahn

3 Posted by Cindy at 02/26/09 09:52 AM

Hello Mr. President,
What about the Millions of Americans that are struggling to pay their mortgage. But don't qualify for a refi?
Cindy

4 Posted by NANA at 02/26/09 10:06 AM

Why am I going to be punished because people sign contracts without knowing what they are signing?

5 Posted by Gareth at 02/26/09 10:14 AM

What about the fact that FHA guidelines are now becoming so restrictive that people who ARE loan-worthy can't take advantage of first time homebuyer assistence. Give the banks lots of money and they sit on it! (or go on junkets)

6 Posted by Marilyn at 02/26/09 10:36 AM

First thing Obama needs to do is stop letting the fox (Barney Frank, etc.) stop guarding the hen house (Fanny and Freddie.) They got us in this mess.

7 Posted by George at 02/26/09 10:47 AM

What sense is the foreclosure help if it only applies to people who haven't missed a payment on their mortgage? Who exactly are we helping here? Also, don't forget about credit scoring. All the lenders use that and for what? I'll tell you: to charge higher rates to those who can least afford to pay them. The whole system is a catch 22 and is meant to suck for the average consumer.

8 Posted by Pat at 02/26/09 11:08 AM

I agree that Barney Frank should be in prison for the mess he was partly to blame for by ignoring problems, telling the world everything was fine, when truthfully it was on the verge of collapsing. Obama should make a chain gang with the idiots at Fanny and Freddy, the SEC and the banking and mortgage industry who knew better but were run by greed and quick money at the expense of the American taxpayers. The irony is that really smart people have been warning of these financial disasters for many years and no one in command was listening (or chose not to listen).What good does it do to bail out parts of the economy if the criminals who got the country into the mess are free to do more damage? Or give other criminals the idea that they can do what they want without the fear of punishment? Who's next in the bailout line?

9 Posted by Beverly Caro at 02/26/09 12:06 PM

I personally can't understand why this mortgage help is only for people who haven't missed payments. Houses that belong to people who haven't missed payments aren't being foreclosed upon. This doesn't make sense. Just who are we trying to help, the people with the perfect credit ratings that can already buy anything they desire much cheaper than those of us who struggle every week to stretch that paycheck for food, heat, and shelter. What about the family who had an unexpected emergency and had to spend their mortgage payment for food? Not only is it almost impossible to catch up, your credit is ruined and from then on everything you need to use credit for (if you can even get credit) will cost you more than someone who earns twice as much as you. There are many of us who are living on wages from the seventies, but you can bet that all of the CEO's we see always get their bonuses. I wonder where all of the money the banks made by selling mortgages to people who are unable to pay went. Do they not save for a rainy day like the rest of us are supposed to do? I think that they save their money in overseas banks where it can't be found. The greedy rich caused this mess...now we are doing nothing to punish them, only ourselves.

10 Posted by janice at 02/26/09 12:11 PM

I agree with the comment regarding the credit scoring problem. Before any of these problems can be solved they need to re-haul the whole credit scoring and how the whole corporations have been reporting. When these companies make errors, it is virtually impossible and takes almost 6-8 months to correct. Now so many companies and their lay offs have made it even harder to fix credit errors and identity theft. None of the congress seems to be addressing this issue.

11 Posted by Thomas Ericksen at 02/26/09 01:09 PM

Your article misses what they all miss -- It doesn't tell us who to call to apply -- Every news group seems to think we know what a Ponzi scheme is -- Please don't assume we KNOW -- Thanks -- Tom

12 Posted by Tom Mulle' at 02/26/09 04:18 PM

The banks were guilty without a doubt; however, they never would have made these loans if were not for Fanny & Freddy. The entire impetus for this debacle started with the government not the banks. Another example of the government messing with free enterprise.

13 Posted by Jud at 02/26/09 04:26 PM

I have to agree with Beverly who stated that a person who has made the payments on their mortgage is not going into foreclosure and are not likely to lose their home. The people who have lost their jobs or have taken a cut in pay are the ones who need help, they are the ones who have not been able to pay their mortgage. But I guess they do not qualify or do not matter.

14 Posted by deliriousgirl at 02/26/09 08:15 PM

What about the people who were forced to sell their homes waaaaaaay below the actual property's value, losing hundreds of thousands in equity, when the choices were to sell low or face foreclosure?

15 Posted by ROBERT GENN at 02/26/09 11:02 PM

THE PEOPLE WOULD GET A GOOD START WITH HELP FROM THE GOVERMENT BY REMOVING BARNEY FRANK AND CHRIS DODD.BOTH HAVE NOT DONE THE RIGHT THING TO HELP THE ADVERAGE CITIZEN.TOO MANY CONTRIBUTION AND LOBBYING FROM WALL STREET AND BANKS PUT MAIN ST. SECOND!!!

16 Posted by Maria at 02/27/09 03:31 AM

We need to help everyone,in crisis, in the USA!The deserving people who are losing their homes,due to lay-off and un-fair practices from the CORPORATIONS! The CORPORATIONS should be held "completely accountable" and just not get a slap on the wrist.
But, you also need to understand that helping the people who "have not missed any payments" shouldn't be mis-concieved as "THEY DON'T NEED HELP"! There are many of us who have not missed any payments, but it has been a real struggle! There are alot of people on pensions-fixed incomes, who don't have their little nest egg of retirement money to live on, so they have to rely on their monthly fixed income to pay bills. Key word FIXED INCOME--when you only have a certain amount of money to work with,and nothing else to rely on, that is when it becomes a struggle! So please don't dis-parage those of us that ALSO WANT HELP WITH LOWERING OUR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS AND INTEREST. WE ALSO NEED THIS KIND OF HELP TO LOWER THE OUTGOING MONEY FROM OUR FIXED INCOMES!

17 Posted by Sue at 02/27/09 11:32 AM

A simpler way to keep people in their homes would be to extend our loans to fifty years and at the same time drop our interest to a 4 percent fixed rate. We are not asking for a free hand out, just simple down to earth help. We leave the free hand out ploy to the bankers, and other big money makers, they seem to be much better at that then us, the blue collar workers of this country.

18 Posted by Norma Garcia at 02/27/09 03:31 PM

Consumers Union agrees that any plan for foreclosure relief ought to provide hope for borrowers holding jumbo loans. We recognize that jumbo loans are a significant part of the mortgage market, especially in high cost areas, and we will continue to work to protect homeowners whose mortgages fall into this category. Consumers Union is looking forward to an important announcement from the Obama Administration due next Tuesday, March 3, 2009. That’s when the Obama Administration will release detailed guidelines for loan modifications. These critical details will give us more information with which to evaluate the strength of the program that’s being proposed.

Norma Garcia
Senior Attorney
Consumers Union

19 Posted by Liz at 02/27/09 09:25 PM

President Obama is doing what he thinks best
for the American people considering the Hugh mess he inherited from the Bush Administration.All the bubble head republicans are criticizing everything he is doing not given him a chance. Any time you have people wanting him to fail are not Americans And in my opinion no better than the Nazis who incited people to hate. The Rush Limbaugh and Tom Delays and their ilk fall into this category.

20 Posted by Fariba Darvish at 02/28/09 10:31 AM

I bought my house in 2002. At the time I was qualified to buy a $400 K. I acted responsible and bought a $200 K home. I told my real state agent, just because the bank is wiling to give it to me, does not mean that I have to take it. Today, I feel I am being punished for using my brain. There should be a difference between me and the people who just took the money without thinking and bought expensive homes, they could not afford.
The govmnt is encouraging people to take this type of risks in the future, b/c people know, if everybody is in a hole, the government will step in to save them.

21 Posted by Fariba Darvish at 02/28/09 10:32 AM

I bought my house in 2002. At the time I was qualified to buy a $400 K. I acted responsible and bought a $200 K home. I told my real state agent, just because the bank is wiling to give it to me, does not mean that I have to take it. Today, I feel I am being punished for using my brain. There should be a difference between me and the people who just took the money without thinking and bought expensive homes, they could not afford.
The govmnt is encouraging people to take this type of risks in the future, b/c people know, if everybody is in a hole, the government will step in to save them.

22 Posted by Larry at 02/28/09 06:11 PM

I currently have a jumbo mortgage which is a 30 year fixed rate. I am current as of today, but because of the terrible downturn in the economy, have lost a great deal of my capital this past year. I am retired and living on the earnings from my investments. The amount of the loan is currently 30%
of the appraised value before the downturn. I have been trying to sell the property and to date have marked the asking price about 20% below the appraised value, but so far there have been no takers.
I do not want to default on the loan, but my remaining capital will not go too much further.
Will there be any help for me in the new aid for mortgages law?

23 Posted by Eugenia Toure' at 03/02/09 07:14 AM

Are agree with all of the comments about helping everyone not just the people who have thus far been able to maintain their mortgage. As for me personally, I am on the border line. I've been able to maintain my mortgage, however, with high monthly association fees and paying the high interest on my 2nd mortgage it's a struggle. I am living from pay check to pay check. If I loose my job, I will be in the same boat as a lot of other people. I am paying for a condo that is way over what it is worth.

24 Posted by Lori at 03/02/09 10:50 AM

There are plenty of us people out there who have not missed a payment but have depleted savings to do so; Just because the payment is made, it does not mean we don't need help. I am one of those people and now am wondering what will happen when I need to retire? How will I survive without any savings and how will I be able to keep making the mortgage payment? So it is not just those who are behind; I personally know several people who are 3-8 months behind and have not been foreclosed "YET". We all need help!

25 Posted by Norma Garcia at 03/02/09 05:26 PM

Lori makes a good point about all homeowners needing help. The time for saying that some homeowners are less deserving than others has long passed. Even homeowners who have never had a problem with their mortgage are experiencing a decline in their property values if they happen to have a foreclosed property nearby. These days, the distances between foreclosed properties is getting narrower by the minute. It's in everyone's best interest to keep homeowners in their homes and paying their mortgages than it is to have a foreclosure next door.

Many noted that the plan outlined by the Obama administration wouldn't cover many homeowners whose loans were "non-conforming" or "jumbo" loans at the time of their origination. In high cost areas, where the median home price exceeds the conforming loan amount limit, many homeowners are wondering, "Isn't anyone looking out for me?"

For all of these folks, there's some good news. Rep. Jackie Speier is offering an amendment to help ensure homeowners who live in high cost areas qualify for mortgage relief under the Obama plan. Here’s the story about Speier’s amendment from last week’s SF Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/26/MNSB165AQU.DTL&hw=Jackie+Speier&sn=004&sc=323

Norma Garcia
Senior Attorney
Consumers Union

26 Posted by Dee at 04/07/09 05:18 AM

What about 2nd morgtages??? I got an 80/20 loan and I'm paying 12.875% on the 2ND loan. I have been BARELY making my payments on time (meaning under 30 days, which really isn't on time) If THAT could be modified I could afford my mortgage, but ALAS, NO HELP FOR 2nd MORTGAGES. That makes a whole lot of sense!