Obama Announces $75B Anti-Foreclosure Plan
"...the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, is an effort to slow the rapid decline in the housing market. As the economy drops deeper into a recession, home values are falling faster and faster, and more Americans are losing their houses to foreclosures or distressed sales.
The plan would allow four million to five million homeowners refinance mortgages guaranteed by the government-controlled housing giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The administration said allowing people to refinance at lower mortgage rates would reduce monthly payments and save families thousands of dollars every year.
It also seeks to allow judges to modify mortgages in bankruptcy court for homeowners “who have run out of options” — a controversial provision opposed by lenders and many financial institutions."
The article describes it as "more ambitious than expected." It follows on a new report that new-home construction hit its lowest recorded level ever last month. (Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. Where, exactly, are these new homes being built? Is anyone discussing sprawl?)
I'm booked with appointments today, hence the total dependency on the NY Times to do my analytical work here, but I hope to take a deeper look with you at this proposal in the days to come. By then I will expect you to have read this White House fact sheet, formulated a cogent argument on the problems of sprawl and the promises and pitfalls of suburbia, and planned your own response to the foreclosure/mortage/credit crisis in your neighborhood.
Get to work, people! There's homes and families and communities and livelihoods to save!
Photo by TheTruthAbout...; more info on NeighborWorks America's anti-foreclosure resources here.
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