Obama's "Making Home Affordable" initiative....

[Air 22]

So lemme get this right...those of us that are responsible home owners making mortgage payments on-time get nothing?:splat:...except a pat on the back for helping those in foreclosure get bailed out? PeterObamaPan plan is complete BS:puke:...I think they should set up a tent/doublewide Live Free Park in Pelosi's Yard..:mad:



Feds unveil plan to help 9 million stay in homes
From Associated Press

March 04, 2009 10:09 AM EST
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration kicked off a new program Wednesday that's designed to help up to 9 million borrowers stay in their homes through refinanced mortgages or loans that are modified to lower monthly payments.

The Treasury Department released detailed guidelines designed to let the lending industry know how to enroll borrowers in the program announced last month.

"It is imperative that we continue to move with speed to help make housing more affordable and help arrest the damaging spiral in our housing markets," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.

The administration, launching what it calls the "Making Home Affordable" initiative, said that borrowers will have to provide their most recent tax return and two pay stubs, as well as an "affidavit of financial hardship" to qualify for the $75 billion loan modification program, which runs through 2012.

Borrowers are only allowed to have their loans modified once, and the program only applies for loans made on Jan. 1 2009 or earlier. Up to 4 million borrowers are expected to qualify. Mortgages for single-family properties that are worth more than $729,750 are excluded.

Separately, up to 5 million borrowers who have mortgages held by government controlled mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be eligible to refinance through June 2010.

Meanwhile action to put in place another part of Obama's housing plan is expected soon on Capitol Hill.

House Democrats, under pressure from a group of moderates in their ranks and the banking lobby, agreed Tuesday to narrow legislation that gives bankruptcy judges the power to force lenders to lower the interest rate or principal.

of mortgages for troubled homeowners.

Under the terms of the agreement, judges would have to consider whether a homeowner had been offered a reasonable deal by the bank to rework his or her home loan before seeking help in bankruptcy court. Borrowers also would have a responsibility to prove that they tried to modify their mortgages.

The compromise legislation was expected to come to a vote in the House as early as Thursday.

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[chappy]

Kinda makes ya consider skipping a mortgage payment or two..........

[HOWARD O]

"Mortgages for single-family properties that are worth more than $729,750 are excluded"

Whoa! So somebody with a nearly 3/4 million dollar house is able to tap into this "hardship" deal?

I knew we should've bought that 4,000 sq. ft. house for $650k when we moved here! Instead, we were stupid enough to buy the $225k house because we THOUGHT that was all we could manage! Boy, were we dumb! :banghead: I always wondered why the cashier at McDonalds was always snickering behind my back! She lives in a 6 bedroom house that I'm help paying for! :banghead:

[HOWARD O]

Kinda makes ya consider skipping a mortgage payment or two..........

Why yes, IT DOES!!! :cistineb:

[The Hedgehog]

"Mortgages for single-family properties that are worth more than $729,750 are excluded"
Whoa! So somebody with a nearly 3/4 million dollar house is able to tap into this "hardship" deal?
I knew we should've bought that 4,000 sq. ft. house for $650k when we moved here! Instead, we were stupid enough to buy the $225k house because we THOUGHT that was all we could manage! Boy, were we dumb! :banghead: I always wondered why the cashier at McDonalds was always snickering behind my back! She lives in a 6 bedroom house that I'm help paying for! :banghead:

You are way too responsible to qualify.

[Lenny]

...so, my sister-in-law in Los Angeles, who hasn't made a mortgage payment since August/08 on their $700K home they bought a year and half ago, will get a "new" rate and basically be subsidized while her next door neigbour, with an equal value home will continue to pay on their balance and an inflated price referenced to todays economy.???

BRUTAL :eek:

In the meantime, they still have their Toy-Hauler, motocross bikes, sand rail(s), 26' WakeSetter boat, 5th wheel, F-350 monster truck etc etc etc...

This kind a stinks but I try to stay out of your Country's politics (to some degree).

But, yeah, THIS STINKS.

[BigGrizzly]

hey I am retired does that make me jobless and should I quit paying my mortgage.

[Ghost]

Exactly.

Another question: I actually do have some equity in my house in the current market. Should I sell while I can, and while various government measures try to keep real estate propped up artificially? That way, I might avoid getting upside down when the real forces at hand drive prices lower. Then I could buy back in in a couple of years, perhaps in Tennessee, (when interest rates are 8-12% and prices have been pushed WAY down), and then re-fi the rate down someday down the road.

After all, the HUGE factor in real esate prices is where interest rates are. In fact, I almost want to say that real estate prices are nearly subservient to interest rates, as what is affordable (how much one pays per month) is driven directly by rates.

Hmmmm....I told my wife about 5 years ago that we should sell our house, flip it all to gold, rent, and buy back in later. We were lazy and didn't do it. $hit.

[f_inscreenname]

You know something. I’m getting to the point that I just don’t give a flying F___ anymore. My whole life I have watched the POS folks of this world win out over and over again. I bust my ass scrimping and saving, work my fingers until they bleed (a project isn’t a project unless my blood isn’t on it somewhere) fixing up dumps because it was all I could afford. Live within my means even though I may have really needed a boat part (or something else if there is anything else) to make life easier at the time. I had/have credit cards with limits on them that “The Donald” would be proud of. Money in savings, checking, stocks, bonds but I would have to wait until I got enough “spending money“ together because the other kept us safe from losing our home and couldn’t be touched.
Now that I have gone from being on the streets at 17 to having the ex (another POS) take my first house I bought at 21 when I was 28 (another should have been condemned dump turned into a neighborhood show piece her boyfriend helped sell off 6 months later) to finally being where I want to be, now that I am starting my 40th year on this planet and it was all done by hard work and playing by the rules. Not only did I start with nothing and make it once but I did it 2 times (I really got f_ed in the divorce trying to be mister nice guy, got a half paid for van, a bag of cloths and a bag of bills). And now this.
“Hey everyone, we know Mark worked hard and played by the rules to get a little ahead, then got knocked down, lost everything, got back up and did it again and you all just gambled with your homes but let’s hit the rest button and let everyone who f_ed up catch up to where he‘s at now. That seems fare.”
All I keep hearing in my head is, “I did it by the book but…… doing it by the book is for pussies, should have went for that waterfront house, I should have taken the risk and thrown caution to the wind!!” but then it dawns on me why I didn’t even think of it. I have kids. They need a home, not an investment, not a risk. WTF were these people thinking? I think the first thing that should happen if you don’t have kids and cant make your payments is to Get the f_ out! Live in a car or on friends couches like I did for a few months one summer/fall. Trust me you will never buy a house or anything beyond your means again.
And for all you that will say that at 17 was no big deal……I lost my job this summer/fall for 3 months. Came back in from the first 2 days I took off in two years to find out I didn’t have a job anymore. No golden parachute, I even got f_ed out of the unused vacation time and last 2 weeks pay check. Did I lose my house? Not a chance. And again during my time off if I wanted to I had access to money but the Nova sat most of the summer/fall because of no gas/spending money coming in. My life consisted of job interviews, sitting in the house watching TV and what ever cheap project I could do to make my house better so I could feel like I was being useful. But if it came down to it we will eat potatoes 7 days a week and wont have electric before the house payment would be late. I survived a winter or two as a kid with just an electric stove before and it will get warmer eventually but when the house is gone all is lost.
The bottom line is we don’t need bail outs. People just need to get their priorities in order. House payment, food, heat/electric, phone, all the rest.
But now all that has changed and here’s why.
I know this guy. Let’s just call him Mr. X.
Mr. X is not good with money. He has it but he blows it just as fast. His house payment is just another bill that gets paid before they throw him out. Mr. X the last few months has been trying to pay off a cruise he is taking in April so a couple house payments have been late. And then other day I hear this from him, “There late but they get paid, no BFD but then I get this letter from PNC Bank (his loan company) saying they are going to drop my interest rate to 4.38% to help me get caught up.” No points, no re-fi fees. Just start making the lower payment. We call our mortgage company and ask what can we get if we re-fi (us paying for it). 5% with a point. WTF! That’s what you get for playing by the rules. I should have took a cruise with last month's payment. I would be all set then.

[BUIZILLA]

:puke:

[Air 22]

Amen my friend, amen...

I second that....;)....Jim ur "Puke" is spinning the tires on that lil John Deere on tush patrol and dripping down on my Blue Tankini Girl's Taa Taa's..she understands... wadda gal...lol:)

[Ghost]

I hear ya man, I hear ya, and I completely agree.

[txtaz]

Hope this helps some...

I used to get pissed off at situations like this, and then my Dad gave me some advice. He said "Son, do you have any control over the situation?" I said no. "Then don't let it get to you."

Even though I don't have any control over the situation, I agree it sucks. Welcome to the United Socialized States of America where the wealthy pay for the poor. AND it will get worse since the wealthy are forced to pay therefore things such as endowments, charitable contributions etc. are already down and with Obama's plan the govt will subsidize them.

There is a reason the markets are down. People want to know what the "rules" are before they invest. There is a lot of money out there that Obama wants to get his hands on. He has to pay for these plans somehow.
Look for new investment schemes to come out that protect investors money. I'm not sure what they will look like and there are tons of investment bankers who are inventive and need to save their jobs.

"And that is the rest of the story"

Da Taz<---RIP, Paul Harvey