Little foreclosure relief seen from housing bill

The only bill that is going to pass is one that features benefits to the biggest contributors to these politicians. Of the 3 million people who face foreclosure, 99% are going to vote the way they always did, the rest is easily made up by immigrants.

The government should not offer any support in my opinion. I look at this whole mess as an issue with American society. Nobody is accountable or responsible for any of their actions anymore. We simply have too many people trying to live above their means. There is a reason that subprime is known as high risk, that goes both ways to the lendors and purchasor. The lenders charge higher interest rates because their is a higher risk of default. The Purchasor is willing to pay the higher rate of interest (due to their credit history), because they really want the house. Despite the fact that they have had previous issues in being able to make timely payments on debts owed.

Many other people gambled on ARM's on houses they couldn't afford otherwise and now have been caught squarely in the crosshairs of their mistakes. There is no reason for anyone to make an uneducated decision on purchasing a home with the amount of expertise and information available. It is simple a failure of diligence. At best, lenders should extend the terms on the original mortgage by another 5-10-12 years to lower the current monthly payments. They should not waive any of the payments or interest, instead backloading them if needed.

Part of the issue was the super-inflated prices of housing generated on demands of the thirst for newer, nicer, and bigger homes. If anything this has just unwound the years of housing inflation caused by the housing boom. It allows the FEW financially responsible people to purchase a home on the current market for a reasonable price (though they may have issues selling their current home). There has long been a discorrelation between the rise in housing prices and salaries, this is just resetting the game if you will.

There is a reason I don't drive a Ferrari, even though I really want one. If I was dumb enough to buy one, I sure wouldn't expect the dealer or government to bail me out if I defaulted.

This is just one more instance where George W. "fiddled, while Rome Burned" He sat on his hands from 2001, on while banks set people up for failure, and did NOTHING. Now the situation is beyond help. A prepayment penalty should be unlawful!!!

First off the people who should get relief from this mortgage mess are people who can make the payments with an interest rate of prime (or prime + 1). The banks that approved loans (100% financing no down payment) for poeple who they knew couldn't afford it should eat SH&T and die! And all ARM loans should all be set to +1 prime. Any interest above that will be forfitted. And please let all the greedy bastards that trade mortgages (who packaged sub prime with prime mortgages) can join the banks in the all you can eat SH&T fest.

Bush and his wall street buddies should also be prosecuted as they only aim to put every american in permenent debt, which can be seen by him signing a bill in 2005 making it harder for the middle class person to declare bankruptcy. (Please check out a documentary called MAXED OUT, you'll be beside yourself, or become a serial killer of old rich white men... who by the way can be seen standing next to BUSH clapping as he signs said bill)

AHhhh... there is the rub.. for this to happen laws must be passed, and of course we know how the rules get made don't we....????

Um, Chris 381855, there's a HUGE difference between a Ferrari and a place to live - unless you plan to live in your car!! What's your plan for the 3 million plus soon-to-be homeless? I mean the literally homeless, who can't afford what is now an overly-inflated rental market. Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back; healthcare is already out of reach for many and you just may be the next victim of this crazy administration! They've got just where they want us - at each other's throats. If you continue to push people into corners and they feel they have nothing to lose...did they mention 1917 Russia in any history classes you attended? Or how about 1789 France? Or, for that matter, Germany, circa 1939?

I agree with Chris - I don't see why people should be bailed out for spending more than they could. Everyone here knows how much they have in savings and how much they earn each month, and thus how much they could spend on a house.

But no one wants to take responsibility for their failures - they'd rather blame the mortgage companies for giving them the loan. Isn't that like blaming a Las Vegas casino for letting a man gamble his life savings?

Big whoop if these people lose their houses. Maybe it will teach them to be more prudent in the future, and we won't have another mess like this in 20 years.

Ummm, that's a pretty narrow view of things Chris-381855 and Kate90210, what if someone loses their job? Hello? What if someone could afford the price of their mortgage until gas prices and food prices skyrocketed out of control? What if someone has another financial crisis to deal with, such as a medical emergency? What about those who are self-employed and they've had a large downturn in business, or their business is not as profitable as it once was because of rising inflation?
There are a million reasons why people find themselves in a position where they can't pay their mortgages, it's not only because they took on more than they could pay.
I understand that it's hard to look at an issue from someone else's point of view, but try.

You've been spoiled! Your fortunate that your mortgage company decided to bend its rules for you (Did you thank them?). It sounds like you ungrateful. Your poor spending habits are what's really doing the screwing. I don't care about people losing their homes - I've got my own problems. I worked hard to have good credit, allowing me the leverage to get a great mortgage. I was smart enough to get into a position where the banks need me - I don't need them. Come to papa you banks who desperately need to make a loan to someone with outstanding credit. Hello - it's not what you have but what you do with what you have. There are a lot of dummies out there it's pathetic . . .

There is no way I agree with the government bailing out this whole mtg mess! Greedy people - they can use what ever excuse they want - it was greed. They took a gamble and lost! No one ever thought of bailing out investors after a bubble pops - how many people lost everything in the dot coms? They took a chance and lost. Just like people who could not afford the home they wanted. Now all of a sudden people in foreclosure are "victims". That just makes me sick!

The rise in foreclosures is not a result in job losses or health problems. I've always felt sincerly sorry for folks who have lost their homes under those circumstances. The rise is from every Tom, Dick and Harry getting a loan. Now Tom, Dick and Harry can get themselves out of it.

The rise of oil, gas, food etc. is causing you to miss mtg payments?? That tells me you purchased a home out of budget. Prices have gone up, but not at a rate to cut into a mtg payment. It just seems like your mtg must have been at least 50% of your gross to begin with. And what would you do if your transmission on your car went? Or you need an emergency home expense (and I'm not talking about granit counter-tops)? If you can't face life's unexpected expenses and still pay all of your bills and purchase your regular monthly needs you should not be granted a mtg.

Thanks to greedy investors, realtors, and BUYERS! we are all in a recession!

How is it that you can buy a home with a bankruptcy less than 24 months old? If you think it is reasonable for once again you to be bailed out, it is a sad commentary on the state of things in America. Why should you get a better rate? You obviously were high risk and PROVED it. You are not "stuck" - you keep putting yourself in bad situations. Change the behavior and change your outcome.

The reason the let you apply for any kind of loan after a bankruptcy is because with the new law you can only declare bankruptcy once. Meaning that the second time around you are in debt forever, which is the real goal all along. (Same principle as the minimum payment for a credit card)

Allie Foster

You are forgetting that most of these people were mislead as to what type of loan they were signing for. In many cases they were told fixed rate low interest loans and did not learn until after the contract was signed that they were switched by the lender to an ARM. Why? Because the lender knew it was the only way to get them to sign for an ARM. That is Illegal.

There is a lot more here then some people living beyond their means - in some cases yes they were. In most cases it was illegal actions by the lender and the real estate agent.

The banks have a responsiblity to their Shareholders to do what is best for all and should never have approved these loans and went out of their way to approve them inspite of the buyers ability to pay.

Had the banks followed NORMAL business practices in the first place this mess would never have occurred.

Yes jamesB-370103----I know one that who went on a roll. Main home---Two rent houses--3 cell phones--two new high end SUV's and about $200,000 of plastic.

Is walking away from one rent home--sells another---And he waits to see if he will be helped in this bill.

I think I speak for many financially responsible people in that we totally agree with both Allie Foster and jamesB-370103. Government stay out of it...let the people that got us into this mess suffer the consequence of thier actions.

There seem to be several components to this mortgage debacle. My husband and I were refinanced into a subprime loan with the 2 year penatly. Our original mortgage was a VA fixed rate mortgage, this was easily affordable for us. We also had a bankruptcy 4 years ago. Even with the new rate the home was still affordable. However when other unexpected circumstances arose we got behind. No one explained to us what a subprime loan was or what an adjustable rate mortgage meant, even though, I went through all the paper work trying to make sure I read all the fine print. Nothing from my knowledge of business seemed unusual about this loan. However, my husband and I did not know no that people were changing our application information to get our loan passed. Our race was changed from AA to white with one finance company. We were told that our mortgage rate could either go up or down, but we were not told that if we tried to refinance it would cost us 20000 in prepayment penalties. I think those who are responding in a manner to let all the homeowners suffer, would not be saying that if their own children were in the midst of this mess.

I don't think that the flippers should be rescued, nor the investors who were trying to get rich or the mortgage brokers or companies that knew they were misrepresenting themselves. Those homeowners who had verifiable income that showed they could meet the mortgage rates are the only ones who should be getting assistance. If a person has gotten into a mortgage that is over their heads it will only make their situation worst. They must get into an affortable home option. I took a part-time job to help our family situation because it's our responsibility to make sure we look after our finances. I think that each situation should be taken on as a case by case basis. The best option is a simple one, if a home owner has gotten behind then the past payments should just be recalculated into the mortgage and the mortgage re-amortize accordingly.

If the mortgage payment can not be made after this then the house is not affordable. We will have to realize a great amount of loss because of the greed that went on in the minds of many, but we should not be turning our back on those who thought that they were doing the right thing. Let us not become hard hearted in this, at the same time, we must remain wise as well. I think the 400,000 homeowners are homeowners that can afford their mortgages and just need a boost. The other 2.6 million are those who tried to take advantage and make poor choices. It's a price we must all pay but I know we have learned a great lesson from all of this. Research, research, research.

Mary Baker- Did the words ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGE, not tip you off? You had to notice that it wasn't a FIXED mortgage.

You would be suffering the same plight right now if the economy went through an agrressive inflationary period. (which it looks like it will soon).

For those of you claiming a "bait and switch" that is illegal. Also remember that a mortgage is a legal document. It would be null and void if there were material misrepresentations.

No! It was explained to us that the rate could only go up so far, and compared to our "verifible income" that would not hurt us anyway. The subprime mortgage did not affect us as our rate is not even subject to change until September, it was things that had nothing to do with the mortgage that has strained us. Our mortgage also is not in foreclosure. I was just commenting that not everyone that is involved in this subprime thing got there because they could not afford their mortgages.

We should not turn against our brothers and sisters who are suffering because one day we may find ourselves in a situation where a little help would be appreciated. What goes up must come down and you never know when your day to come down may be. And then what will you be saying then?

Let's be clear: our brothers and sisters turned on us first. Every time someone bought a house that was more than they could afford, they drove the price of housing UP, driving OUT financially responsible lower-middle-income folks (like my family and millions of others) who have dreamed their whole lives of becoming home owners.

Unlike many people posting here, I don't blame the banks or the government. No one forced my brothers and sisters to get in over their head. No one held a gun to the family that earns $50K/year and bought a $500K house when they really could only afford $150K.

The banks and the government merely provided the rope. It's just that the financially greedy among us chose to hang themselves. Unfortunately, in doing so, they banished many of us to perpetual renter-hood and took the nation's economy down with them.

All of you are looking at this way too simplistically, see my comment above. There are 1,000 reasons why people find themselves not being able to afford their mortgage and not all of them are because they borrowed more than they could afford. Additionally, some people are able to refinance their adjustable arm, but because their properties are so devalued, they owe more than what it's worth. In markets where property values have fallen 30% or more, that's not unusual.

Mary, you said you "were refinanced into" an ARM from an "affordable" fixed rate VA loan. Then why did you refinance?

Allie - this is a tax payer problem because the government was not strict enough on the lending laws. So guess what? The tax payers need to fix the problem before it gets worse. Sorry Allie your very wrong here. The government is very much to blame for the situation we are facing.

It's just that mentality ... the government has to protect us from ourselves.

Once we roared like lions for liberty, now we bleat like sheep for security.

EXACTLY!

Why on earth should we be helping people who bought more house than they could afford? Really, these people are a very large part of the problem.

We don't bail out people who are addicted to gambling or drugs--even if the expense of their addiction means they are going to lose their house.

Why should it be any different for people who gambled on the value of their house? The whole getting-in-over-your-head strategy actually worked for people--as long as the prices kept going up.

If that's not gambling, I don't know what is.

Yes they all need to be fired and guess who does the firing? We do. Are you going to re-elect the congressmen from your district again if he or she was part of this kindergarten type behavior or are you going to seek to elect someone new who will be about getting work done. This is ridiculous, if all of these people are back in office this November doing the same thing as they ususally do then we have no one to blame but ourselves.

You are the type of person that needs and should get the help! I'm greatly sorry for your loss. I pray that you can find help. I know my wife would be in the same situation. I have life insurance to put me in the ground and enough to pay for 90% of our home loans. I wish I had the resources to help you more.

Thank you for your kind words. I know my late husband never expected things to end up as they have for me as near the end we had talked about what he was leaving that could be sold that should take care of everything. Neither of us expected the economy to take the nosedive it has. Thank goodness the company I work for has good health insurance as his medical bills topped half a million before he passed away. I shudder to think of the debt I would have had if I hadn't had this medical coverage. But the thought of losing the home I have lived in for 25 years especially after having to cash out my 401K to make payments is heartwrenching. As for family that could help out, my father-in-law passed away in 2005, my mother-in law in 1996, my dad in 1988, my mother in 1973 and my brother in 1998, so tapping family for help is not an option for me. I guess I'll have to hope that a knight in shining armour will show up, ha ha!

Why did you take out a second mortgage for improvements? Did you think your house was an ATM? Did you think you would never have to pay back the loan? Idiots that refinanced or took out 2nd mortgages to fancy up their houses with granite and stainless, etc. sure did contribute to this mess!!

Thank you, the people who actually worked hard, saved money, bought a home they could afford are now going to pay more taxes to bail out people who should not have been allowed to buy a home in the first place and we are watching our own equity drop on a daily basis, because of the mess.

Man here is a Republican. If you got money falling from your pockets you must be telling the truth. The current recession was not only caused by lying loan agents but also the poor value of the dollar and the increase costs of oil. Basically it is your war.

But with your plan if you want to get a better interest rate then just declare bankruptcy. It's like there is no consequence. And just who is supposed to provide the loan? Would like the government to tell you that you must loan your money to this person that declared bankruptcy?