Posted on 03/23/2010 9:26:04 PM PDT by AtlasStalled
A government watchdog agency criticized the Obama administration's $50 billion campaign to avert foreclosures by reducing mortgage payments for millions of distressed borrowers. A report by the inspector general of the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, said results of the loan-modification program so far have been disappointing. The report, released Tuesday evening, also said that the U.S. Treasury has failed to measure results properly for the Home Affordable Modification Program, known as HAMP, and that it may merely delay foreclosures in too many cases. * * * HAMP results have fallen short of expectations partly because the Treasury has had to revise its guidelines to lenders repeatedly, "causing confusion and delay," the report said. For instance, the Treasury initially pushed lenders to put borrowers into trial modifications without first verifying their incomes and other financial information. Many of the borrowers later were found not to be eligible. Now the Treasury is requiring lenders to verify financial information before starting trials. The report also said HAMP leaves borrowers vulnerable to defaulting again because many of them remain overly indebted even after their home-loan payments are reduced. HAMP is designed to cut payments for the mortgage, property taxes, insurance and homeowners association or condo fees to 31% of pretax income. But many of the eligible households have huge amounts of credit card and other debts. Even after loan modifications, the median ratio of monthly debt payments to pretax income is 60%. If HAMP "merely delays foreclosures rather than preventing them, the program will be of questionable value," the report said.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Related article from BusinessWeek: “The Obama administration’s main foreclosure-prevention program risks helping few borrowers and may do more harm than good by “merely spreading out the foreclosure crisis” over several years, federal investigators said.”
And to think this crowd is gonna run health care.
Pray for our country and our future.
Adding this to Obama-nomics link-list
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2464021/posts
— along with —
IRS will police health care (Commiecare™ fine print)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2478257/posts
[Stacy in Atlanta on Rush] Healthcare industry is already on verge of meltdown:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2437390/posts?page=2625#2625
One Grand Deal Too Many Costs (pharma) Lobbyist (Billy Tauzin) His Job
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2450632/posts
Never let a crisis go to waste. Do all you can to extend a crisis. That’s how progressives help the people who elected them.
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