[the invisib1e hand]

BTW, the dirty little secret of getting bailed out under this plan is that you must have less than 3% equity in the property. The only borrowers it "helps" are those whose most financially rewarding course of action would be to walk away from their white elephant.

my head spins. it seems like those are the sort of people that need the most help and is it a bad thing if they take an incentive and don't walk away?

[jiggyboy]

it seems like those are the sort of people that need the most help and is it a bad thing if they take an incentive and don't walk away?

I think it's a fair bet that somebody who has virtually no money down in the property was a late entrant into the housing bubble. It follows that they bought their house at a price far higher than it is now or will be for a number of years. In this case, the offer to continue paying off an overpriced asset is no incentive at all.