Free Republic

The Obama administration unveiled an expansion of its $75 billion foreclosure prevention plan yesterday, providing new subsidies to mortgage lenders and investors. Under the expanded plan, some homeowners could see their payments fall significantly and the interest rate on their second mortgage pushed down to 1 percent. The announcement comes nearly two months after the administration launched the housing program, called Making Home Affordable. While officials said some borrowers have already received help, the foreclosure rate is rising and it could be months before the program begins to have an impact. The new efforts address, in part, criticisms from consumer...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup Inc. said Tuesday that it will lower mortgage payments for some homeowners to an average of $500 a month for three months as part of a new program to help the unemployed. ... qualify for assistance from Citigroup under the Homeowner Unemployment Assist program include those that are 60 days or more past due on their mortgages or in foreclosure and can pay the reduced amount. Customers must also have a first mortgage loan that is owned and serviced by CitiMortgage Inc. and conforms to government sponsored enterprise limits. The house must also be the...

Few in Bay Area qualify in housing rescue plan Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer Sunday, February 22, 2009 More than 90 percent of Bay Area mortgage holders cannot qualify for the low-cost refinances included in President Obama's housing rescue package, according to an analysis of loan data from real estate service Zillow.com. That is the smallest percentage of people eligible for the refinances anywhere in the country, Zillow said. "The Bay Area is being hit by the fact that it's high-priced, and therefore the loans that were made around the peak years were not conforming (meaning they were above $417,000),...

Ever since the credit crisis began, a lot of blame has been heaped on adjustable-rate mortgages, home loans that recalibrate according to market fluctuations. One brand of these innovative mortgages that have come under special criticism has been so-called "exploding A.R.M.’s" that lured borrowers with unusually low teaser rates that then reset skyward a few years later. These have often been derided as predatory, and lenders who offered them accused of luring homeowners into buying homes they couldn't afford for the long-term. Critics of these might want to check out the Homeowner Stabilization Plan put forward by the Obama administration...

President Barack Obama's new foreclosure-prevention plan is already sparking outrage from some Americans who won't qualify for federal aid -- and from those who resent having to foot the bill for those who do. "What do you expect from the government?" said David Newton, 46 years old, proprietor of DJN Management LLC, which owns 232 rental apartments in the Atlanta area. "The government isn't out there to help people who obey the law and follow the rules." Mr. Obama "told everybody, 'I'm going to spread wealth around,' and that's what he's going to do," Mr. Newton said. ... The housing...