Bush outlines plans to help homeowners

MidnightVoice · ‎08-31-2007

President Bush, announcing a package of measures to help homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages amid the subprime loan crisis, said on Friday the market turmoil stemming from the problem will take time to play out.

But he said the subprime market woes represent only a small part of the economy and would not undermine what he said were sound fundamentals.

Bush said he will direct Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson to work on an initiative to help troubled mortgage holders get services and products they need to keep them from defaulting on their loans.

The slide from grace is really more like gliding
And I've found the trick is not to stop the sliding
But to find a graceful way of staying slid

Anonymous · ‎09-01-2007

I briefly heard on one of the morning programs yesterday that it won't benefit anyone who has subprime credit. It will only benefit those with decent/good credit. Bush said, in effect, that it won't help people who bought a house that they knew they couldn't afford and just couldn't keep up. I don't know which program it was because I was preparing breakfast and just listening. Normally I tune the man out immediately upon hearing his voice, regardless of what he's talking about, but the lead-in caught my attention.

Anonymous · ‎09-02-2007

I don't think that is it fair for those who purchased homes that they could afford at the time but then do to some changes in their financial situations could no longer handle the payments or costs associated with owning the home and now find themselves in a declining economy with foreclosures on the rise and no way to sell their own homes because of a buyer's market. I didn't see those people on the list of those who would get help or not.

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2007

@Anonymous wrote:

I don't think that is it fair for those who purchased homes that they could afford at the time but then do to some changes in their financial situations could no longer handle the payments or costs associated with owning the home and now find themselves in a declining economy with foreclosures on the rise and no way to sell their own homes because of a buyer's market. I didn't see those people on the list of those who would get help or not.

So should the government guarantee those loans get paid? If I buy a $16,000 car and then get laid off, should the government make my payments for me?

Don't get me wrong...I hate to see anyone lose their home. But on the other hand, I think government bailouts are bad economic policy.

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2007

Personally, I don't see it as a bailout. I believe that everyone needs a hand and in those situations, yes if there is help available, then why not? I am sure there will be determining factors involved to eliminate as many people as possible from receiving help. No one is that in control of what transpires in their lives that they are totally prepared for catastrophic events, life changes or financial changes. I read on the board of a lady whose husband lost his 6 figure job. They are near dire straits and he is receiving unemployment which is a third of his previous salary she says. If they are near to losing their home and have been paying their bills on time and being consistent until now, do they not deserve help if they qualify because of what he used to make? In all the times that we (my family) have needed help in a bad situation, we have never received help because we were over income and now when the government actually wants to reach out to the people who really need this assistance, you say that we should not get help if it is there? Why not? Your example of a car is irrelevant because a car is not a significant purchase that will appreciate in value over time. As soon as that car is driven off the lot its value decreases. Not so with a home. It is lucrative real estate with real value and can be left as an inheritance or the equity can be utilized in it to fund college educations for our children or even ourselves. Let it be fair for all is what I am saying. The economy is horrible anyway and who is to say that this won't turn things around and put the faith back in the government that they will come through for their constituents in tough time?

Anonymous · ‎09-12-2007

has anyone seen a definiton of what the standards actually are.... what if someone makes their mortage ontime, but has a fico < 600?

Anonymous · ‎09-12-2007

The only way that they are going to raise the home market is going to make some programs so people can buy again.

Anonymous · ‎09-13-2007

The home market will only be "raised" after prices have fallen back to sustainable levels. What is going on--painful as it is in the short-term for some--is a natural correction and the government should not try and stop it. The "crisis" is just a particularly severe hangover after an easy-credit "binge." And just as a hangover serves as a good disincentive to drink to excess, so the housing crash will hopefully serve as a deterrent to the subprime lending practices that caused the bubble to form in the first place.