Consumer Law

Times Reports that New Housing Bill Will Help Only a Fraction of Borrowers in Distress

By Jeff Sovern

Today's Times reports in "As Housing Bill Evolves, Crisis Grows Deeper," that the bill making its way through Congress will help only about 400,000 of the millions of borrowers in distress.  Some excerpts:

?It?s not enough, even in the best of circumstances,? said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody?s Economy.com. The number of people who will be helped ?is going to be overwhelmed by the three million that are headed toward default.?

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The effectiveness of the bill will depend to some extent on how it is handled by the F.H.A., an agency created during the Great Depression to insure home loans. It will have several challenges: persuading the lenders who made second mortgages and home equity loans to cooperate; screening loans to make sure borrowers have a good shot at keeping their homes after refinancing; and weeding out those trying to take advantage of the system.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on June 29, 2008 (boomark / email).