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Federal Mortgage Plan Not Helping the Neediest: Critics

Posted Apr 29, 08 4:57 PM CDT in Politics,  Business,  US    Most Covered

(Newser) – A plan to federally subsidize the refinancing of troubled mortgages has in fact helped relatively few of the most at-risk borrowers, the New York Times reports. Though Bush administration officials said FHA Secure has benefited 150,000, federal statistics show that only 1,729 of those mortgages were delinquent. “They came to us before they got into trouble,” one official said.

But some say the program is not providing the acute aid it promised: The Federal Housing Administration "is helping borrowers who aren’t currently in trouble and that is fine,” said one lender. “But there is a specific subset of borrowers right now who are in trouble. The program needs to be helping people who need the help immediately.”

Source New York Times

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A foreclosure sign is seen on the lawn of a home in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., in this March 15, 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/Mel Evans, file)
Home for sale signs line a street of a new subdivision in Cascade Locks, Ore., Wednesday, April 9, 2008.   (AP Photo/Don Ryan)
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Bush administration  • housing market  • housing crisis  • foreclosure  • mortgage crisis  • Federal Housing Administration  • mortgage loans


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