All Options on Table in Fight to Halt Foreclosure

Rate expected to rise through the summer

(AP) - The number of American households threatened with losing their homes grew 24% in the first 3 months of this year and is poised to rise further as major lenders restart foreclosures after a temporary moratorium, figures out today show. Though the Obama administration has invested $75 billion to help up to 9 million borrowers avoid foreclosure, lenders' willingness to go along with the plan isn't clear. More»

Proposal does does little to address securitized mortgages

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration’s foreclosure-prevention plan contains more carrots than sticks, relying heavily on incentives designed to prod mortgage servicers to modify at-risk loans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan offers monetary rewards to mortgage companies that lower interest rates on delinquent mortgages, and reduces principal for borrowers who stay current on their payments. More»

(NEWSER) - Details are emerging on the Obama administration's plan to help homeowners: One idea is to give strapped borrowers a lower interest rate, then have the federal government chip in to defray the lenders' loss, the Washington Post reports. The Treasury Department is expected to outline its overall plan in the next week or so. Another proposal gaining favor is giving bankruptcy judges the power to change the terms of mortgages. More»

Stop meddling and the let the private sector take over

(NEWSER) - Joseph Stiglitz lends his Nobel clout to the notion that the government is doing more harm than good by over-managing the housing crisis. "Government policies to support the housing market not only have failed to fix the problem, but are prolonging the deleveraging process and creating the conditions for Japanese-style malaise," he writes in the Guardian . More»

Numbers 'unprecedented'

(AP) - More than 1 million American households are likely to lose the roof over their heads to foreclosure this year, as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans. Nearly 528,000 homes were repossessed by lenders in the first six months of the year, putting 2010 on pace to eclipse the more than 900,000 homes repossessed in 2009, according to data released today by RealtyTrac. "That would be unprecedented," a RealtyTrac VP said. More»