Clinton proposal addresses foreclosures
Sen. Hillary Clinton waded back into the hot topic of mortgages and foreclosures this morning during an event in Derry, N.H. Clinton laid out the details of what her campaign called “a plan to preserve the American dream of home ownership that would crack down on unscrupulous brokers, curb mortgage lending abuses, assist families facing foreclosure and expand affordable housing options.”
Among the plan’s points:
• Requiring mortgage brokers to disclose to borrowers that their compensation rises when borrowers’ mortgage rates and mortgage fees are high.
• Working with states to develop strong licensing standards and require federal registration for mortgage brokers.
• Eliminating prepayment penalties on mortgage products.
• Requiring mortgage lenders to include the cost of taxes and insurance in the underwriting assessment of higher-risk mortgages.
• Establishing a $1 billion fund to assist state programs that help at-risk borrowers avoid foreclosure.
• Establishing a $1 billion fund to provide federal support to housing trust funds established by state, county, and municipal governments.
Clinton said the plan supplements earlier prongs of attack she proposed, including: “expanding access to independent face-to-face counseling; restricting prepayment penalties for subprime mortgages; requiring “plain-talk, no-fine-print disclosureâ€?; promoting “foreclosure timeoutâ€? in which at-risk borrowers and lenders work out alternatives to foreclosure; and strengthening the Federal Housing Administration so that it could provide more homebuyers with an alternative to the subprime market.”
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Here is a simple, basic question: Where were all these sleazy pols for all the years this was going on? It’s not like they didn’t know all this was occurring.
They should have fixed it then.
And now, part of the idea today is to get the rest of the taxpayers to pay for this—at least for $1 billion? NO WAY. It’s dumb buyers and crooked lenders who are at fault. It’s not up to rest of the taxpayers to let them off the hook.
I work for CurrentForeclosures.com, a foreclosures site and have seen a huge increase in the number of foreclosures in the past 7 months. I believe it is a combination of not only sub-prime and ARM mortgages, but also the high number of people who have gotten loans with interest rates at an all time low… in addition to the rapid depreciation in some areas and the difficulty some are experiencing in selling their homes.
Clinton’s objectives for pursuing more regulations on mortgage lenders are great. As Ethan pointed out, it should have occurred a long time ago, but it’s better than never.
However, having the US citizens bail out all the fools out that there that were too uneducated or overzealous to buy a home they couldn’t afford is ridiculous! $1 billion? What will happen to these people when the billion is spent? Probably the same thing that is occurring now.
The amount of US consumer debt is at an all time high. Throughout the next 5 years, we are going to see the impacts of this within our country.
Although I’m no lover of Fox News (try to watch a little of all stations to see both sides of an argument), a guest made a valid point last night. Just because you get a credit card with a limit of $5000, it doesn’t mean you have to spend every last cent… especially if you don’t have the income to pay it back.
I graduated from college and got a job. I was approached by a few people about these “no-interest loans” as a way I could buy my own home. I looked into it, but it was obvious to me that the risks were too high. These people might have been fooled into buying a home, but if they can’t weigh their risks in one of the biggest investments they make in life… that’s too bad. It’s not my fault and it’s not yours either. We shouldn’t have to pay for their mistakes.
Foreclosure is a good way to settle their problems. Sure, they may not get the full cost back, but they will get a good chunk taking out of their loan, allowing them to attempt to attack their loan payments.
Bankruptcy courts… beware.