Treasury rolls out relief for more homeowners facing foreclosure

Treasury rolls out relief for more homeowners facing foreclosure

By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — The Obama administration unveiled new programs Thursday designed to make it easier for homeowners who owe far more than their houses are now worth to sell those homes at a loss and have their remaining debt forgiven.

The programs, announced by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, are the latest additions to Making Home Affordable, an evolving $75 billion plan that tries to break the national housing crisis into separate pieces, attacking the problem on several fronts.

The first two legs of the program sought to help borrowers refinance into today's low mortgage rates, or if they're behind on payments, to seek loan modifications to avoid foreclosure.

President Barack Obama described these steps at a town hall meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. on Thursday: "The bank has to lose a little bit of money on what they were expecting on principal and interest. On the other hand, the homeowner, if they make this agreement with the bank, they've got to agree that when prices start going up again they give up a little bit of equity to repay the bank. But either way, everybody is better off, including the community, if people stay in their homes."

Thursday's announcements address situations where borrowers can't qualify for either of those programs and are at risk of losing their homes. The administration will now provide additional financial incentives to lenders willing to help homeowners unload their properties at a loss when they owe much more than the present-day value of their homes.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/68192.html

Not second and third jumbo-loan and investor class 'homeowners' right?