President Obama
As the election approaches, President Barack Obama is increasing his push to help more Americans refinance their home loans, according to the Wall Street Journal, but recent data shows that his efforts to date have had lackluster results. Bloomberg News reported that more Federal Housing Administration-insured loans entered foreclosure in March, largely because of refinanced loans. [more]
There is speculation that the Obama administration is about to order government-controlled lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive a portion of the mortgage debt of millions of Americans who owe more than what their homes are worth, according to Reuters columnist James Pethokoukis. An estimated 15 million U.S. mortgages — one in five — are underwater with negative equity of some $800 billion. The vehicle for the bailout could be the Bush administration’s Home Affordable Refinance Program — or HARP, a sister program to Obama’s loan modification effort — which was just extended through June 30, 2011. The bailout, according to Reuter’s, “would be a stunning political and economic bombshell” before a midterm election in which Democrats are expected to suffer losses. The Treasury Department is scheduled to hold a meeting on the future of Fannie and Freddie on Aug. 17. [Reuters]
Government programs have been created to assist distressed homeowners, but at little over month after the Florida Supreme Court ordered required mediation on all homesteaded foreclosures, it remains unclear how much help the latest move offers South Floridians.
The Dec. 28 court decision sounded like a measure of real relief, but for homeowners seeking short sales, it hasn’t made much of an impact, said Fort Lauderdale real estate attorney and foreclosure mediator Shari Olefson. Still, she thinks mediation could start to help distressed homeowners, including those who want a short sale.
In concert with some key federal programs, Olefson is optimistic that a once intractable quagmire of regional mortgage woes could improve. In the alphabet soup of a crisis, she points to a pair of federal programs, Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program and the Home Owner Affordable Modification Program, which could break up the logjam of missed payments and foreclosure proceedings that have jammed courts throughout the state. [more]
