Fed rescue may not be enough

A national mortgage relief bill will give 400,000 homeowners, including may Floridians, a chance for more affordable home loans, but may be only a short-term solution, state experts say. Wayne Archer, co-director of the Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Florida, says the 700-page bill will dampen hysteria, but its success depends on the banking sector’s cooperation. The bill includes the offer of a temporary but unlimited government line of credit for troubled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Treasury Department gains power, until the end of 2009, to lend them emergency money or to buy their stock.