President Obama made clear that his plan to prevent home foreclosures “will not rescue the unscrupulous by throwing good taxpayer money after bad and will not reward folks who bought homes they knew from the beginning they would never be able to afford.”
But details have suggested that his plan will do all of the above, says the Wall Street Journal. What is the plan’s effect on the individual borrower?
Given that mortgage fraud skyrocketed during the housing boom, it is likely that the unscrupulous will be among those rescued.
The government will pay loan servicers $1,000 for each mortgage modified, and share the cost of lowering the monthly payments. But the recent history of mortgage modifications isn’t encouraging. According to the December report by the Comptroller of the Currency, for modified loans that were 30 or more days delinquent:
For modified loans that were 60 or more days delinquent:
Said Comptroller John Dugan, “One very troubling point is that, whether measured using 30-day or 60-day delinquencies, re-default rates increased each month and showed no signs of levelling off after six months and even eight months.”
Source: Review and Outlook, Dukes of Moral Hazard, Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2009.
For text: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123500760093118475.html
For more on Economic Issues: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=17
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 24 February 2009
