Unemployed homeowners will soon be able to access $3 billion in aid to help them make their mortgage[1]. The administration will be providing $2 billion in funds to the Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets, and HUD will complement that with $1 billion more from the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program. Homeowners can qualify for assistance for up to 2 years if they are facing foreclosure due to a substantial reduction in income thanks to “involuntary unemployment, underemployment or a medical condition.”
While this initiative appears to have its heart in the right place, it includes much to be concerned about, including the addition of vague description of “medical condition” to the list of things that qualifies one for mortgage assistance. While disability has been a reason for aid for years, a “medical condition” does not seem to qualify as the same type of extenuating – and possibly dynamic – circumstance that unemployment does. Do you think that this program is being used as a gateway for more government-funded assistance and housing? Ultimately, is it going to do any good?
Thank you for reading! Your comments and questions are welcomed below.
[1] http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/
This is a joke, one more free subsidy.
Will they help me pay my rent since I can’t find work because I don’t speak Spanish? That’s right, I said I don’t speak Spanish. Since I reside in Los Angeles County, and there are so many mexicans here, Spanish has all but become a necessity in order to qualify for gainful employment. Here, in the United States of America. What do you all think about that?
A quick point to accentuate my previous post: below is an actual job posting from C/L for a warehouse job. The first one I viewed today. And this is normal.
Organize and Document product receipts
Organze and Document product deliveries
Organize whole ware house
Make deliveries witihn the area
Valid CA Driver Licience is a must
Fare knowledge of Computer Operations(e-malis/Microsoft office) will be an added advantage for the job
Ability to speak Spanish will be an advantage for the duties and resposibilites of the job.
USD 10 / Hour – Starting
Notice both the misspelled words and the line regarding Spanish.
You see, if I send my resume with my American last name, I am guaranteed NOT to receive a phone call as the person doing the interviewing is also Spanish speaking. America?? It don’t look like America!!
GET IT RIGHT! ..this is not truly a help for the people. It is only a cushion for the banks bottom line—a way to inject some cash into the banks without much chat, and still con votes. This affords a little time for banks to catch their breaths while they continue their ferocious wave of foreclosures and eviction. This does nothing to stabilize families at all. Of note, as bad as times were/are, the first act of this President was to release millions that MR. Bush had halted going to Africa for Birth Control and Family Planning. Now, why are we sending tax dollars—in these times—to Africa towards that endeavor?
I would NOT be so quick to think that Obama is bailing out homeowners. I assist and educate Homeowners in foreclosure, and I can tell you.. there is NO REAL bailout.
There is ALWAYS some kind of verbiage hidden in the bill that TRULY prevents the homeowner from keeping their home.
I KNOW this because I have tried to utilize all the different Alphabet of Programs to help homeowners… Hamp… etc…
But each one of them have such stringent rules and regulations, that not very many homeowners can qualify or continue to qualify to meet these rules.
If there were a TRUE bailout for the “Little Guy”.. don’t you think that we would be on the REAL road to recovery by now??
The ONLY TRUE Bailouts are for those that SHOULD NOT be getting them, like the banks and wall street!
You selectively edited the info:
“Under the program, eligible borrowers must:
►Be at least three months delinquent in their payments and have a reasonable likelihood of being able to resume repayment of their mortgage payments and related housing expenses within two years;
►Have a mortgage property that is the principal residence of the borrower, and eligible borrowers may not own a second home;
►Demonstrate a good payment record prior to the event that produced the reduction of income.”
Not exactly a free handout to anybody and everybody.
$3B to help people is “wasteful”? As with most things, perhaps some of it will be abused and wasteful….
But $1T PLUS wasted in the sands of Iraq is just fine.
Or how about the $2.3T that Rummy admitted back in 2002 at the Pentagon “According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 TRILLION in transactions.”?
Just like the stimulus funds: ALL the Repubs took it for their districts while at the same time railing against a “wasteful, Socialist agenda”.
Apparently it’s only wasteful when the money is spent on others (esp if they have brown skin).
The hypocrisy is just amazing.
Gee whiz. Keep your eye on the ball here. Military spending has positively NOTHING to do with this program. Are you completely unable to discuss a specific issue on it’s own merits? Ah yes – when you can’t win an argument, change the argument. My gut feeling tells me you’re capable of better than this… give it a try next time, won’t you? — Bryan Ellis
Another damn waste of our money and B.O. buying votes.
Its funny to see white people scream discrimination now! So tell me how’s it feel to have a taste of your own medicine?!!!