White House to Expand Program to Stem Foreclosures

White House to Expand Program to Stem Foreclosures
Published: Monday, 30 Nov 2009 | 8:18 AM ET

The program has come under heavy criticism for failing to do enough to attack a tidal wave of foreclosures. Analysts said the foreclosure crisis is likely to persist well into next year as high unemployment pushes more people out of their homes.

Rising foreclosures depress home prices and threaten the sustainability of the fledgling economic recovery.

A report last week from the Mortgage Bankers Association found that 14 percent of homeowners with mortgages were either behind on payments or in foreclosure at the end of September, a record level for the ninth straight quarter.

Mortgages

30 yr fixed 4.97% 5.10%
30 yr fixed jumbo 5.89% 5.99%
15 yr fixed 4.48% 4.69%
15 yr fixed jumbo 5.44% 5.61%
5/1 ARM 4.24% 3.82%
5/1 jumbo ARM 4.81% 3.99%

Bankrate.com

The Congressional Oversight Panel, a committee that monitors spending under Treasury’s bailout program, concluded in a report last month that foreclosures are now threatening families who took out conventional, fixed-rate mortgages and put down payments of 10 to 20 percent on homes that would have been within their means in a normal market.

Treasury’s program, known as the Home Affordable Modification Program, “is targeted at the housing crisis as it existed six months ago, rather than as it exists right now,” the report said.

Treasury’s Reilly said the expanded program would, among other steps, make more aid available to struggling borrowers and expand the number of organizations providing help.

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