SUN EDITORIAL:

Relief for homeowners

Obama team makes smart revisions to mortgage modification program

Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

An announcement Monday by the Obama administration that it would do more to help struggling homeowners obtain affordable mortgages could not have come at a better time for Southern Nevadans who are finding it increasingly difficult to stay in their homes.

Steve Green, reporting for LasVegasSun.com, noted that 69.5 percent of Las Vegas area home-owners in September owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth, according to real estate data firm First American CoreLogic of Santa Ana, Calif. With so many people underwater, Las Vegas remains at grave risk of suffering a prolonged foreclosure crisis that could cause neighborhoods to deteriorate.

The administration, recognizing that stable homeownership is a key to economic recovery, unveiled its Home Affordable Modification Program in March in hopes of curbing high foreclosure rates. The problem is that modifications to more affordable rates have not occurred quickly enough for many eligible homeowners under the program.

The Treasury Department and Housing and Urban Development Department announced that they will attempt to solve that problem by streamlining the application process for homeowners while holding mortgage service companies more accountable for their performance.

Homeowners bear responsibility for completing paperwork in a timely fashion, but those applications should be made easy to fill out. The administration has promised to do just that and has gone the additional step by making housing counselors available. That help can be accessed by calling the Homeowners’ HOPE Hotline at (888) 995-4673 or by visiting the Web site MakingHomeAffordable.gov.

Mortgage companies, though, will not be allowed to drag their feet. They will be closely monitored by the administration to ensure that applications for mortgage modifications are being processed in a timely fashion.

Companies that fail to comply with the new directives will face possible fines and other sanctions. That is the type of teeth needed to make sure the mortgage program succeeds.

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

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By Future

Dec. 1, 2009

3:06 a.m.

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"An announcement Monday by the Obama administration that it would do more to help struggling homeowners"

Another failed program and Obama announces a redo for the 5th or 6th time.

The Reid past law is inept and the Obama regulations cause too many huddles for anyone to qualify.

"The Treasury Department and Housing and Urban Development Department announced that they will attempt to solve that problem by streamlining the application process..." but if the qualifiers are not changed it will continue to fail
By LarryVegas

Dec. 1, 2009

7:50 a.m.

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Changes to the home refinancing plan announced by Senator Reid in June of 2009 is still not in place today.
By fosimmons

Dec. 1, 2009

11:49 a.m.

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Fellow Doers of Good -(those who cast in favor of Obama) Under water home owners have to walk away and take a forclosure. They can get credit back in 24 months. Get a car or another house first though. Plan ahead in other words. It is not cheating to do this. The banks are unwilling to offer any help for the most part so the underwater owner is perfectly free to take this action. The interest and fees and all that an owner will pay will last for years and years whereas walking away the owner will be above water in about three years. CriminalBush and his hand selected henchmen of blood and fraud on Wall Street sit back in joy as they bask in wealth and glee as seeing Cindy Sheehan getting smacked around by some old farts in uniforms showing they really don't subcribe to our constitution. Thank You.
By LarryVegas

Dec. 1, 2009

12:26 p.m.

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I didn't know that fosimmons wore a pink blouse...
By larry5

Dec. 1, 2009

11:09 p.m.

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You'd think the Sun editorial board would get tired of chanting for the cult. This is really sad.