President Obama details plan to help responsible homeowners
In his State of the
Union address, President Obama laid out a plan to help responsible borrowers
and support a housing market recovery.
Key aspects of the
president’s plan include:
- Broad-based refinancing: The president’s plan
will provide borrowers who are current on their payments with an
opportunity to refinance and take advantage of historically low interest
rates
- Homeowner Bill of Rights: The president is
putting forward a single set of standards to make sure borrowers and
lenders play by the same rules, including: Access to a simple mortgage
disclosure form, so borrowers understand the loans they are taking out;
full disclosure of fees and penalties; guidelines to prevent conflicts of
interest that end up hurting homeowners; support to keep responsible
families in their homes and out of foreclosure; and protection for
families against inappropriate foreclosure, including right of appeal.
- First pilot sale to transition foreclosed
property into rental housing: The FHFA, in conjunction with Treasury and
HUD, is announcing a pilot sale of foreclosed properties to be
transitioned into rental housing. C.A.R. is opposed to bulk sales of
REO properties in California.
- Providing a full year of forbearance for
borrowers looking for work: Following the administration’s lead, major
banks and the GSEs are now providing up to 12 months of forbearance to
unemployed borrowers.
- Pursuing a joint investigation into mortgage
origination and servicing abuses: This effort marshals new resources to
investigate misconduct that contributed to the financial crisis under the
leadership of federal and state co-chairs.
- Rehabilitating neighborhoods and reducing
foreclosures: In addition to the steps outlined above, the administration
is expanding eligibility for HAMP to reduce additional foreclosures,
increasing incentives for modifications that help borrowers rebuild
equity, and is proposing to put people back to work rehabilitating
neighborhoods through Project Rebuild.
C.A.R. and NAR support
the Obama Administration’s efforts to help homeowners and the struggling
housing market, because restoring the health of the housing market is critical
for the nation’s economic recovery.
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