Barney Frank, one of the chief architects of the mortgage meltdown has miscalculated again in his attempt to stick taxpayers with an even bigger bill for his incompetence:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Back when $300 billion seemed like a lot of money, Rep. Barney Frank pushed through Congress one of the first attempts to rescue the U.S. housing market -- a program that has since fallen far short of its goals.
In July 2008, the Hope for Homeowners Act was approved amid promises it could help 400,000 distressed mortgage borrowers. That was months before the government's $700 billion bank bailout, or a possible $900 billion economic stimulus...
...But as of Monday, only 451 applications had been submitted to the FHA for participation in the program and only 25 loans had been closed under it, said an FHA spokesman."
Gee. Why would that be? Here's some of the basic requirements for participation:
"Hope for Homeowners maintains FHA's long-standing requirement that new loans be based on a family's long-term ability to repay the mortgage. FHA only allows owner-occupants to be eligible for FHA-insured mortgages. Borrowers must also meet the following eligibility criteria:
Their mortgage must have originated on or before January 1, 2008;
Their mortgage debt-to-income must be at least 31 percent;
They cannot afford their current loan;
They did not intentionally miss mortgage payments; and
They do not own second homes.
END
Well, the problem is obvious. The program is only available to responsible borrowers who can actually re-pay the new loans. All the unqualified mortgagors that Frank and his party forced banks to lend to can't compound this disaster by borrowing more money they can't afford.
Don't worry. Frank will figure out a way to waste the money. $300 billion buys a lot of votes.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Back when $300 billion seemed like a lot of money, Rep. Barney Frank pushed through Congress one of the first attempts to rescue the U.S. housing market -- a program that has since fallen far short of its goals.
In July 2008, the Hope for Homeowners Act was approved amid promises it could help 400,000 distressed mortgage borrowers. That was months before the government's $700 billion bank bailout, or a possible $900 billion economic stimulus...
...But as of Monday, only 451 applications had been submitted to the FHA for participation in the program and only 25 loans had been closed under it, said an FHA spokesman."
Gee. Why would that be? Here's some of the basic requirements for participation:
"Hope for Homeowners maintains FHA's long-standing requirement that new loans be based on a family's long-term ability to repay the mortgage. FHA only allows owner-occupants to be eligible for FHA-insured mortgages. Borrowers must also meet the following eligibility criteria:
Their mortgage must have originated on or before January 1, 2008;
Their mortgage debt-to-income must be at least 31 percent;
They cannot afford their current loan;
They did not intentionally miss mortgage payments; and
They do not own second homes.
END
Well, the problem is obvious. The program is only available to responsible borrowers who can actually re-pay the new loans. All the unqualified mortgagors that Frank and his party forced banks to lend to can't compound this disaster by borrowing more money they can't afford.
Don't worry. Frank will figure out a way to waste the money. $300 billion buys a lot of votes.
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