Tag: cramdown

The Washington Independent's Annie Lowery today drills into the deep end of the linked unemployment and foreclosure crises, contrasting a story of impending family...

WASHINGTON-- Only a year ago, hopes were high that a big push by the government to stop foreclosures would be a great success, living up to its billing as “Help for America’s Homeowners.”

Last January started out with a foreclosure moratorium, allowing time for the Obama Administration to put the final touches on Making Home Affordable — its $75 billion signature program aimed at helping 3 to 4 million homeowners. After bailing out banks and the financial system, the administration turned its efforts to borrowers on the verge of losing their homes. The program rolled out with fanfare in the spring. But as 2010 begins, it is already clear that Making Home Affordable has fallen far short of its goals.

“NPV Test: Failed.” That was the red-lettered verdict on the computer screen of a CitiMortgage negotiator in June. The result: An 83-year-old widow in Illinois was denied a loan modification through the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable program, even though the employee admitted in an e-mail, “I am unable to come up with a reason for the denial.”

WASHINGTON — A top Democrat on Monday warned the nation’s banks that, unless they get more aggressive in modifying mortgages to prevent foreclosure, Congress will renew previous efforts to empower families to keep their homes through bankruptcy. But U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the upper-chamber’s second-ranking Democrat, also gave the banks three months to comply with his ultimatum — a span over which roughly 1 million new homeowners are projected to enter foreclosure.

As The Washington Independent reported yesterday, a small group of Senate Democrats is pushing to revive the mortgage loan cramdown idea — a sure...

Multiplying failed mortgages and home foreclosures were at the heart of the global financial meltdown and remain a national socio-economic disaster. So-called "cramdown" legislation...