dagblog - Comments for "Obama's Refinance Program--it stinks good. "

I think most of the bailout

Oxy Mora — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:03:24 +0000

In reply to Oxy, have the banks paid back

I think most of the bailout money has been paid back, for not the best of reasons, because by retaining it longer the banks presumably could have been making more loans. I could be wrong but I think the money went right back into the Treasury. The same for other money that might have been earmarked for mortgage loan modifications but wasn't applied.

What we need is a very extensive refi program but that would most likely involve a reworking of the FHFA mandate by Congress--which is unlikely in this climate.

I don't envy you having to rent a house out. But I don't think the refi program will affect it much. The refi folks will still be underwater and probably won't be able to sell which probably also means they'll tend to stay in their homes and not rent them.

Thanks, Erica What I was

Oxy Mora — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:46:06 +0000

In reply to "the fact that this program

Thanks, Erica What I was trying to say is that it's good in this case to maintain separate tracks. I don't reject this specific plan because it per se doesn't address the broader issues.

The final rules won't be published until Nov. 15. We won't know until then how much in fees a person would have to incur in order to keep a 30 year term mortgage and therefore actually lower his payments with a lower rate. As you suggest, it might just be better to make extra principal payments, if one could do that. Vermont guy has been paying for six years, so a modest sum, if he can swing it, will vastly shorten the time for paying off the loan.

Oxy, have the banks paid back

Resistance — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:59:53 +0000

In reply to Obama's Refinance Program--it stinks good.

Oxy, have the banks paid back the bailout money?

If so, why cant the amount authorized to save the financial markets be reapplied for the same reason, the bailout was originally intitiated. To save the economy from collpase.

As a landlord; not because I chose to be, but I cant sell my homes

If some are able to refinance at lower interest rates, or have their principle reduced, it will have an impact on those who cant avail themselves off government assitance.

Example; When I rent my house out, I can barely take enough revenue to make the mortgage and the expense of repairs.

The homeowner that recieves government assitance, can reduce their mortgage and it they should ever decide, they want to make the home a rental property, they'll undercut the rest of us that are stuck as landlords, stuck with the higher mortgage costs.

Whatever it takes, everyone should be allowed to refinance to these lower rates.

The bankers were bailed out, wheres our bailout?

Strategic abandonment is making more and more sense. When that happens the American dream will die with it.

The model set by the bankers: To hell with America, everyman for himself?

I dont want to hear; Uncle Sam needs you. Now reap what you sowed Uncle.

"the fact that this program

erica20 — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:20:37 +0000

In reply to Obama's Refinance Program--it stinks good.

"the fact that this program is not a direct help is a condemnation of our broad economics and politics"

I'm one of the people who is rolling my eyes at this program--I hope it helps your friend in Vermont, but if it does, he's part of a pretty small group.

The only good thing that could come from this particular heap of policy poo, in my opinion, is that finally there's a program simple enough that people can see WHY it won't work for most underwater homeowners--and that the banks are still doing just fine, thank you very much. ("Hmm, if you'll pay THIS RELATIVELY GIGANTIC fee, we'll let you pay off your underwater mortgage in the original amount of time you planned--or you could pay it off 15 years sooner!" Which people could already do just by adding a few extra bucks a month onto their payment, as if anybody could do that these days, anyway.) The general public might finally catch on to the idea that the banks are essentially using their now-free Federal money (at taxpayer expense) to offer a small, cosmetic discount to homeowners, and reap the same handsome rewards that they've reaped all along.

At which point people might start to talk seriously about principal reduction, and an actual haircut for banks and bankers who bundled up loans and shipped them to closets offshore with unseemly haste, in a disingenuous effort to pretend they had no idea that there could be problems down the line....

I also think consumers should demand some sort of credit-score amnesty for anybody who took out a mortgage between 2000 and 2005, which might ease things up for people who have already lost homes.

Again, if this program finally demonstrates the extent to which it's too little, too late, and too lacking in understanding of the enormity of what's really going on, it will be worth the paper on which its guidelines are printed.

Thanks, TMC. I'm glad you had

Oxy Mora — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:44:59 +0000

In reply to Hahahahaha... "The fire

Thanks, TMC. I'm glad you had a good laugh. I had a good laugh myself when the subconscious dished that one up.

Hahahahaha... "The fire

tmccarthy0 — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:27:15 +0000

In reply to Obama's Refinance Program--it stinks good.

Hahahahaha... "The fire bloggers are already on "Obama's Plan" like flies on Schweddy Balls ice cream. " Oh shit... hahahahahaha... I have to figure out how to quit reading that line and laughing so hard my stomach hurts before I can finish this blog! Well played Oxy, well played. Could you pass me some gelato please?