Bush Caught Lying About Rate Freeze
President Bush in a press conference yesterday outlined a plan to help subprime borrowers facing upward rate adjustments (and potentially foreclosure because of the rate increases) some hope. Sadly, after a little investigation…it was all a big lie!
He outlined a 3 part plan to “help” American homeowners:
1. Refinance using a private sector, conventional Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan if possible. (Never possible…how are bad credit borrowers supposed to get approved on an A-paper loan program?)
2. If Step 1 not possible, attempt a refinance using the FHA Secure program. (This program is so new it’s not even available yet in most parts of the country. Plus the FHA lending caps will make it useless in places like New York and California…laughable!)
3.Lastly if all else fails, a 5 year rate freeze on the adjustable rate resets supposedly accessible by calling HopeNow. (HopeNow’s phone number was issued in the speech…incorrectly I might add.)
President Bush said,
“HOPE NOW members have agreed on a set of industry wide standards to provide relief to these borrowers in one of three ways: by refinancing an existing loan into a new private mortgage, by moving them into an FHA Secure loan, or by freezing their current interest rate for five years.”
The only problem is for most Americans caught in this predicament the first 2 options are laughable and the third is a LIE!
Mathew Graham a reporter at MortgageDailyNews.com, called Hope Now and was told after requesting a rate freeze:
“We don’t do that”
“He gave our number as a resource because we are counselors”
“We are counselors, we don’t do that here.”
Mr. Graham to make certain called back 8 times and got the same response each time. So The President of the United States is clearly lying to homeowners in this press conference setting up a huge disappointment for folks who are already in a depressing situation.
Now that’s got to be an all-time low for the office of the President…
Good Luck!
Author: The Mortgage Insider
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Tagged with: FHASecure • Foreclosure • HopeNow • Rate Freeze
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Yep…not a chance on a five year rate freeze.
Thanks for stopping by…
Nice analysis. Unfortunately, his administration has been caught either lying or wrong about every major policy and program they’ve undertaken over the last eight years. The mortgage foreclosure bailout is more of the same, and no one should have expected any better.
But at least the government is staying pretty much out of the market right now, or not further intervening. A rate freeze for five years? The only problem is, many of the adjustable rate mortgages have already reset to higher rates, which is one reason so many are facing foreclosure. Freezing the high rate for five years would guarantee these people lose their homes. Not to mention no lender is going to consider a rate freeze of that long.