2011-01-29 — latimes.com
"Republicans have long targeted the Obama administration's troubled mortgage modification initiative as an ineffective government program. And now that they're in position to do something about it in the House, some longtime critics are moving to end it.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, along with Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), announced Friday that they were introducing legislation to repeal the Home Affordable Mortgage Program."
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buyerbeware at 00:45 2011-01-30 said:
Yeah, this has been a real budget-buster. Less than $1 billion spent thus far (less than $2,000 per mod) and somehow this is evidence that the program is a failure of government? Mr. Issa, ask the banks why they aren't modifying loans. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they are private (not nationalized) entities. Maybe the financial incentive just isn't there. After all, banks epitomize capitalism. They are not altruistic institutions; they are not economic patriots. They exist for one reason and one reason only. So, while I agree that HAMP is a failure, I also think your bile is misplaced. Imagine banks actually buying into the idea: $29.9 billion @ $2,000/mod = 15 million mods; that might have had an impact, I don't know. Economists at both ends of the ideological spectrum can make compelling arguments, I'm sure, for why their side is right. Nonetheless, HAMP is a failure because it does not properly incentivize banks and servicers and it does not mollify potential issues with investors. At the end of the day, HAMP never had a chance because it assumes a level of economic patriotism that simply does not exist. Permalinkadd a comment | go to forum thread
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