New Housing Program Is Aimed at the Unemployed

"The program announced Thursday will allow eligible homeowners to postpone all or part of their mortgage payments for a year or more... One major problem is that the administration's signature foreclosure-prevention program, the Home Affordable Modification Program, was designed to help homeowners saddled with mortgage loans that they could no longer afford. But for the past two years, the main cause of foreclosure has been unemployment, not subprime loans... The new program for the unemployed will apply to homeowners whose mortgages are backed by the Federal Housing Authority or those who are eligible for the Home Affordable Modification Program. ''