A story in the Huffington Post, and available here reports that the federal government’s response to the foreclosure crisis is a dismal failure with a mere 33% of those who were in a trial modification converting to a permanent one. Of the millions of Americans that are struggling, all the might and power of the federal government (and $75 billion of our taxpayer dollars) has only provided any assistance to less than 180,000 people.
- Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican on the House Oversight Committee was more blunt: “It’s not surprising these numbers are lower than expected,” he said in an email. “This program has been a waste of taxpayer dollars and harmful to the very families it was supposed to help.”
- “I’ve come to the reluctant conclusion that the only way to accelerate the program and also provide adequate incentives for homeowners who sacrifice to stay in their own homes is through permanent, locally-tailored, unconditional reductions in mortgage principal,” he said. (Dennis Kucinich)
- A senior Treasury official told HuffPost on Monday that the department was heading towards more writing down of principal as part of its mortgage modification efforts, and that an announcement was to be expected in the next few weeks.
