Word: owings
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...industry average when the change is made, even if that pushes borrowers above the 38% payment-to-income ratio. The plan encourages but does not require servicers to make adjustments to principal balance - the generally acknowledged best way to keep people in their homes, especially when they owe more than their house is worth. In markets where home prices have dropped most precipitously or where investors make up a large portion of the home buyers, the plan will probably fall far short of having much of an impact...
...help borrowers who have been making mortgage payments on time but can't refinance into cheaper loans because they've seen equity in their homes evaporate as prices have plummeted. The federal housing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will refinance loans they hold or guarantee, even if borrowers owe more than their house is worth - up to 105% of the value of the property. The Administration figures that offer could reduce monthly payments for 4 million to 5 million borrowers...
...many of the same limitations apply to this part of the plan. Only interest payments will be lower, not principal balances. Homeowners who owe more than 105% of the value of their house - as is often the case in the worst-hit areas of the country - will be ineligible. And holders of jumbo loans need not apply. Again, that might reflect a sense of fairness - why should we help people who stretched beyond their means to buy McMansions? - but it ignores the facts that the delinquency rate among jumbo loans is spiking and that a foreclosed property hurts the value...
...homeowners owe less money on their mortgages, they will be less likely to stop making their payments. The plan is equivalent to a universal renegotiation of terms that improves the situation for both homeowners and banks. As a bonus, mortgage-backed - and, indeed, all mortgage-based - securities will become less toxic by virtue of a trickle-up effect...
...bank-sold homes from flooding the market, keep losses from further impairing mortgage-backed securities and preserve property values. That's how we wind up with ideas like paying mortgage servicers to make loans more affordable and changing the bankruptcy code to allow judges to reduce the amount borrowers owe their mortgage company...