Reuters reports that the Obama administration is hammering out a program to subsidize mortgage payments for troubled homeowners who have gone through a standardized re-appraisal and affordability test, sources familiar with the plan said on Thursday.
The program would be a major break from existing aid programs, which are triggered once homeowners fall into arrears. Under the plan being contemplated, mortgage companies would use a uniform eligibility test even before a borrower becomes delinquent, sources said. The administration hopes the mortgage industry will soon agree to a set of standards that will allow it to move quickly to modify many home loans.
Sources said government-controlled housing finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would play a supporting role in the government's new plan, but said they are not expected to expand their securitization of loans. In an interview, James Lockhart, the regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said the mortgage finance industry was eager to have a standardized mortgage modification standard.
"I've talked to all the major servicers -- both the big bank ones and the big independent ones -- and they are all ready to go, they're chomping at the bit," Lockhart, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said. "The other thing they're asking for standardization."
Banks including WFC, JPM, BAC, PNC, STI, BBT, FITB are catching a bid following the report that the Obama administration is hammering out a program to subsidize mortgage payments for troubled homeowners. See 15:13 story for details.
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