We have been attempting to review the Bush Administration's plan to help stop foreclosures. We have not been able to find coherent, consistent documentation, thus we believe there is no plan. There is, however, a public relations effort designed to feign concern.
According to the Jacksonville Business Journal,
"Nationwide, nearly 1.1 million homes entered the foreclosure process so far this year, up 93 percent from the 559,750 foreclosures filed during the same period last year. About 526,936, or more than six out of every 1,000 households in the United States, were repossessed by banks or lenders during the first 11 months of the year, up 41 percent from the same time last year."
HUD notes that the FHA Secure Plan " has helped 33,000 homeowners prevent foreclosure in three months; More than 50,000 to be helped by end of year. " Thus 33,0000/1,100,000 or three percent of homeowners in foreclosure have been helped. That is three out of one hundred. Even under the Administration's most optimistic scenario, only 240,000, or 21.8% of homeowners facing foreclosure are eligible for assistance, meaning that 78.2% are not.
On the basis of these numbers, we judge this effort to be ineffective and cynical, giving false hope to those facing one of the most stressful life events possible.
Recent news articles point to the fact that the "Fed Shrugged as Subprime Crisis Spread." The Fed's mantra in 2001, according to a Governor of the Federal Reserve, speaking at a Board meeting of a faith-based pension fund (a speaker, by the way, we suggested) was "subprime good, predatory bad." This was, in hindsight, wrong. This was, also, no accident.
As we noted on November 9th, in 2000 and 2001, most of the people losing their homes were low to moderate income people of color. Those with new ideas and solutions to the problem were carefully excluded from providing suggestions to help with the problem, due to the same bigotry that gave rise to it.
This, too, was no accident.
According to the Jacksonville Business Journal,
"Nationwide, nearly 1.1 million homes entered the foreclosure process so far this year, up 93 percent from the 559,750 foreclosures filed during the same period last year. About 526,936, or more than six out of every 1,000 households in the United States, were repossessed by banks or lenders during the first 11 months of the year, up 41 percent from the same time last year."
HUD notes that the FHA Secure Plan " has helped 33,000 homeowners prevent foreclosure in three months; More than 50,000 to be helped by end of year. " Thus 33,0000/1,100,000 or three percent of homeowners in foreclosure have been helped. That is three out of one hundred. Even under the Administration's most optimistic scenario, only 240,000, or 21.8% of homeowners facing foreclosure are eligible for assistance, meaning that 78.2% are not.
On the basis of these numbers, we judge this effort to be ineffective and cynical, giving false hope to those facing one of the most stressful life events possible.
Recent news articles point to the fact that the "Fed Shrugged as Subprime Crisis Spread." The Fed's mantra in 2001, according to a Governor of the Federal Reserve, speaking at a Board meeting of a faith-based pension fund (a speaker, by the way, we suggested) was "subprime good, predatory bad." This was, in hindsight, wrong. This was, also, no accident.
As we noted on November 9th, in 2000 and 2001, most of the people losing their homes were low to moderate income people of color. Those with new ideas and solutions to the problem were carefully excluded from providing suggestions to help with the problem, due to the same bigotry that gave rise to it.
This, too, was no accident.