The Case for Housing Help

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"...Congress should set up an advisory group made up of professionals in the world of mortgage finance and residential housing to ensure that programs are effective and fair to the public."
Aren't these the same people who screwed up the system in the first place? You think letting them have another time at bat is going to change the score of the ball game?
How about just doing nothing and let the terrible consequences follow? Let's see how the free market handles the problems created by the governmental controllers, even when it surely means great pain for those who deserve it and those who are innocent bystanders.
Isn't that how Capitalism is supposed to work?

HMichaelH of MD 8:12AM July 01, 2008

Please email me information to get my sister help with this issue. She does not have money to pay a lawyer so she need pro bono attorney.

Forlesia Cook of MD 9:28PM May 23, 2008

mr. zuckerman,
while your article made a sensible appeal to the common self interest, the reality of the situation is different. another government program to bail out the profligate, the foolish, and the greedy is not what this country needs. like all federal handouts any attempt to help a few unfortunates will be stampeded by thousands of con men, politically connected pinheads and other greedy people in search of easy money. one need only look at dozens of other misguided federal programs to see that personal stupidity and corporate greed cannot be legislated away. forcing prudent people once again to help fix the latest mess will only only encourage more fiscal irresponsibility in the future.
you can mark it on your calendar right now. if a federal mortgage bailout happens you can expect a timeline like this; one year to legislate, two years to implement and two years for the public to lose sight of it. a few months later a scandal and the next perp walk. some time at the end of 2013 we can be assured of yet another congressional investigation. i'll go heat up the popcorn.

Ben of AL 10:27PM April 21, 2008

Don't place the ENTIRE blame on individuals who "purchase a house well beyond their needs!" There are mortgage companies and banks who do NOT fully explain the terns if the purchase to the consumers. Just a little while ago there was a story on the internet about a young couple who purchased their first house and they were promised up front by the mortgage company that they would have a fixed rate. After the first month, the fixed rate doubled which was not agreed in the contract. The new homeowners took their case to court and it was a proverbial "David versus Goliath". Nobody ever would believe that they would win their case, but they did! In today's housing market, it wouldn't be a bad idea to hire a a lawyer to make sure that the terms of the agreement were in writing and that both parties had a clear understanding of the agreement. No agency and no legislation prohibited unscrupulous banking/lending practices. Even now, there is no attempt to investigate what really occurred to bring about massive foreclosures! If there are
no clear policies, no clear rules, no clear guidelines set forth for bankers, mortgage companies, and lenders alike; how can anyone say emphatically that is clearly the faulty of those who purchased a home but were most likely unable to afford it? Yes, I believe there were many who clearly "gambled" and purchased their first home thinking it was more like a "balancing act" similar to their credit card balances! But the percentage of first-time home owners who were openly deceived cannot be accurately estimated. Greed knows no bounds and until the average consumer can see with their eyes laws on the books to protect them against the immoral and unscrupulous lending practice of many institutions and see that they are enforced, I, like others, will give the average home buyer the benefit of the doubt!

D.Wells of WI 9:18PM April 14, 2008

If people hadn't been so greedy, and only puchased a house, or car, or anything, that was within their salary bracket to pay for, they wouldn't be in trouble. If the news media and the politions (wanting to garner the vote of those who want what they want for no money down, or better yet, free) would not spend more than they take in and can afford, there would be no "down turn" in our ecomony. Read the "rules for a communistic take over of a "free" society" and you will find we are playing to the scheme of Marxis/socialistic powers. Another 10 to 15 years and we will be just another 3d world clawless tiger. Get ready to explain that to your grandchildren when they realise what you have left them.

John in KS of KS 3:32PM April 14, 2008

Mort,
First of all, please excuse my liberties with the english language.
Your statement, "The unprecedented crash in home values, the first since the Great Depression, threatens the entire economy" should read, "The only once before precendented crash...", shouldn't it?
By the way, there's another way of looking at it...
"The unprecedented surge in gloom and doom headlines, up even more than Iraq Quagmire nonsense, threatens the entire economy".
Please, it's only 2% of mortgages that are in foreclosure. Only 30 % of homes even have morgages. That means only 0.6% of homes have anything to fear.
50% of our income gets confiscated annually by government, doesn't that threaten our entire economy?
Government regulates and or taxes all commerce, most all property, our bodies, our education, our jobs, the food we eat, the products we buy, and just about every activity we do. Doesn't that threaten our economy?
When speaking of things "unprecedented" that threatens our economy, you can start a little higher on the priority list, perhaps even in the top 10.

Eric of MI 2:35PM April 14, 2008