Housing Mortgage Bill -- Vahl Comments

First, here are excerpts from an article that describes the Housing Mortgage Bill that will likely be signed by the President before the end of the year:

Boosting Fannie and Freddie
To help stabilize markets, which were shaken in the past few weeks by steep declines in the stock prices of Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), Treasury Secretary Paulson asked Congress on July 13 to give the Treasury power to provide a liquidity and capital "backstop" for the two companies.

Fannie and Freddie guarantee the purchase and trade of mortgages and own or back $5.2 trillion in mortgages.

The bill allows Treasury over the next 18 months to offer Fannie and Freddie an unlimited line of credit and the authority to buy stock in the companies if necessary.

Shares of Fannie closed 12% higher and those of Freddie 9% on Wednesday. Fannie's stock is down 79% and Freddie's 84% over the past year.


Helping at-risk borrowers
The bill also aims to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure and to bolster regulation of Fannie and Freddie. Among other things, it would:

Increase the Federal Housing Administration's role. The FHA could insure up to $300 billion in new 30-year fixed rate mortgages for at-risk borrowers in owner-occupied homes if lenders agree to write down loan balances to 90% of the homes' current appraised value.

Lenders would also agree to pay upfront fees to the FHA equal to 3% of a home's appraised value. Borrowers must agree to pay an annual premium to the FHA equal to 1.5% of their new loan balance. They must also agree to share with the government any profit they realize from selling or refinancing.


Create home-buyer credit. The bill includes a tax refund for first-time home buyers worth up to 10% of a home's purchase price but no more than $7,500.

The refund, however, serves more as an interest-free loan, since it would have to be paid back over 15 years in equal installments. It would be reduced gradually for single filers with adjusted gross incomes above $75,000 and for joint filers with AGIs over $150,000.


Bar down-payment assistance for FHA loans. The bill eliminates a program that has allowed sellers to provide down payment assistance. The seller-funded program is largely the reason why the agency's reserve has fallen by $4.6 billion, according to FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery. Currently, that reserve is roughly $16.4 billion.

The bill would also increase to 3.5% from 3% the down payment requirement for borrowers getting FHA loans.


Give grants to states to buy foreclosed properties. The bill would grant $4 billion to states to buy up and rehabilitate foreclosed properties.

Quick comments by Vahl:

I personally approve of this bill. It's close enough to my Earth-Never solution to the Housing crisis. The only thing that bothers me is the removal of the seller assistance for down payments. I understand why it has to be this way ... it just potentially delays my first home purchase. Since the home I'm looking at is EXTREMELY cheap, I know I'm not a bad borrower if I get down-payment assistance. This is what happens when government is forced to step in to solve a problem -- the whole populace is punished because of a few bad apples.

Don't believe me? Have you flown anywhere lately?

Anyway, I accept this reality.

Winners: People currently in danger of losing their home to foreclosure.

Losers: People who've ALREADY lost their homes to foreclosure.

LME Practitioners rewarded: The banks, some very lucky thoughtless borrowers.

I pray that Repubs and Dems who support off-shore drilling will filibuster this bill in the Senate until their voice his heard and their bill(s) are brought up for a vote.

In Memoriam: Charlton Heston

Click here for a fantastic blog post that memorialized Heston and his great career, complete with classic movie clips.

Click here for a great eulogy by Damian.

Click here for a dream I had of Heston this morning, prior to hearing of his passing. I'm sure it's just a coincidence hahahahaahahahaa.

Finally, I'd like to reprint a satirical-yet-serious piece from a few years back. We here at the Skew officially endorse this message:

Earth-Never: President Heston Speaks on September 12, 2001

The following is an official Earth-Never transcript of a speech delivered by President Charlton Heston the day after the 9-11 tragedies:

The bombing has began. In response to the COWARDLY acts that occurred yesterday in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania, we are destroying all-known terrorists in the Middle East.

We know who the terrorists are. The hijackers were members of Al-Quaida. Al-Quaida's leader Osama bin Laden is currently located in Afghanistan. His organization trains there. Now, his organization is being wiped from the face of the earth.

As with any war, innocent victims will die. Many innocents died yesterday, while trying to go to work. Today, many more will die. Any person living within 100 miles of a known terrorist is likely to be dead after tonight. Please pray for these souls -- that God will help them understand and give them peace.

We are the world's superpower. We do not tolerate these GUTLESS attacks. And we are responding in kind.

As the world's superpower, we have a responsibility -- to stand for freedom and democracy, and to crush tyranny when it exists.

Yesterday, we were attacked by a new kind of tyranny. As a superpower, we have the ability to counter-attack and wipe this new kind of tyranny off the face of the earth. And we are.

It is unfortunate that the Middle East governments were unwilling to fight the terrorists head-on. Their lack of diligence has lead to this day, and makes them equally accountable for the thousands of deaths on American soil.

After the bombing, the Middle East will be largely inhabitable for years to come. This will obviously have an affect on our economy, as well as the world's economy. We believe that this is a NECESSARY hardship that we MUST endure in order to insure that terrorism will CEASE to exist.

One nation has been spared: Israel. Israel has been the only partner in that area to stand by us 100%. We have assurances from Prime Minister Sharon that the Palestinian terrorist problem will also be taken care of over the next 24 hours. We trust Israel, and we applaud their actions.

We understand that the actions being taken today will be upsetting to certain members of the Islamic community here in America. In order to assure that no retaliatory attacks take place within our borders, all mosques will be asked to close until the terrorist problem is solved, and all Muslims will be asked to voluntarily hand themselves over to local military or police officials. We need to get to the bottom of this, and root out terrorism in all forms from our country. If your Muslim, I say to you now: your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

Finally, my fellow Americans, we must look to the future. The men and women who died yesterday will not die in vain. We will insure that terrorism will cease to exist in our country, and in the world. By doing so, we offer a peaceful planet to our children, and their children.

Goodnight, and may God bless us all.