Obama Lifejacket for those Drowned in Debt

If you owe more money to your mortgage lender than your home is worth, you are “underwater,” a term used to describe your unfortunate situation. President Obama has announced the expansion of a program that aims to help underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages to lower rates so that homeowners who owe more than 25 percent of the value of their home are eligible.

The program is called the Making Home Affordable plan and the change comes after a report revealing that the program has not yet reached enough of the people that it was trying to help in the first place. Making Home Affordable surfaced on February 18 with a limit of five percent over the value of the home, but the majority of those who took advantage of the program were nowhere near underwater.

Analyst reactions to the program have been mixed. Some have complained that the program is essentially limited to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans and that the majority of underwater homeowners have other loans. Other analysts worry that homes that have lost the most value will not receive sufficient attention even from the expanded program.

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