Panel: Obama Won’t Slow Foreclosures
October 10, 2009 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under Business
The Obama administration has begun patting itself on the back for its progress in helping many troubled homeowners to avoid foreclosure due to its various federal programs. However, an oversight panel has released a statement criticizing President Obama’s program, warning that it will actually end up leaving millions of Americans vulnerable to losing their homes to foreclosure.
Image: Zuma Press
The Congressional Oversight Panel, a group created to keep an eye on taxpayer bailout funds, has said the administration’s predictions of how many homeowners the programs will save are vastly overstated. According to the COP, the program would most likely only prevent less than half of the foreclosures than the government actually expects, a figure that the panel says stems from the program’s inability to address the most important issues.
High unemployment rates and deceptive mortgage practices are two of the main factors that President Obama’s program does not do anything to address, according to the COP. Many of the mortgages that fall under this category are too large to be modified by the program, while those that lose their jobs to the weak economy may end up earning less than necessary to qualify for any sort of relief.
