Released: May 01, 2008

FDIC plan for home refinancing

Source: Maura Reynolds, LA Times (Free Registration)

A key federal regulator released a proposal to address the mortgage crisis Wednesday, calling on the Treasury Department to help troubled borrowers by lending them 20% of their mortgage principal to spur refinancing into more affordable loans.

Chairwoman Sheila C. Bair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said she was prompted to offer the plan in part by meeting worried borrowers at a housing forum in Los Angeles last week. The crowd of “anxious people” overfilled the auditorium and stretched down the block, she said. “I didn’t see a lot of loan flippers or condo speculators,” Bair told reporters.

Under Bair’s proposal, Treasury would lend more than 1 million borrowers 20% of the amount of their original mortgage to assist in refinancing the remaining 80% at more affordable terms than their current mortgage offers. The government loan would be interest-free to the borrower for five years, with the owner of the original loan making the interest payments.

Read Full Article: FDIC plan for home refinancing