Another attempt to rescue the U.S. housing sector. The Treasury Department announced on Friday measures to try to improve assistance for distressed homeowners. These measures would give priority to unemployed, for which banks would be forced to cap the mortgage repayments to 31% of monthly income. In the case of borrowers for which the remaining debt is greater than 15% or more of the value of their homes, banks have the obligation "to consider another approach to restructuring, including further cancellation of debt principal (the amount owed without interest).
The cost of this initiative would be 14 billion dollars (14.5 billion euros)."These changes will help the government achieve its goal of stabilizing the housing market by offering a second chance to three to four million struggling homeowners by the end of 2012," said the Treasury Department.
On funding, the Treasury warned: "The costs will be shared between the private sector and the federal government." Specifically, "the State, the cost of these changes will be funded through $ 50 billion allocated to housing programs under the plan helps the financial sector.
"Millions of planned evictions"
These new measures come to the aid of a prominent real estate, launched in March 2009. It also included aid to distressed mortgage holders.With government support, they were able to negotiate a rescheduling of their debt, which had often come to exceed the value of their housing loans instant payday .
On Friday, the government recognized the relative failure of this plan. Then he aimed to "provide a reduction in monthly installments to 3 to 4 million homeowners in danger, only one million households benefited from a temporary or permanent restructuring of their maturity after one year. Only 170,000 of them have managed to get to the end of procedures to reduce their monthly payments permanently.
At the same time, referrals and expulsions continue."More than two million homeowners have received an eviction notice in 2008, in 2009 was nearly 2.8 million, and millions more are planned in 2010, says a recent report of an inspector Independent Treasury Department. "Many people in America live on the payroll last month. A wrong move can push them into poverty and the street, "notes Moe Bedard, founder of a website to help borrowers.
According to figures released Thursday by two banking regulators, 13.6% of U.S. borrowers were behind on their monthly payments in the fourth quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, the real estate sector still suffers American. Sales of existing homes in the United States in February has been a slight decrease of 0.6% while new home sales over the same period fell by 2.2% yoy to 308,000 transactions.Their lowest level since 1963.
ALSO READ:
"The crisis in U.S. housing is not over
"Real American: worrying statistics