White House Refinance Plan Gains Momentum
White House Refinance Plan Gains Momentum
The White House’s plan to help more home owners refinance their mortgage into today’s ultra low rates is gathering new support, providing a lift to what had been considered a stalled proposal, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Obama administration is urging senators to vote as early as this week on an expansion of the Home Affordable Refinancing Program, and Democratic leaders are considering adding the expansion to their agenda for the two-week Senate session that starts today, Bloomberg reports.
Under the proposal, home owners would be able to refinance their mortgages with any lender through a government program. This would allow home owners to shop for the best mortgage rate rather than be limited to who they already had as a lender. The proposal also would potentially lower the cost of refinancing by removing certain fees that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae charge.
The bill had been introduced earlier this year but has yet to gain any ground. The Federal Housing Finance Agency had criticized the need for any changes to the refinancing program.
Critics have argued that more than a half million home owners have already refinanced under the government’s programs, so any changes to the program were unneeded.
Source: “White House Refinancing Plan Advances,” The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 7, 2012) and White House Pushes Refinancing Expansion Before Election, Bloomberg (Sept. 10, 2012)
- © Copyright the National Association of REALTORS® unless otherwise noted.
- HEADQUARTERS: 430 NORTH MICHIGAN AVE. CHICAGO, IL 60611
- D.C. OFFICE: 500 NEW JERSEY AVE. NW WASHINGTON, DC 20001
Most Recent News & Commentary