New America Foundation's Ellen Seidman's Statement on $75 Billion for Housing Market

President Obama has clearly laid out how the on-going foreclosure crisis is hurting responsible homeowners, their neighbors, businesses, towns, cities and all those dependent on their services.  It is no longer (if indeed it ever was) a crisis limited to "a bunch of irresponsible people who bought more home than they could afford." 

Maximizing Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's ability to help those whose loans they own or guarantee, and establishing a system under which lenders and servicers will be strongly incented to provide affordable loan modifications (including the innovative use of home price insurance) are major steps forward. The President's clear support for modifying the bankruptcy code to allow judicial modification of loans on a primary residence is also a positive.  I hope the additional support for Fannie and Freddie will encourage them to buy some of the high loan-to-value modified loans on lenders' books, thus enabling those lenders to make loans to new homeowners that are critical to stabilizing the housing market. 

The speed and efficacy with which the program works depends on the capacity and willingness of servicers and lenders, as well as borrowers, to make use of these new tools. And that, in turn, depends on both stopping the hemorrhaging of jobs and stabilizing the banking system.

If you would like to speak to Ellen Seidman, please contact Kate Brown at 202-986-3058 or brown@newamerica.net.

About New America
The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.  Headquartered in Washington D.C., New America also has offices in California.

Learn More About: Ellen Seidman
Related Programs: Asset Building Program
Topics: Ownership & Assets