05-20-08

The current bill as is would provide relief to Americans worried about foreclosure or can not otherwise make high reworked loan payments. This housing rescue plan would not put tax payers at risk since it is expected to be funded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The sponsor of the bill Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) has been working very hard in the past few weeks to compromise parts of the bill to seek Republican approval. He believes he has worked out any partisan issues and expects a large number of Republicans to support the measure on the senate floor. Without their support the future of this important bill would be in question.

In summary again this bill would allow the FHA to insure up to $300 billion in new loans for homeowners at risk of foreclosure. The program works by the lenders writing down the loans and the FHA refinancing the new lower loan amount into a fixed rate 30 year loan. This would decrease payments significantly and is expected to put more money in the pockets of American families.

Dodd expects the bill to pass the Senate and land on the Presidents desk before the July 4th recess, it is not clear if Bush will support the bill yet but there has been some positive comments about this bill coming from the White House.

Given the current conditions it is is expected to become law in July and become active in late summer to early fall.

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