[quote=partypup][quote=mlarsen23]I actually think this is progress. If they go with a rental program, it means that the government is giving up any hope of these people owning their house. This would be a good thing. I’d be much happier putting them on a kind of straightforward welfare than I am trying to arrange some program that could ultimately allow them to keep their house.
A rental program could be good if it was limited to lower incomes/housing prices.[/quote]
But the thing is, not everyone who is losing their home now is doing so because of poorly-negotiated and poorly-thought out toxic mortgages. Now the rot is creeping up the ladder to Alt-A and prime because owners are losing their homes – not because they were irresponsible and bought more than they could afford – but because of something they really can’t control: unemployment. I don’t think most of the people losing their homes now would be considered welfare types. Heck, any one of us on this board who has a mortgage would fall into the “welfare” category if we lost our job now and went on a fruitless search for new employment for 6+ months. There but for the grace of God go I.
[/quote]
Sounds like a bunch of rationalization party pup. I must say that it appears to have a tinge of class-ism.
If you or I lose our houses based on the agreements made to take the loan then we couldn’t afford it, period.That is no different for a sub-prime borrower or “prime”.
If someone gets a bailout or modification that reinstates their ability to “afford” the house, good for them,but in my opinion they are not entitled to it anymore than anyone else.
Unemployment has nothing to do with it. You always have the right to buy a house that you would have a hard time “losing” under any circumstances. That is, buy less than you can “afford” in the good times as an insurance policy… so as not to be a victim of unemployment in 6 short months. Many people did just that or went without. Why is someone entitled to keep their house with help after, 6 months of unemployment, when someone else bought cheaper hood and can keep the house independent of having a job,on minimum wage and/or spotty employment or made the decision not to buy anything because they couldn’t keep it in bad times?
