who is a "responsible" homeowner?

yeah, I don't even understand why they base so much on gross pay. it makes no sense to me. I will admit I didn't vote, I didn't like either candidate but I did have a lot of hope for Obama making a difference because of his youth and inexperience. I think a lot more of it has to do with too many democrats in charge. I hate how it always comes down to us and them kind of thing. whatever party you favor doesn't change that we all are facing an economic crisis.
you are smart also. i think that people just got greedy!

I am confused when people say that President Obama did not give detail. He did, but it is too much for me to go into. Plus, unlike President Bush, President Obama plans on letting everyone see what money is being used for. If you go to www.recovery.gov you can view and download the whole entire Stimulus plan, page for page.
I believe every detail for the Foreclosure recovery stimulus plan will be available March 1st.
I do not agree that the people are completely at fault. These loans reset. When the people got the loans, they could afford them. The thought that they could own a home was exciting to most of these people. The loans reset years down the line. Most people don't think that far down the line, or if they do they are optimistic. Even the people who understood the reseting did not imagine that it meant that their monthly payment would double.
I think most people trust lenders when they say you can afford this. The average person does not budget. They just have an idea and pay for things.
Plus, it has gotten so bad that many who are close to forclosure are NOT just people who have those loans. It is people who lost their jobs and can't find work, because of all this mess.
Stated income loans have their place. They help Self-Employed people get loans. But, the banks started giving Stated Income loans to everyone who walked in.

There is a difference the lenders and banks were making money off these loans, whether or not the payments were kept up. The people were optimistic trying to achieve a dream.
I know that some investors are part of this. I also know that there are greedy lenders and there are good lenders; I know both kinds.

I'm done. Thanks for listening... uh, reading:o)!

Never did I hear him say "I will give a tax cut to 95% of american and that tax cut will be around $26 a month for 6 months or until you reach $500. Then it will stop"

No, it isn't the bank/lenders sole fault. THey have the guidlines and they offered them to the borrowers. But since most borrowers are ignorant as to details, the loan officers had no requirement to break it down and explain to the borrowers the details... for instance for the ARM's - they borrower is qualified on the loan payment for hte first year...ONLY. They were not qualified on what hte loan payment would be in the 3 years when it would make it's first hike. Again, not exactly the loan agents responsiblity and the borrower could have asked that question...but frankly, i worked with loan officers and know that even if they were asked, they wouldnot have heen able to do those calculations....they didn't know how, and even if they did, they wouldn't offer it as the borrower would not have been qualified for that loan and the loan offcier would have lost a loan which is his income.

I myself went to my boss many times, complaining..."I can't do this! THese people can not afford this loan!".. Her response to me was .."does it met the guidelines for that program that the lender has given?" I had to say yes, it did. She then said "then that is allyou have to be concerned with. It is not your job to decided who qualifies how or when. You process the loan according to the guidelines.Period".

And yes, some of the loan programs had specific purposes...like you said the stated was for self employed but was then available to salaried borrowers. THat was the bank/lenders fault. It should not have been offered for other htan what it was for.. I did these and saw receptionist say they earned $75k a year.. unless maybe with a huge huge corporation and been there years and years or with the governemnt..no receptionist makes that much money. I saw commission people like loan officers etc, say they made $95k and stated that.. and got the loan. But it was stated, I had to do it and the borrower go the loan. That was wrong by the bank/lender.

don't get me wrong, i don't wish for anyone to suffer. personally i know people who had risky loans and because of the market they had to walk away from their homes. it is sad. i had been divorced and i no longer own a home because of the divorce i knew it would be too hard to financially to hold on. I made smart choices for myself. (i sold it, i didn't forclose) things are so complicated now and i feel for those who are looking for a way out. Does Obama's plan help those in need? I don't know the answer to that.

I totally agree. The problem is there is still a lot of waste in government and the people who need help the most fall through the cracks.

Look at it this way, all the housing boom during previous administration is because of easy credit & mortgage loan from bank, many were enticed into high interests mortgage loan beyond their acceptable earn incomes ratio. So every family thought they can afford to live lavishly by getting big mortgage with adjustable interest rate while bank executive continue to outperform their sale target and receive big bonuses. Speculator also continue to abuse the easy credit in their speculative housing investment and strike rich in flipping the property over week. A big housing bubble begin to form, every thing seem prospering while economy is growing and when stock market is relatively fraud free, but then recession come, every thing start to fall apart. Home owners mortgage interest rise sky high, making payment impossible, a two members live in a ten bedrooms house (five thousand sq ft) become a night mare instantly, but tax payers are punished for others greed and irresponsibility.

you definitely did it the right way but too many people have the mentality that they want it now and if a lender will allow it, they will do it. it is all about making money but in the long run how smart is it for a bank to lend money to a person who will just wind up defaulting on the loan?