House Committee to Vote On Ending HAMP Program
The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a vote next week to consider a proposal that would shut down President Obama's housing rescue programs. The panel's GOP leaders will reportedly decide whether to terminate the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, which they say has failed to help enough homeowners to justify its cost.
The panel will also reportedly take a vote on ending a Federal Housing Administration refinance program as well as a program aimed at stabilizing neighborhoods with high rates of foreclosure. "In an era of record-breaking deficits, it's time to pull the plug on these programs that are actually doing more harm than good for struggling homeowners," said the committee's chairman Spence Bachus.
President Obama's administration, meanwhile, is trying to push for a settlement that would require the nation's largest banks to pay for reductions in loan principle totaling millions of dollars as punishment for the foreclosure crisis. Should an agreement be reached, a number of state attorneys general want US banks to fork over more than $20 billion worth of civil fines or to fund loan modifications for struggling homeowners.
Regulators are attempting to settle with as many as 14 loan servicers, including three of the nation's four largest banks: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.
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