Only if there's a buy out for all my old 8-tracks I have boxed up in the basement...

OMG! How I got swept up too by the 8 track!

This is actually one of the provisions set forth in the GSE reform bill passed over the summer. It applies to FHA loans and is part of the overall plan to refinance some problem loans in order to help stabilize the housing market.

I will not put it past the government, as stupid as that is.

Hey lets all stop paying our mortgages so we can get better rates. Give me a big hunk of gubberment cheese too! And, since their buying, a round for all my friends as well. Last person still foolish enough to work gets the bill.  Personal responsibilities are for suckers.

Who you calling a sucker Willis?

I have been saying this since the sub-prime market started to meltdown a year ago.  Although I would say extend the terms of the loan to whatever it takes to make the monthly payments affordable for the home owner even if that means terms of 80 to 100 years.

The problem is it would not really help.  I know.  I switched from a 30 year mortgage to a 15 year mortgage.  You know how much my payment went up (the balance was about the same)?  $100.  That's all!  Going from 30 to 40 would not reduce payments that much either.

But going from 30 to 80 or 100 years might, and is at least worth looking into for the banks, especially the ones that are having a hard time raising capital to remain solvent.  Something coming in from the mortgages is better than nothing.

a little sarcasm on my part Charles, but it seems to be heading that way.

Then when they kick it, the survivors have to pay for or foreclose and sell the property again, interesting. I've said it before, IMO the banks should  drop a quarter percent after the first five years, then maybe every 10 years after if payments are on time. Give the person that is responsible the break. That or go back to simple interest, paying 300% of the cost of the loan is ridiculous. If it's so fair why don't they give the same terms to us on our savings accounts, after all we are loaning them our money.

Side note: I wonder how many people in this predicament spent their stimulus check on their mortgage? It seem like, for a couple, $1500 could have eased the burden by 100 bucks a month for a year, enough time to work hard and get a raise or find a new job. But my theory is 60% or more of the people in this situation probably went out and bought a big screen TV or new xBox and all the trimmings with the cash. No proof just a hunch.

Did I forget the smiley again. Darn.

If I thought you were serious, I would add that I think you get into the law of diminishing returns.  If you look at what you are paying on principal on a 30 during the first few years, you will see it is virtually nothing.  I dont think going out farther is really going to help.

But yea, why not!  We are living longer!

Actually, I did deposit mine.  But then increased my payments by $100 too.  So I guess I am using mine that way.

But somehow Doc, I get the feeling that your mortgage was not in danger of foreclosure... and yet you still managed to use your cash wisely. I know there are responsible people out there, I just worry about the ones without sensible priorities, as they are the ones increasingly digging deeper into my pockets, and everyone else that pays taxes.

I have to wait until next year for my stimulus package. Now I've been drooling over a big screen TV, but you can rest assured if I had even the remote feeling that I would lose my home, that is where the money would go.

No, I did not use mine wisely.  If I had and I was being foreclosed, the government would have bailed me out!