Foreclosure-Prevention Program ‘Deeply Troubling,’ Issa Says
Representative Darrell Issa is broadening his list of investigations into President Barack Obama’s administration, saying difficulties in a government program for helping homeowners avoid foreclosure are “deeply troubling.”
Issa, the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a letter today to Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the committee’s top Democrat, that the panel must give “strong oversight” to the taxpayer-funded program that gives lenders incentives to lower payments and renegotiate rates for homeowners.
The program has failed to “come even close to meeting its stated goal” of helping as many as 3 million to 4 million financially struggling homeowners, said the letter from Issa, a California Republican. “In reality far more struggling homeowners have been kicked out” of the program “than have received permanent modifications.”
Issa’s focus on the U.S. Treasury’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, adds to a list of investigations he plans. Others will focus on the release of classified diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, Food and Drug Administration recalls, the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s failure to agree on origins of the economic meltdown, and corruption in Afghanistan.
The HAMP program has been criticized by housing advocates, lawmakers and watchdog agencies, such as the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and Obama consumer adviser Elizabeth Warren. Treasury has spent about one- fourth of the $50 billion authorized for the program, which is projected to prevent fewer than 800,000 foreclosures.
To contact the reporter on this story: Heidi Przybyla in Washington at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva in Washington at msilva34@bloomberg.net
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page