Upcoming Foreclosures - Should the government bail people out on foreclosure?

Should the government bail people out on foreclosure?

I have been paying for my house and several people on the block are going into foreclosure. I feel for them, but I don't think it is right that any president should give handouts for people to keep their house. If that is the case, I want a "government rebate" on my house so I can buy another house. Government handouts for people to save their house is what one candidate is running on. Something smells wrong.

Public Comments

Those people that went into foreclosure didn't know how to negotiate a mortgage. This downturn is purging all of these used car salesmen turned real estate brokers from the market. Frankly, a huge class action lawsuit going after brokers for misrepresentation of these mortgages is in order.
I'm with you on that. I don't think my government should rescue people from their bad decisions. I lost a grand on the stock market one time. Where was my rescue?
The bailouts only promote irresponsible behavior. I have been in the mortgage industry for over 5 years and I have done a few of the adjustable mortgage loans. In each instance, I informed the borrower that the loan was just a band-aid loan, which was allowing them to keep or purchase a home while they had credit problems. I told them that they would need to make sure that they made every payment on time for the next 2 years and then refinance into a good Fixed Rate loan. I'd say that in my experience, 25% listened and improved their credit, 50% stayed where they were and refinanced at the end of the 2 years for another ARM and 25% ended up in a worse credit situation and couldn't qualify for a refinance. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.
It is _never_ a proper function of government in a free society to redistribute wealth. I also feel for people who are losing their homes but I also believe that if they had been responsible about buying their homes in the first place they wouldn't be where they are.
Hell no. Live within your means.
The government of the United States was not intended or set up to be the aid of last resort to any one or any business enterprise. The fact that they are is just more sliding into the socialism the left has been pushing for years. It's what I don't like about Bush, his father, and McCain and Lindsey Graham for that matter. It is the left leaning that has gotten the Republican Party in the trouble it's in now. I made some bad decisions in the stock market so I guess I should petition congress to reimburse me for my losses too? Makes about as much sense. McCain/Palin '08
No, they borrowed the money on their own and if they cannot repay it then why should we as taxpayers do it for them. Do you think Lenny the knee breaker cares if you cannot make your payment, will Lenny go to the boss and ask the boss to pay your loan, no, so I shouldn't have to pay for dead beat homeowners who got in over their head McCain Palin Experience we need
We should support hardworking families who unfortunately lost their jobs. We should never support speculators who bought a house they could not afford. And there are many of those around me. Those Interest Payment Only Buyers are on their own. If you gamble you usually lose. I do not want to pay their debt twice. Always wondered who the people were buying Mansions with incomes no higher than ours.
No... They made the choice to overextend themselves they need to get themselves out of it! I want too... I was responsible and went to college, I would like to buy a house, but I want to pay off some student loan debt first. It would be nice for the government to reward people that act responsibly and not those that feel as if they are owed something.
They've already started. A bill was passed, effective 10/1, where banks and mortgage companies will be required to review each situation. The law, which Bush signed states that people having trouble keeping up their mortgage payments can apply to this program that will give them new loans and payments based on what their property is now worth, compared to what it was worth when they purchased it. When I bought my house during the housing boom, I paid $480,000. That was cheap for Southern California. My job was outsourced and i couldn't find another that would pay me close to what I was making and was having difficulty keeping up with the mortgage. It's now worth $325,000 on the market. I've lost everything I've put into it and was on my way to foreclosure, or short sale. It's now being rented for half of what the mortgage is. If i can get a new loan based on its current value and the mortgage is close to, or even a bit higher than what I receive in rent, I might be able to keep it.
It certainly doesn't seem fair since these people made bad decisions on their own. However, we have to be realistic and realize that as the housing market goes, so goes our economy. That's what we've seen happen the past 2 years or so. Something has to happen to change the status quo and I think that is what the bail outs are supposed to do - help people get back on their feet and shore up the economy. It's not necessarily a reward for bad judgement, even though it may seem like it to those of us who have better judgement.
why? it wasn't the taxpayers fault?
Just like a "Christlike" Republican to say that the government should rescue big wealthy banks, airports, and large companies and ignore the little people when they are under pressure. These companies help to create the problem with their corrupt practices, and you have a problem helping taxpaying people who serve rather than exploit their country. When you give money to the government in taxes, you expect to put it in a pot for the good of all. Don't try to talk about Social Darwinistic "survival of the fittest" when the race is rigged in your favor. Blacks who are consistently denied loans offered to Whites at equal income levels often fall prey to subprime mortgages simply because they want to own their own homes. JP Morgan Chase and Greenpoint is guilty of this practice of redlining, as are so many others. These are people who more than pay their dues daily...as a matter of fact, handouts go to those who say they believe in the value of hard work and still shipped other people in to do the heavy lifting. Chase admitted to a slave past under pressure from Charles Barron, and still has not paid reparations. Slave labor, inequity, corporate bailouts, wars for oil and real estate, wars to give money to contractors are a handout to the arrogant rich of today. This "government bailout" is a drop in the bucket. Not to mention the race-based and gender-based restrictions imposed by a failing system of education, hospitals, labor system, etc.
No they should not