The latest incarnation of a housing relief bill comes from the Senate — and it has been cautiously praised by the White House. The Senate housing relief bill (dubbed the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008) is a bi-partisan exercise in compromise from the committee dealing with urban affairs, housing and banking. FHA Mortgage Guide reports on the highlights of the housing relief bill:

The measure will allow the FHA to insure as much as $300 billion in new mortgages to replace existing toxic loans — but only for homeowners, not investors, and only if lenders will accept write-downs.

One of the main complaints coming out of the White House was the House version of the housing relief bill did too much to help mortgage lenders and speculative investors at taxpayer cost. The new version places greater emphasis on helping homeowners and forestalling foreclosures. The New York Times reports on the White House response to the new bill:

Tony Fratto, a spokesman for the White House, said the administration still needed to review the specific language in the bill. But, he said: “We appreciate and encourage the efforts to create a strong, independent regulator” for the government-sponsored mortgage finance companies. “We’ll look forward to seeing the details of the bill,” he added, “especially provisions to expand programs of the Federal Housing Administration.”

Now, though, with a House version already passed, there needs to be agreement on the two bill. This will be worked out in a special conference committee. There are hopes that Republicans will be willing to deal. They proved that certain realities were willing to get them to the table in the Senate — where Republican cooperation is more important than it is in the House.

Do you think that there should be help for troubled homeowners to avoid foreclosures?

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mortgage lenders, White House, foreclosures

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