Jun 4 2008 2:56PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (1) |
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Now that we know (with all apologies to HRC) who the candidates for president are going to be, I wanted to take another look at where they stand on housing. I did this back in January when most of the candidates were pretty much ignoring the issue, but since then they've caught on. Here are their key policy proposals:

John McCain (read more here)

• Implement a plan where any homeowner who is delinquent, entered into their loan after 2005 and meets a bunch of other criteria would be able to get a new FHA-backed loan that reflect's their home's market value
• Call for the creation of a Justice Department task force to investigate the mortgage industry

Barack Obama (read more here)

• Create a 10 percent universal mortgage credit for homeowners that don't itemize taxes
• Create a fund to help homeowners refinance mortgages and avoid foreclosures
• Allow bankruptcy courts to modify mortgage payments
• Create a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (hey, it's hard to come up with acronyms!) or HOME score that would make it easier for borrowers to compare loan offers
• Tighten lending rules and increase state and federal enforcement

By the way, I did want to mention that Obama picked up another major endorsement last night. After watching the candidates' speeches with me, my 4-year-old daughter told me I should vote for Obama. Like many of the super delegates, she was apparently waiting for all the primaries to be over before weighing in, but I'm sure he'll be happy to have that key nod.