Updated 02/18/2009 05:29 PM
Mortgage relief plan
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Billions and billions of dollars will go to aid borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are currently worth. And to borrowers who are on the verge of foreclosure.
"The major part of the plan is to invest about $70 billion into buying the interest rates or renegotiating the rates or refinancing these mortgages on these individuals down to a point where the new mortgage payment and their current debt loads don't go above 31 percent of their debt to income ratio," said Ryan McMahon, president of the Funding Source in Syracuse.
Judges could play a role, too, making decisions that could cause sparks to fly in Washington.
"I think, probably, the most controversial piece of this is the President wants to give judges the discretion to modify the terms of a mortgage for people filing for bankruptcy,” said McMahon. "And I think you'll see a lot of push-back from the financial markets on this, and potentially congress, because to give one individual discretion, to break a binding contract, it's a dangerous road."
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It appears that roughly nine million American's will be covered, but what about the rest of us? What about those of us that have struggled just to pay our mortgages on time? We asked travelers at Hancock International Airport what they thought.
"To bailout somebody that didn't see this coming, I can see a job going, it's a bad deal, but I'm not 100 percent about it," Michael Guarglia of North Carolina said.
James Hillman of Bath, New York added, "I don't think it's fair, basically."
"I know that misfortune happens and if folks are bailed out such that they're not on the street, I think that's great," said Carla Parmale of Tennessee.
McMahon continued, "It sends a dangerous message that potentially, what about the rest of American's who are struggling in their day to day lives to make their mortgage payments."
The Treasury Department says it will double the size of its lifeline to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government now says it will absorb up to $200 billion in losses at each company.