Opinion

Refinance program not fair for all

Posted October 12, 2012 4:33 am

What do you call it when the majority is favored and the minority is left out? Discrimination and bias might come to mind. What would you think if that is what a federal program is doing? It is called HARP, for Home Affordable Housing Refinance Program.

HARP was established to assist homeowners during the downturn of the economy, which caused a steep rise in home foreclosures. To be eligible, the mortgagee must have a loan backed by Freddie Mack or Fannie Mae, which back up to 80 percent of home loans.

What happens to those who are in the 20 percent group of mortgagees who don’t qualify? They don’t get any help in qualifying for mortgage refinancing. Instead they are faced with stringent, inflexible banking regulations that could most likely prevent them from refinancing.

So in effect, this minority group is being discriminated against and is at risk of suffering the hardship of foreclosure. They can be denied historically low interest rates even though they currently are struggling to make what could be significantly lower mortgage payments.

All this seems absurd, that it’s happening in America, the land of equal opportunity.

Please help by contacting your U.S. Senators, Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin, and U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam asking them why this has to be.

Paula McGowen

Glen Ellyn

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