Why is it that the banks are getting the financial bailout? Isn't it supposed to help families keep their homes?
Countrywide is still mailing me statements for the 20% of the home loan that was based on the equity of the house. After talking to them, I found out that after the house does finally sell, they will tack onto the 20% that I still owe the difference between what they sell it for and what I owed on the 80% portion of the loan. By the way, they just reduced the asking price on the house by another $11,000 yesterday.
Oh, and that 20% that I still owe on the house in New Hampshire would buy about 80% of a house here in this part of Ohio.
I just did some quick estimating math ... what if, instead of giving the banks $700,000,000,000 dollars, that funding was split up among those of us homeowners in financial struggle (with the condition that the money actually be used toward the mortgage)? The banks would still get their money and come out okay in the end. If the US population is about 300 million, and if the average family is about 3, that would leave about $7000 per household to go toward housing. But not everyone owns their own housing, and not everyone of those who do are struggling. So if one in ten American families needed help, that would allocate about $70,000, which would just about cover what Countrywide wants from me. And we'd both be happy - I'd be done with the house, Countrywide would have it's portion of the bailout applied through my account.
From what I understand, I probably won't see a penny of that bailout money, because it's too late for me. I've already lost my home. Just like I didn't qualify for any of the assistance programs that Countrywide was running a few years back when everyone's adjustable rate loans were getting too high for them to pay. I was struggling too, but I had a "good" rate locked in, so they couldn't (or wouldn't) help me in my situation.
...
Come to think of it, if each family could take $7,000 from this bailout deal, where is that money coming from? Are we all going to have to cough up an extra seven grand per household at tax time next year?
