KEY POINTS:
Americans criticised a White House plan to help troubled homeowners as both too little and too much yesterday, split over whether borrowers and lenders should be rescued in a bid to avert a United States recession.
"It's not the Government's problem. People got into this with the help of the banks and they overbought, most likely, and now we're seeing the bailout," said Gene Kaberline, 57, a Republican who has just moved to Iowa from California.
But Democrat Sue Repplinger, 66, who worked years ago in the real estate industry but is now retired, said the plan unveiled by President George W. Bush came too late for many borrowers whose homes had already been foreclosed.
"Those who played by the rules who have already lost their homes, what about them?" asked Repplinger. "We need a broader package than this. This is affecting the entire economy."
The Government's plan, worked out with private lenders, would allow some borrowers with interest rates that are slated to rise sharply in the coming months to either refinance the loan or have their current rate frozen for five years.
But because the programme is designed to help only those whose mortgage rates are set to adjust after January 1 - and will not be available to those who have already fallen behind on their payments - some homeowners will be left out.
"I was expecting a broader outreach. Why can't the plan extend out to people like me?" asked Maryanne Hernandez, who bought her home in southern California in 2003 with an adjustable rate, sub-prime mortgage.
Hernandez and her husband, who have two children, were left scrambling when their adjustable rate began rising in 2006. They are now four months behind in payments and their neighbourhood is full of foreclosed homes.
- Reuters
