Ah, we can always count on boris for his overly simplified (and frankly, ignorant) point of view. Thanks, yet again.

So, why exactly do we want to help "distressed" homeowners?

Consider two people, - Ann and Bob.

Bob goes out and buys the house he can't afford, - hoping that the price is going to go up. In doing so, he inflated the bubble, and the house prices go higher. And that means that Ann, being responsible individual, decides against buying the house.

Now, if the prices did go up, - Bob would have kept his winnings.

But they went down instead.

Ok. You'd think that Bob who planned to keep the winnings, would bear the loss?

Nah. Bob wants Ann to bail him out. As luck may have it, - Ann has a lot of money, since she didn't buy a house!

Hoffer, however, disputed the legitimacy of that claim: "The moratorium did not stop other states from helping families already facing foreclosure."

Not sure how this is a valid argument?

Sometimes I wish the Federal Government would appoint their own independent administrators (maybe even a non for profit organization) when it comes to handing out Federal Funds - Our State run polititians couldn't organize or be trusted to do the right thing and facilitate those funds for the purpose they were intended.
I bet that these funds will be mishandled with funds going to the wrong persons - We would be better off having an Afghanistani Politician distributing and managing funds for us !

I wish they were this 'careful' handing out the cash when it came to bailing out the banks & AIG :(

Are we surprised?

Is Chris Christie doing enough to help residents of New Jersey stave off foreclosure? A new report from WABC's Jim Hoffer suggests the answer might be "no."

In 2011, New Jersey accepted $300 million in federal money to start the Homekeeper Program, which would, as its website advertises, promote "neighborhood stability in New Jersey communities by providing financial assistance to eligible homeowners in danger of foreclosure."

New Jersey currently suffers the second-highest foreclosure rate in the nation, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. However, Hoffer reports that more than a year after the Homekeeper Program was launched, the state has doled out only $4 million, of $300 million available, to 498 families -- while nearly 2,000 applicants have been denied.

During a press conference Monday in Long Branch, NJ, Hoffer clashed with Christie over the program's inaction. The governor claimed that more funds hadn't already been allocated because of a court-imposed moratorium on foreclosures. "Our policies were put on hold, waiting to see what the courts were ultimately going to do on foreclosures," Christie said. "And that's why we haven't moved any more quickly than we have already."

Hoffer, however, disputed the legitimacy of that claim: "The moratorium did not stop other states from helping families already facing foreclosure."

Richard Constable III, appointed by Gov. Christie to head New Jersey's Department of Community Affairs, acknowledged to the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this month that the Homekeeper Program had been slow to carry out its mandate,, though he did not mention a moratorium as a reason for the sluggish rollout. "I took a hard look at this program, and I didn't like the results that I saw," he said.

Meanwhile, many applicants remain in limbo. Brenda Klein, who was interviewed by WABC, says that she waited a full year between submitting her request for foreclosure assistance, and receiving an unsatisfying answer from the New Jersey government--that she was no longer eligible because she'd fallen too far behind on her payments.


"We weren't the ones that took the time to make the [back payments] build up," she said. "If you'd taken a month, maybe two, we would have qualified."No Help.