White House Standing Pat

"By preventing avoidable foreclosures, we will safeguard neighborhoods and communities, and fulfill our primary responsibility of protecting the broader U.S. economy," Paulson said. "However, let me be clear: There is no single or simple solution that will undo the excesses of the last few years."

Paulson said the HOPE NOW alliance of mortgage lenders and borrowers, brought together by the administration, is reaching out to homeowners who will struggle to pay higher rates once ARMs reset, is developing new products to help keep responsible borrowers in their homes and created a streamlined process to "fast track" solutions due to the "unprecedented" volume of resets.

The alliance includes more than 90% of the subprime servicing market, including the top 20 subprime servicers, Paulson said. Already, 10% of the 450,000 subprime borrowers the alliance has contacted have responded to see if there was a way to avoid foreclosure.

The alliance is now working out details of the implementation plan and expects to begin fast-tracking borrowers in the next few weeks, Paulson said.

< Previous

1 2

Next >