patrick.net

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/real_estate/1108/gallery.mortgage_refinancing_help/index.html?iid=EAL

She has co-sponsored a bill, the "Helping Responsible Homeowners Act," for borrowers who want to refinance but are in "negative equity," owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

Boxer's legislation also requires banks to offer interest rates comparable to what they're giving to borrowers who are not underwater. And it bans risk-based fees for mortgages issued by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac that can be as much as 2% of the loan principal.

In other words,
- Banks keeping new mortgages on their books will need to charge more to responsible new buyers since the loan pools have an average risk of being under water

- Tax payers will be covering more of the risk on negative equity GSE loans since the GSEs will no longer be allowed to charge premiums.

#housing