Hope Now.... Needs Funding Now

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Bush administration-organized effort to rescue troubled homeowners said it helped 5 percent of borrowers with risky subprime loans in the second half of 2007.

The coalition of lenders, investors and nonprofit groups - dubbed Hope Now -was created in October in response to soaring defaults and foreclosures that have hobbled Wall Street banks and sent stock indexes plummeting.

Consumer groups, however, say neither the mortgage industry nor Bush administration-organized effort have done enough, and point out that many borrowers still can't keep up with their payments, even after loan workouts.

I wanted to keep this article short so you would have a good idea of where I'm coming from. First, I had the opportunity to meet the chairperson for Hope Now while testifying at our state's capitol building. Hope Now's official position is that they are able to help less than 1/100Th of a percent of the calls they receive. The above article is labeled "Hope Now helps 5% of Subprimers." Where did that number come from? Who's padding the numbers? At the capitol they were asking for more funding. Now they are saying they are getting the job done. My thoughts are this:
Hope now is a government backed resource that should be utilized to it's fullest. Like many government backed projects, "Hope for the best but plan on the worse."

-Christopher Rockey