Mortgage Help

Dear Victorious,

We keep hearing about the mortgage crisis in America and the government is talking about helping homeowners with their mortgages. I'm not unemployed, but my mortgage has always been a burden and I'd like some relief. Moreover, our house isn't worth what we owe on it and we don't want to pay more for something than it's really worth. How can we qualify for this mortgage assistance and when will it be available?

Strapped for Cash

Dear Strapped,

There may be homeowners who are truly in financial crisis and may be deserving of some public assistance with their housing expenses right now. I doubt very much that you are one of them. Many of today's delinquent mortgage borrowers could in fact afford to pay for their own housing expenses. But they find themselves in one of two (if not both) predicaments.

First, they may have bought more home than they could afford. Or they may have used a mortgage to buy that home that was simply stupid. For example, it may have had a teaser rate that gave them unrealistically low housing expenses up front --- and then climbed to a normal payment rate later. When it climbed, the homeowner is faced with the fact that he or she cannot afford to live in this house!

Second, they may have made a bad real estate investment decision. They find that home prices didn't appreciate and instead declined. And now their house is not worth what they owe on it. So they don't want to pay for it. Instead, they think the banks (which are failing right and left) should pay for their bad investment decision. Or the government.

Both of these situations are caused by moral failure. If you were not already living above your means, and if you had an unforeseeable financial crisis --- then I would think you may be deserving of some short term public assistance. But if that is not the case, then I believe you are guilty. In which case, I hope and pray that the government doesn't use its already stretched resources to help you out!