Mortgage Rescue: Paulson Says Troubled Assets Will Not Be Purchased
November 12, 2008 - The Associated Press- Martin Crutsinger
WASHINGTON - The government has abandoned the original centerpiece of its $700 billion rescue effort for the financial system and will not use the money to purchase troubled bank assets. The Bush administration already has committed $250 billion for the purchase of bank stock, giving financial institutions an infusion of cash the government hopes they will use to resume more normal lending operations. "It's about time," Preston Cochrane, president and CEO of AAA Fair Credit Foundation in Salt Lake City told The Salt Lake Tribune. "The government had to do something - nationally, there are so many people losing their homes or close to the edge." Cochrane said a number of his Utah clients who are having trouble paying their mortgages have been unsuccessful in convincing their mortgage servicing company to rework their loans. And because of tighter lending standards, they don't qualify to refinance their properties to get loans with better terms and interest rates. More...