House Speculators to Get Bail Out

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

This is a load of crap. I guess there is no risk involved in investing any longer. You can just run to the government and have them bail your ass out if you screw up. Of course, everyone else who follows the rules and does everything the right way doesn't get that luxury so the message I'm getting is why follow the rules? Clearly irresponsible and reckless behavior is far more rewarding and less of a risk. Rewarding bad behavior only causes more of it.

The Obama administration will extend mortgage assistance for the first time to investors who bought multiple homes before the market imploded, helping some speculators who drove up prices and inflated the housing bubble.

Landlords can qualify for up to four federally-subsidized loan workouts starting around May, as long as they rent out each house or have plans to fill them, under the revamped Home Affordable Modification Program, also known as HAMP, according to Timothy Massad, the Treasury’s assistant secretary for financial stability. The program pays banks to reduce monthly payments by cutting interest rates, stretching terms, and forgiving principal.

The government’s need to protect neighborhoods from blight and renters from eviction by keeping the current owners in place is outweighing concern that taxpayers will end up bailing out real-estate investors. The program is being enlarged after less than 1 million borrowers modified loans through HAMP, compared with the administration’s stated goal in 2009 of helping 3 million to 4 million homeowners.

Boom-Era Property Speculators to Get Foreclosure Aid - Bloomberg