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Fixes made in 2007 not enough to halt foreclosures

The Jan. 1, 2008 Boston Globe reports:

What happened in 2007: # Several plans were announced to help subprime borrowers by preventing increases in their monthly mortgage payments. In December, major mortgage companies agreed to freeze payments on perhaps 250,000 loans. The Federal Housing Administration said in August it would help refinance a similar number of borrowers into loans with fixed interest rates, which has the same effect. # The federal government passed one law addressing foreclosures. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, signed by President Bush on Dec. 20, reduces income taxes for some foreclosed families. If a person bought a home for $100,000, and owed $110,000 at the time of foreclosure, the foreclosure wipes out the entire debt. The government previously viewed the difference between the debt and the value of the home as taxable income. Now it does not. # The nation's largest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial, became a leader in helping its troubled borrowers. The company reported that it reworked loans for 77,090 borrowers through November. The pace of those efforts is increasing. The company helped 15,472 borrowers in November alone. Countrywide also drew praise in November when it agreed to allow the Boston-based Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, a longtime industry critic, to modify loans on its behalf.