Housing plan details which borrowers get help

John W. Schoen Senior producer The Obama administration’s plan to help head off millions of foreclosures came into clearer focus Wednesday when the government issued detailed guidelines governing which homeowners will qualify and how lenders will go about refinancing their mortgages. But Treasury officials conceded it may not know for some time just how many of the estimated 9 million borrowers targeted by the $75 billion plan will be able to stay in their homes.“It is imperative that we continue to move with speed to help make housing more affordable and help arrest the damaging spiral in our housing markets,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.

Foreclosure scam artists rarely face jail time

LAS VEGAS - They call themselves loan modification consultants, negotiators or specialists. Some are legitimate, but many are simple con artists looking for desperate marks facing foreclosure amid the wreckage of the nation's housing market. It's a good business, too, since in most states, there's not much of a chance they'll ever end up before a judge facing any time in jail. "It's difficult for us to get prosecutors to do the investigations on misdemeanors," said North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper.

House OKs bill to let judges rewrite mortgages

WASHINGTON - The House has passed legislation to give debt-strapped homeowners a chance to win lower mortgage payments through bankruptcy courts. The vote was 234-191 to approve the measure. It faces a tough road in the Senate, where Republicans and some Democrats oppose the idea. The bill gives bankruptcy judges new power to reduce the interest rate and principal on a home mortgage. It's part of President Obama's housing rescue plan.