Mortgage rates for homeowners with spotty credit histories would be temporarily frozen under a nearly completed agreement between top Bush administration officials and a broad alliance of Wall Street's biggest banks, mortgage investors, nonprofits and consumer groups.

. . . A potential sticking point is determining which homeowners would qualify for the help and how much they would have to pay to refinance or freeze their loans, several sources close to the discussion said.

. . . Most borrowers with questionable credit got subprime rates of 7 to 8 percent in 2005 and 2006, federal housing officials said. When the rates reset, they could rise to 10 percent or more. An interest rate increase to 10 percent from 7 percent on a $200,000 loan increases monthly payments by more than $400, to $1,755 from $1,331.

. . . If mortgage lenders agree to freeze the loans at lower rates, investors would lose out on the higher payments promised under the original loans, which could give them grounds to sue the lenders.

--read entire article--

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So, let's just check this out, this 'help for the distraught about-to-lose-their-homes" across the nation. On a priority basis, the plan saves

1. Wall Street
   
2. biggest banks,
   
3. mortgage investors,
   
4. nonprofits
   
5. consumer groups

• not until they decide which homeowners would qualify for the help (possibly sifting out all the inconvenient poor who were suckered) and
  
• how much they would have to pay to refinance or freeze their loans (another chance to pass lucrative and ludicrous costs into the profit bucket).

* For more in-depth articles by Jim on Things That Make Me Nuts, check out Opinion-Columns.com