NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department plan to stabilize banks is a positive step, but the federal government must do more to support individual homeowners, New York Superintendent of Banks Richard Neiman said on Thursday.
“Unfreezing credit markets is vital, but lasting stability needs a solution that also addresses the origins of the problem: the escalating numbers of American families who are losing their most valuable asset — their homes,” Neiman said in a speech to the New York Bankers Association.
He said the Treasury should use its new authority to pursue “mass modifications and other foreclosure prevention solutions” such as loan guarantees and credit enhancements to help homeowners stay current with their mortgages.