If you ever see ads on TV or hear them on the radio, you probably know about HARP, the government's program to help certain people refinance their homes to lower interest rates. The program only covers people with mortgages obtained prior to April of 2009, and it is intended to help those who have little or no equity in their homes. In other words, HARP was a mechanism designed to help those who got hit hard during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.
Here's the biggest question about HARP: Why is this program still in existence? It was passed to help people in the financial crisis; that's nearly ten years ago. Interest rates on mortgages have been very low for very long. Anyone who wants to refinance either already did so or has had ample opportunity to do so. Nevertheless, the government keeps paying for the program and advertising to promote it. It's just throwing money supposedly to help people who have refused that help for at least eight years. There's no reason to believe these people are going to change their minds now.
This is the government's typical response to a problem. It sets up a new program and then never thinks about it again. How many billions of dollars have been wasted on HARP in the last three years? The first five years of the program surely helped some people refinance to lower interest levels, but why did the government just keep going after that? The program ought to have been shut down once its usefulness ended. America just had no need to keep spending cash for a problem that really no longer existed.
September will bring another expiration date for HARP. Hopefully, the Trump administration will be sensible and let the program actually expire (unlike Obama). That would be responsible leadership rather than just throwing money at a non-existent problem.
Here's the biggest question about HARP: Why is this program still in existence? It was passed to help people in the financial crisis; that's nearly ten years ago. Interest rates on mortgages have been very low for very long. Anyone who wants to refinance either already did so or has had ample opportunity to do so. Nevertheless, the government keeps paying for the program and advertising to promote it. It's just throwing money supposedly to help people who have refused that help for at least eight years. There's no reason to believe these people are going to change their minds now.
This is the government's typical response to a problem. It sets up a new program and then never thinks about it again. How many billions of dollars have been wasted on HARP in the last three years? The first five years of the program surely helped some people refinance to lower interest levels, but why did the government just keep going after that? The program ought to have been shut down once its usefulness ended. America just had no need to keep spending cash for a problem that really no longer existed.
September will bring another expiration date for HARP. Hopefully, the Trump administration will be sensible and let the program actually expire (unlike Obama). That would be responsible leadership rather than just throwing money at a non-existent problem.
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