If I Was the "Mortgage Czar"...

Yesterday, I was interviewed on Financial Lifeline Radio. It was a great segment - 20 minutes worth of questions about the current market conditions, foreclosure advice, and helpful hints. In the middle of the interview, however, one of the hosts asked me a completely unexpected question... "If you were appointed 'Mortgage Czar' and had to oversee this foreclosure problem, what would you do?"

Wow! What an unexpected, fantastic question! Thankfully, they went to commercial break, and I had 60 seconds to think about what I would do. No pressure - just give an intelligent, fully-formed answer to a complex national issue to a syndicated audience. No pressure at all!

The answer came easier to me than expected, however, and I didn't flub on national radio. If I were USA's Mortgage Czar, here's what I would do:

I would institute a foreclosure moratorium. Yes, I know I have been very vocal about moratoriums on this blog in the past, but I believe that a 6-month moratorium would allow all involved to implement an actual solution. Before the moratorium, however, I would pull together lenders, servicers, community action groups, and housing counseling agencies to create an outreach plan unlike any before it. I would have inbound call centers turned into outbound call centers, and their sole focus would be to contact every homeowner and review their situation and options. The housing counseling agencies would be focused on developing courses, educational materials, and internet forums for homeowners to get educated about what to do. Homeowners would be on the hook, too - if your mortgage was late before the moratorium, you would be required to go to foreclosure prevention training, then work with a counselor and your servicer during the stay in order to have your mortgage modified.

And every single household would get a copy of The Foreclosure DVD and Workbook.

That's what came to me during the commercial break. There's much more that can be fleshed out, but that's a good start. My next couple of posts will review this in detail. I'm having fun with my imaginary Mortgage Czar position!

If I can come up with this, just think of what our government can do if they put their minds to it...