Freddie Mac

You may have seen headlines about the latest public and private efforts to help financially distressed homeowners cope with their mortgage payments. But you might not have caught key details that could have a personal impact on you or people you know - now or in the recession months ahead. One of the most ambitious mass-market "loan modification" programs was outlined Nov. 11 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency - overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - along with the 33 banks and mortgage servicers that make up the private-sector Hope Now Alliance.

WASHINGTON - In an attempt to keep struggling homeowners from losing their houses, federal officials announced yesterday a simpler and quicker procedure for modifying loans held by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and expressed hope that it would be adopted by the entire industry. The plan targets people who have missed three or more mortgage payments, live in the home and have not filed for bankruptcy protection. The goal is to make cut the payments to no more than 38 percent of a household's monthly gross income by reducing the interest rate, deferring payments on part of the principal and extending the term of the loan to as long as 40 years.

Arab-Americans devoted to the nation Thank you for The Baltimore Sun's editorial applauding former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's courageous condemnation of Republican demagoguery against Arabs ("Decrying ethnic slander," Oct. 21). Sen. John McCain's inadequate response to a woman who recently complained she could not trust Sen. Barack Obama because "he is an Arab" was, "No, he is not an Arab; he is a decent family man." This implied that being a decent family man and being Arab are somehow mutually exclusive.

The American people spoke last week, and their rulers ignored them. That's nothing new, I know, but the passage of the bill to rescue Wall Street and other corporate interests from being grievously injured by what they themselves created in a frenzy of runaway greed is the most egregious, morally repugnant piece of legislation to be signed into law since - well, since when? I can't think of anything more ghastly in not only what it does but also what it implies about the future of this nation of ours.

General Growth sells Columbia office park General Growth Properties, the Chicago-based firm that is the master developer and owner of Harborplace and other shopping malls, has sold an office park in Columbia for $42.2 million, according to a company official. The sale of six one-story buildings totaling 306,000 square feet in the Rivers Corporate Park on Guilford Road is the first local property GGP has sold since announcing last week that it was seeking to sell assets to deal with a looming debt and uncertain economic climate.

WASHINGTON - If everything breaks right, the hit to taxpayers from a broadening government rescue of the nation's tottering financial markets could be minimal. But if it doesn't, there's a big bill waiting for us all. "These measures will require us to put a significant amount of taxpayer dollars on the line," President Bush acknowledged yesterday as his administration continued to work on a multipronged plan to restore confidence in financial markets. "But I'm convinced that this bold approach will cost American families far less than the alternative."

A few weeks ago, when our government nationalized Fannie Mae, which Forbes magazine last year ranked as the 57th-largest firm in the world, and Freddie Mac (No. 104), one lesson allegedly learned was that it was bad policy to allow companies to become "too big to fail," requiring the government to step in to curtail the damage. Analysts then said reforms should include changes that would preclude allowing firms to become big and powerful. That was then. This week, there were sighs of relief - if not cheers - when Bank of America (No. 2)

30-year mortgages lowest since February WASHINGTON : Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped sharply again this week, falling to the lowest level in seven months, as rates continue to decline after the government's takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac reported yesterday that its nationwide survey found 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages declined to 5.78 percent this week, down from 5.93 percent last week. It was the fifth consecutive weekly decline and pushed the 30-year mortgage to the lowest level since it stood at 5.72 percent the week of Feb. 14. The decreases have accelerated over the past two weeks since the government announced on Sept.

Q uestion: Where can an average Joe afford to buy a house around here? Answer: More places than a year or two ago. But probably not as many as you'd like. Mortgage financier Freddie Mac recommends against borrowing so much that more than a quarter of your before-tax pay goes to principal and interest. With that in mind, I did some number-crunching to see which communities are affordable for households with annual incomes of $90,000 (average for the Baltimore metro area) or $60,000 (about the salary of a registered nurse)