Would mortgage bailouts pay off?

Re “Sweeping mortgage bailout unlikely,” March 30

I’ve been reading with horror about talk of a bailout of people in trouble on their mortgages. Truly, I feel sympathy for people who were swept up in the property mania of the last few years and took out ill-advised loans to pay more than they could afford for homes.

However, using the public purse to salvage these people’s dreams will have another set of victims: those of us sensible enough to recognize that property values had risen beyond what we could afford, regardless of the loan terms offered.

Using public money to keep people in their homes will help shore up inflated property values and prevent middle-class renters such as myself from affording homes in the future. A wave of foreclosures is certainly sad, but it will be punishing those who made poor choices (both uninformed home buyers and foolish lenders) rather than those who made sensible ones.

MICHAEL O’DONNELL

Santa Barbara

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While reading this article, I felt very frustrated. Are we going to just stand by and let these families fall into despair and financial ruin? Back in the 1980s, when our nation’s lenders became mired in a credit mess of their own making, taxpayers bailed them out. It is time for our government to require payback by offering a way out for homeowners.

Legislate a moratorium on foreclosures on owner-occupied properties. Modify the terms of these mortgages so the payments become affordable. Roll back and delay rate adjustments for five years or more. Penalties could be forgiven and credit reports modified. I believe that ultimately this would be better for the lenders than foreclosures and short sales. Certainly it would help keep the dream of homeownership alive for those at the bottom of the economic ladder.

GENE MENZIES

Rodeo, Calif.

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I am fuming at even the hint of a bailout. The fallout from these loans should be suffered by the greedy lenders and irresponsible borrowers themselves. Period. Yet once again, Republicans want to rescue the rich bankers, and Democrats want the responsible to pay for the irresponsible: people who live beyond their means and borrow money they can’t pay back as agreed.

Government subsidization of hyper-inflated home values is terrible public policy. Prices are already threatening to forever lock out millions from homeownership. For borrowers who claim they were deceived by lenders, there is recourse available in the courts for true fraud. But as we all know, primarily these people chose to sign documents they didn’t read, didn’t understand or ignored.

DALE MA

Sherman Oaks