Credit enhancement program thuds
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Here’s one for the wacky idea file that was trashed before it was even implemented. Seems the Houston City Council had this grand plan to pay off some people’s credit cards to help them qualify for homeownership. The idea caused quite a ripple. From ‘White backs off ‘credit enhancement’ with tax dollars’ at the Houston Chronicle:
Mayor Bill White this afternoon announced that a plan for the city to pay off some debts for first-time home buyers has been pulled from tomorrow’s City Council agenda. Council members are now professing their ‘embarrassment’ about the proposal, which has hit the national news circuit, including drudgereport.com., which picked up this morning’s Houston Chronicle story about the plan. ‘This issue has hit a nerve across this country,’ said Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck. ‘Not just here in the city of Houston. Giving people the ability to increase their credit score artificially because we’re allowing them to pay off their credit cards is exactly what got us into this (national economic) crisis in the first place....’ The ‘Credit Score Enhancement Program’ would have given up to $3,000 in grants to individuals who are trying to qualify for mortgages through the city’s home buyers assistance program. City officials say some applicants fall short of eligibility by only 10 or 20 points on their credit scores, and paying off some debt balances can quickly improve their numbers.
Councilwoman Clutterbuck gets my vote.
--Lauren Beale
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