I heard a report on National Public Radio this morning that Illinois officials are working on a proposal that would require first-time homebuyers to undergo financial counseling. Instead of singling out groups of people based on their credit scores or other criteria, the program would focus instead on certain types of loans.It’s an interesting idea given the current panic about the subprime market. Many homeowners are entering delinquency, as interest rates on their adjustable-rate loans reset and mortgage payments shoot up.Industry observers I’ve talked to say many Valley buyers who got into 100 percent loans, stated-income loans or other products often used in the subprime market didn’t know what packages they were getting into or the consequences. I’ve talked to some of those homeowners myself. One couldn’t remember the interest rate he had just signed up for when buying his first home.So, overall, I think counseling is a great idea. Whether it should be government-mandated is another question.Any thoughts out there on this?You can listen to full NPR here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 9:49 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.