New measure aims to aid housing slump...

This article appeared in the Sunday edition of The Seattle Times. It does a fairly good job of outlining the implications of this new bill. I'm still trying to get my head around what the results will actually be...but here are some of the things the bill attempts to accomplish:

• Allows certain homeowners to refinance their bad adjustable rate loans.
• Offers a lifeline to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who appear to be struggling and also exerts more control over those two "pseudo-government" agencies.
• Provides $3.9 billion to neighborhoods where foreclosures are prominent. The money is to buy and fix up properties in those neighborhoods as a means to increase surrounding property values.

It's that last point that I have not figured out yet. I have not read how that plan will be executed and by whom.

Read the full article here.