Geithner promises U.S. bank plan revamp next week

Geithner promises U.S. bank plan revamp next week

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner promised on Wednesday to lift the wraps next week on intensely awaited proposals for stabilizing the banking system and spurring the sluggish U.S. economy.

HOME LOAN ASSIST
TARP COVERS MORTGAGE

A cornerstone of the economic recovery plan that President Barack Obama is expected to unveil Monday will be modifying problem mortgages, The Post has learned.

In a nod to Main Street over Wall Street, sources familiar with the plan say Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner plans to allocate almost half of the remaining $350 billion in funds from the Trouble Asset Relief Program to the so-called "Mo Mod," or mortgage modification, platform.

"Mo Mod" is an algorithmic mortgage processing program that can rewrite up to 500,000 loans a month, and will be a major part of Treasury's plan to help repair tattered bank balance sheets.
The 21-day "Mo Mod" program works by structuring a new mortgage that more accurately reflects a home's worth so that a troubled borrower no longer owes more on their home than the property is worth.