Obama returns to Vegas

Obama was in Vegas yesterday for a town hall meeting; it was held at the Cheyenne campus of my school, the College of Southern Nevada. He also met with a couple to discuss their mortgage woes.

Nevada has seen some of the highest home price declines in the nation, and the last time I checked we had the dubious distinction of having the highest foreclosure rate as well.

Obama supports the Dodd-Shelby bill that would help homeowners facing foreclosure and improves oversight of the mortgage industry:

Under the bill, the Federal Housing Administration would back as much as $300 billion in new mortgages, allowing lenders to refinance the most threatened home loans. The cost of failed loans would be covered not by taxpayers but by fees paid by mortgage originators to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federally chartered companies that buy mortgages from banks and other lenders.

Lenders would have to refinance the loans at less than the home's current value, taking significant losses. Borrowers would be required to split any profits on the eventual sale of the house with the government.

For more on Obama's plan for addressing the mortgage crisis, see his website.