By Dina ElBoghdady
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 21, 2008; D01
The Office of Thrift Supervision
is preparing a plan to help mortgage borrowers who owe more than their
homes are worth and to discourage them from abandoning those
properties, agency officials said yesterday.
Under the regulatory
agency's proposal, still in its early stages, these borrowers would
refinance into government-insured loans that cover the current value of
their homes. The refinancing would pay part of what's owed to the
original lender. For the remainder, the lender would get what the
plan's backers call a "negative equity certificate." The lender could
redeem the certificate if the home is eventually sold at a higher price.