Once again, Congress is planning on shutting out the first time home buyer with the stroke of a pen because, historically, they believe that the down payment assistance program is part of the foreclosure fiasco that they failed to monitor. 

DPAP programs have been available for years, a number of these organizations predate the "subprime" loan era, and through my knowledge and research, these programs have successfully helped many first time home buyers achieve their dream of home ownership.

I believe that in this "new" mortgage environment, it is much more difficult to qualify for a mortgage and thus those able to qualify are less likely to default due to new lender restrictions (or hopefully less likely due to lenders actually verifying employment and actual earnings). Without an approved DPAP, these first time home buyers will be shut out (again).

I don't understand why Congress can't invest time in structuring a program that they would agree on, instead of terminating a program that is highly effective and beneficial.

"No insurance company can sustain that amount of additional costs year after year and still survive," Brian D. Montgomery, the FHA commissioner, said in a recent speech discussing the solvency of the FHA. From my understanding, FHA is the only lender which collects a significant mortgage insurance premium upfront, I believe it is in the area of 2.25% of the loan amount. From www.fha.gov: All FHA borrowers pay mortgage insurance premiums to offset potential claims to the FHA insurance fund and ultimately prevent risk to the taxpayer. No other lender, other than FHA, charges this up front premium and then collects hundreds of dollars monthly as well, for such an insurance; maybe we should look to the insurance company and question their business practices and ask them why they aren't able to conform to these new challenges. I have had to change the way I do my business in this new environment, I can't comprehend why they can't do the same. The goal is survival, and to continue to help those that need it most.

If the liquidity of FHA is questionable, why isn't Congress offering them a "safety net" to continue with their purpose. It is unsettling to me to have a Congress that can't see where they have come from. Granted, many of the priviledged reach Congress and a very few have had to struggle to buy their first home, or save for their first home, especially in this disastrous economy. I would ask Congress to reconsider the elimination of the downpayment program and I challenge them to fix what they believe is broken as opposed to the total elimination of the only loan program that has survived the subprime "mess" and is still working to help those that need it most.