Homeowner help needs to walk a fine line

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A bailout package for U.S. homeowners is not going to make every one of the country's over-extended homeowners happy, a policy adviser said.

"This is not about trying to create fairness. The goal is to keep people in their houses," said Michael Krimminger at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., where officials are working with the U.S. Treasury to draft a program aimed at helping homeowners, The New York Times reported Friday.

"A lot of people are angry because they feel some people are getting something they don't deserve," Krimminger told the Times.

A program for homeowners will have to walk a fine line, the Times reported. In the United States, more than 10 million homes are worth less than what the owner owes on the mortgage. However, not all of those homeowners are behind on their payments.

Drafting a program either too broad or too appealing could tempt homeowners current with payments into seeking help or giving up on their mortgages, the Times said.

Some argue help for a few also helps entire neighborhoods since keeping one home from selling at a fire sale price after a foreclosure props up nearby home values, the Times noted.