Obama uses Las Vegas visit to promote expanding mortgage program

President Barack Obama's tour of an east Las Vegas neighborhood on Monday to promote new ways to stem the home foreclosure crisis delighted some residents while dismaying others who won't be helped.

The president got rock star treatment on La Placita Avenue when he pulled up at midday in his limo with a Secret Service entourage. Dozens of residents cheered his arrival and shook his hand.

Jose and Lissette Bonilla, a Hispanic couple Obama spoke with in their home, told the president they were grateful for his Neighborhood Stabilization Program. It fixed up the house they bought for $95,000 and helped them make the down payment as well. Lissette Bonilla told Obama her three children now have their own bedrooms after the family had been living in a one-bedroom apartment.

"I'm so honored to have the president here," she said in an interview. "This is something you can't even dream of, something you never expect -- to have the president of the United States come to your home to see us."

The tour of the working-class neighborhood was the second stop of the president's three-hour visit to Las Vegas. The first was the Bellagio resort, where he spoke to about 300 campaign donors at a luncheon. At both, the president insisted "we can't wait" for Congress to support his efforts to create jobs and help Americans.

Yet some residents of the neighborhood of tan stucco houses grumbled the president still had not done enough for Nevadans, who are suffering the worst home foreclosure rate in the nation and the highest unemployment rate of 13.4 percent statewide.

These skeptics are just the voters Obama needs to win re-election in 2012, by convincing them he is doing all he can to help the country recover despite Republicans in Congress who oppose him.

An angry Eddie Eder didn't stick around to hear Obama speak to his neighbors, who stood behind metal barriers on a street blocked off for security. Eder said he had been out of work for three years, laid off from his job of excavating pools for homes. His wife works in an office, earning enough to support their two children but too much for Eder to qualify for extended unemployment insurance.

"If they're not building homes, they're not building pools," Eder said. "I just don't see the new jobs. They need to do something. They need to fix it. I don't know how. I'm just disgusted."

His wife, Amanda Hulsizer, said her husband was frustrated, but she is giving Obama more time to turn around the dismal economy that he inherited from the Bush administration when he took office.

"I don't blame Obama," Hulsizer said. "They say it takes four years to undo what the previous president did. If he can do what he says, and I hope he will, then things may be better."

Hulsizer said she doesn't know whether any of Obama's housing programs will help her family go from renters to first-time owners. She said the family hopes to buy a home, but until then pays $1,000 a month rent for a three-bedroom place while nearby owners with low-interest mortgages pay $700 a month.

"It may be good for them, but it doesn't help us," Hulsizer said.

Help for homeowners

The Bonillas bought their two-story house in June with a low-interest loan of 3.5 percent, according to public records. They did it with help from Housing for Nevada, which works with the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.

The previous owners weren't so lucky. Their home had been foreclosed on in 2010 after the value dropped more than half of its original $215,967 in 2004. It's the same story for every home in the area, where 75 percent are occupied by the owners. One of every 10 homes was empty at the time of the U.S. c ensus in April 2010, and some still have foreclosure signs on them.

According to the census, the neighborhood is 47 percent Hispanic, a group of voters Obama needs to win Nevada, where the population is 26 percent Latino. He won election here in 2008 by 12 percentage points, thanks in part to backing from 74 percent of Hispanic voters.

Obama used the neighborhood as a backdrop to announce expanding a U.S. program to help people stay in their homes. He said the updated federal aid program would allow more homeowners who are "underwater" on mortgages and have kept up their payments to refinance at today's low interest rates -- no matter how far the value of their homes has fallen.

"Here in Las Vegas, the city hit hardest of all, almost the entire housing market is under severe stress," Obama said in a 12-minute speech outside the homes near Sahara Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard. "It's a painful burden for middle-class families. And it's a drag on our economy."

In Southern Nevada, he said houses have lost an average 50 percent of their value in the past few years after the housing bubble burst. That compares with 17 percent nationwide, he said. As a result, Americans can't pay their bills and can't buy things they want and need.

"When a home loses its value, a family loses a big chunk of its wealth," he said. "Paying off mortgage debt means consumers spend less, businesses make less and jobs are harder to come by. And as long as this goes on, our recovery can't take off as quickly as it would after a normal recession."

Under the revamped housing aid, borrowers in Nevada, California and Florida -- the hardest-hit states -- would benefit the most. Previously, refinancing aid was available only to homeowners owing no more than 125 percent of their property's value. So deeply underwater homeowners were ineligible.

The overhaul of the 2-year-old Home Affordable Refinance Program, HARP, would reduce the number of homeowners required to pay for appraisals during the refinance process and cut the cost of title insurance and lien processing among other closing items.

The Obama administration, by revamping the program, hopes up to 1 million more homeowners might qualify to convert their mortgages to take advantage of low rates. Until now, the program hasn't performed well. The administration had estimated HARP would help 4 million to 5 million homeowners, but 900,000 have refinanced, including just 72,000 who were underwater on their loans.

Plan under fire

Only mortgages held by the federally backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be eligible for aid, which could limit its effectiveness in Nevada, Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., said

"There aren't that many loans in Nevada that are Fannie or Freddie held," he said.

According to the Clark County assessor's office, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own 3,782 properties in Southern Nevada, out of 631,783 residences.

Still, Heck said he favored broadening the refinancing option to homeowners who are deeply underwater and planned to support the Obama initiative to make a dent in Nevada foreclosures.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., praised Obama and took a shot at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who said last week foreclosures should run their course in a free-market environment.

"Instead of telling Nevada homeowners they're on their own, President Obama is showing real leadership by taking action to help keep thousands of Nevada families in their homes," Reid said.

Obama's first visit to Las Vegas in a year was greeted with derision by Republicans.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee released an Internet video attacking his "disastrous failed policies" that it said contributed to the slumping economy. A favorite target is the $787 billion stimulus, which didn't lower unemployment to 8 percent as promised.

"This is nothing but a rehash of the same failed policies he shoved down the throat of Americans a year and a half ago," said Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee chairman.

Outside the neighborhood, a dozen protesters stood watch as Obama's caravan drove by. Billed as a "jobs rally" by the Nevada Republican Party, it seemed mostly to be a group of conservatives who said they disagreed with Obama's policies.

Robert Zavala, 42, who described himself as Latino, said he believes the president is telling people what they want to hear simply to get votes.

"He can't win another election," he said. "The country, where it's headed, he's going to destroy it."

Obama pushes back

Faced with GOP opposition in Washington, Obama took a new tack in pushing back against Congress. He said he would use more executive orders to get around Capitol Hill. He urged Congress to pass his $447 billion jobs bill, which he said also could kick-start Project Rebuild programs to fix up abandoned and vacant homes for resale in high-foreclosure neighborhoods.

"If Congress passes the jobs bill, we can get Project Rebuild moving right away," Obama said. "If Congress acts, folks in Nevada and across the country will get significant relief.

"But we can't just wait for Congress to act," he added. "Until they do, we're going to act on our own. Because we can't wait for Congress to help our families and our economy."

Obama's tour of Nevada was part of a trip through the West, including visits to California and Colorado, another swing state that could help decide the 2012 presidential race.

Before visiting the Las Vegas neighborhood, Obama addressed a fundraising lunch at Bellagio on the Strip. Tickets ranged from $1,000 to the legal limit of $35,800 for the Obama Victory Fund, a joint account of the Democratic National Committee and Obama for America.

"I'm here because the country needs your help," Obama told the crowd, casting his re-election as the best hope for getting the nation back on track instead of moving backward.

"I have no doubt that not only will we win this election, but more importantly, we're going to win the future."

Obama got two standing ovations at Bellagio, one for ending the war in Iraq and one from about half the crowd for ending "don't ask, d on't t ell" so homosexuals can serve openly in the military.

On a sunny, hot day, Air Force One touched down at 11:57 a.m. at McCarran International Airport, and the president was wheels up and on his way to California by 3:15 p.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman was the only official on the tarmac to greet the president. She gave him a commemorative poker chip and asked him to speak favorably about Las Vegas to encourage people to come here. He once took a lot of heat for saying that in tight economic times people shouldn't waste money by coming here, including for conventions the city relies on to help pay the bills.

"I hope that he's going to do beautifully for us in the future and talk about Las Vegas as a great place to visit and have conventions come," Goodman told reporters. "I told him, in Nevada, we know you love it here. You come back again and again, but you need to tell the world how wonderful we are here."

At the fundraiser, the president talked up the city as promised. "I love coming to Vegas," he said. "The only people who love coming more is my staff."

Review-Journal writers Kristi Jourdan, Richard Lake and Stephens Media Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault contributed to this report. Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.

Trending topics:

• Barrack Obama
• Clark County
• jobs bill
• Kristi Jourdan
• mortgages
• Laura Myers
• mortgage plan
• Jose Bonilla
• Lissette Bonilla
• Neighborhood Stabilization Program

Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. LasVegasLibertarian Jan. 27, 2012 | 1:56 p.m. Report Abuse

   Another lying diatribe from the worst president in history...worse than Hitler!...Yes! Hitler was one of the three worst evils of the 20th Century, surpassed only by those heroes of the Internatioanl Left, Stalin and Mao. Hitler killed 12MM in the Holocaust (6MM Jews and 6MM politically incorrect), and another 30MM in WW2. Stalin killed 30MM of his own people in the purges and forced Ukraine famine, and another 20MM fighting his former ally, Hitler. Mao killed 80MM of his people. …but NONE of these men so ably and quickly began to destroy America as has Barack Obama - the greatest enemy America has ever faced. And one our military seems unwilling and uninterested in fighting - turning their collective back on the ONLY Constitutional duty they have - protecting our Constitution. It is time - past time, really - to realize that Obama / Pelosi / Reid / Rangle / Schumer / Dodd / Frank… are greater enemies of America, our Constitution, the Rule of Law and to our future than were Hitler or Imperial Japan…Harsh words yes! But oh, tis true, tis true!

2. stingray12002 Oct. 26, 2011 | 1:29 a.m. Report Abuse

   You libs are so stupid you don't even realize that all of the foreclosed and falling behind on their home mortgages in the same neighborhodd that Obama is campaigning from are precluded from this program. But he's the champion of the downtrodden. Stupid crapstains!

3. pluto.crat Oct. 25, 2011 | 10:39 p.m. Report Abuse

   the "welfare state" is billions trillions wars Blackwater, Chaney's Halliburton, oil co's, banks, ins co's, all their relatives, tobacco, but idiots enjoy giving them money while hating themselves who are obviously not very educated, not very well off, you can tell how they write on here.

4. pluto.crat Oct. 25, 2011 | 10:36 p.m. Report Abuse

   all the tea bags & other bozos must be thrilled that part of the non-help that's been going on 4 yrs now this 1 includes 100% immunity for banks, 0 again any homeowners all the usual joke, GOP must be getting all hot over this can't wait to agree to it.

5. Roger Oct. 25, 2011 | 10:35 p.m. Report Abuse

   @Jack...I did some research and you are probably right...clinton actually first started the push to increase homeownership (some argue the bubble started in arizona) but bush took it and ran...bush aggresively challenged banks and lenders to find creative financing options to get the deals done and set up minority and 1st time buyer programs that polluted the market...he then wanted the government to stay out of it, ie. dont regulate the market....the loans might have imploded on obama's watch but the foundation for destruction was laid under bush's watch.... having said that, when is obama going to come up with a program/policy that actually works???

6. jr62 Oct. 25, 2011 | 10:24 p.m. Report Abuse

   used this as a pit stop to see Leno

7. desertranger Oct. 25, 2011 | 9:54 p.m. Report Abuse

   All of the Republican candidates are in a morass of absurdity and incompetence. Romney is the all-star flip flopper; his recent flop is changing his position on Kasich's union busting law. Plus, he lies about Obama and is the poster boy for Wall Street Greed, Government Health Care (which is a good thing), and having no ability to connect with people. Cain and Newt have no intentions of being elected. They just want to fatten their wallets by selling books and collecting speaking fees. Perry is a mess. He talked with Trump and now he is rehashing the birther hoax. How embarrassing!!! Whose left? Paul? Hardly anyone pays attention to him, but more people should. Bachman and Santorum are way out of touch and unelectable. Huntsman appeared on the Colbert show and his bump will be from 2% to whole milk. So, all you Obama bashers, accept the fact that President Obama will win reelection in 2012. He is the President whose international and defense policies have been so outstanding that you makes the Republicans look like a bunch of wimps.

8. Jack.Weeb Oct. 25, 2011 | 8:58 p.m. Report Abuse

   Bush is the reason were in this mess. Dont you simpletons realize this?

9. Roger Oct. 25, 2011 | 8:43 p.m. Report Abuse

   All this talk of homeowner assistance? a transparent effort to win votes, again. Bottom line, there is never going to be a modification program that satisfies everyone....I have to ask, why would a bank modify a mortgage to a lower interest rate and better terms on a customer who is otherwise qualified to make the monthly payment as it is now? Think the banks care if the homeowner is underwater if the payments keep coming in? this program sounds more like a subsidy to freddie and fannie than anything else....

10. Guru Oct. 25, 2011 | 8:25 p.m. Report Abuse

    Programs to help people like the Bonillas only benefit those families, and do not stimulate the economy in any real way. Such programs are highly offensive.

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