US | subprime crisis State Lenders Choke Bush's Fight Against Foreclosures Housing agencies won't risk lending to debtors By Matt Cantor Posted Feb 1, 2008 7:18 PM CST Copied An employee of Countrywide, the biggest US mortgage lender, walks into the Northridge branch in Los Angeles, Calif., in this Aug. 22, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, file) (Associated Press) President Bush’s goal of helping subprime borrowers by offering tax-exempt bonds is meeting resistance from state lenders, Bloomberg reports. Risk-averse state housing agencies are already turning down over half the applicants to their own programs intended to help those affected by the crisis, due mainly to applicants’ existing financial woes. The agencies’ caution could cripple Bush’s scheme to fight foreclosures. States’ ambitious programs have yielded weak results: New York has made only three of the 500 loans it originally estimated, and Massachusetts has made four with an allotted $250 million. “Often the borrower just has too much debt and the home does not have the value to support the refinancing,” said one official at mortgage-insurance giant MGIC. Read These Next New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. Iran's supreme leader makes first public comments since ceasefire. Man accused of killing his daughters might be dead. White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. Report an error