A free market solution to the mortgage mess?
, Paolo Pellegrini has an idea for dealing with the more than 20 percent of homeowners who are upside down on their mortgages. It works like this:
Homeowner Smith has a $350,000 mortgage on a house worth perhaps $250,000. Mr. Smith petitions the bankruptcy court for a mortgage restructuring. The judge sets a date for submission of sealed bids for his property. Mr. Smith approaches newly created private mortgage lenders to obtain a post-restructuring mortgage. After reviewing Mr. Smith's finances and property, XYZ Capital offers to lend him $245,000 at 7 percent for 30 years. ABC Capital offers $260,000 on the same terms. Both lenders -- a hedge fund and a private equity firm -- are getting 90 percent of their mortgage-lending funds on the cheap from the government through a repurposed Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility program. They get no government guarantees or insurance. The low-cost money enables them to offer Mr. Smith a better deal.
