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Seth Wheeler, a top adviser in the Treasury Department, has left his post in Obama administration, Debtwire reported (pdf), a noteworthy fact because Wheeler was an architect of the administration’s poorly designed, ineffective, and much maligned homeowner relief program that experts say has been a bust. A holdover from the Bush administration, Wheeler played a large role is designing the $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program, the administration’s flagship effort to slow the pace of new foreclosures across the country.
HAMP, however, has been roundly blasted by lawmakers, congressional watchdogs, and outside experts. Initially expected to help 3 to 4 million homeowners, a mere 230,000 homeowners had received permanent modifications to their mortgage payments; by contrast, there were 2.8 million foreclosure filings in 2009, and nearly 3 million are projected for 2010. The latest report from the special inspector general for the bailout, known as SIGTARP, said, “Until Treasury fulfills its commitment to provide a thoughtfully designed, consistently administered, and fully transparent program, HAMP risks being remembered not for catalyzing a recovery from our current housing crisis, but rather for bold announcements, modest goals, and meager results.”
It’s unclear why Wheeler left the Treasury just over a year into HAMP. One investor told Debtwire, “It looked like he just couldn’t get things done, and he was very frustrated.” Interestingly, Wheeler tendered his resignation on April 15, Debtwire notes, a day after an April 14 hearing held by the House financial services committee in which HAMP was more or less eviscerated by committee members. Was the onslaught of criticism in that hearing the final straw for a frustrated Wheeler?
