Both presidential candidates have announced plans to help voters deal with the challenging housing economy.

Here are their ideas as posted on their election Web sites:

Sen. John McCain:
*Direct assistance to homeowners. No taxpayer money should go to real estate speculators who made bad decisions about investments.
*Reform financial and lending systems to prevent a repeat.
*Require participating lenders to forgive part of subprime borrowers' loan principals and place them into new 30-year Federal Housing Administration loans.
*Give financing to municipal and civic groups trying to solve problems within their own communities.

Sen. Barack Obama
*Create a standardized disclosure plan that allows for full-disclosure of loan costs and provisions.
*Crack down on mortgage fraud.
*Give a mortgage credit to those who don’t itemize deductions.
*Create a fund to help homeowners who face foreclosure refinance.
*Allow bankruptcy courts to modify a homeowner's mortgage payments.

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune, Lori Weisberg (10/19/08)

This article is from Realtor Magazine Online Edition Daily Real Estate News for 10/23/08