There are a myriad of ways in which the U.S. home mortgage system is weak to even broken. The extent of the housing bubble to the shoddy paperwork (and, in too many cases, outright fraud) in foreclosures are just two minor little examples of the problems we face.
One contributing factor -- to the housing bubble, to foreclosure rates, to wasteful U.S. energy practices, to Americans' heavy carbon footprints -- is the absence of efficiency from the home financing process. The home financing guidance from the heavy-weights (the Fannies) doesn't take efficiency into account for determining mortgage affordability as there is not a serious consideration of the energy cost implications of a home purchase decision and how that can impact affordability.
There are at least two specific elements that the home loan process should consider:
- Location efficiency
- Building energy efficiency
continued at Daily Kos....
