Analysts Downplay Impact of 'Teaser Freezer' Plan

The Treasury Department's "teaser freezer" plan to help subprime borrowers facing resets will have a "limited" impact on the total number of loan modifications and the coming wave of foreclosures, according to some Wall Street analysts.Reports by UBS and Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. point out that the group of homeowners targeted for modifications -- where the servicer freezes the interest rate at the starter (or "teaser") rate -- would likely get their loans modified without a government-sponsored plan. "That is why we suspect this effort will have only marginal impact on total modifications and little impact on the coming wave of foreclosures," said Thomas Zimmerman, a managing director at UBS Investment Bank. FBR analyst Paul Miller contends that the teaser freezer plan simply represents what is already being done in the market. "In our opinion, the plan will affect a limited number of borrowers, many of whom might receive a loan modification even without a government-sponsored plan," Mr. Miller says. "The plan will not enable borrowers who are unable to pay their mortgages to keep their homes or support home prices."