For some weeks we’ve all been trying to figure out how, exactly, the powers that be were going to implement using the first time buyers tax credit as a downpayment. The answer is they won’t. From a CNN editorial: “Seems there was plenty of push back that allowing borrowers to land a mortgage without any ’skin in the game’ was not exactly a great idea. What’s amazing is that the proposal even got floated in the first place; the notion that taxpayer dollars would have been on the line for mortgages that required no down payment was a bit of a head spinner.”

Another idea that makes my head spin trying to figure out how it would be implemented is FEMA’s plan to use foreclosed homes as temporary homes for people displaced by hurricanes. It’s an idea that seems sound on its face: here’s all these people who need a place to live, there’s all these empty homes, why not put them together?

The idea is still being developed, but FEMA would likely contact banks, other mortgage holders and their representatives to compile a list of available homes. The evacuees would then be assigned homes close to their own and FEMA would use a contractor, acting as its agent, to pay rent directly to whoever owns the home, said Jon Arno, FEMA’s individual assistance branch director for Florida. His duties include finding temporary housing for disaster victims.

I can think of several reasons why they shouldn’t waste a lot of time developing this idea. First, any foreclosed home in an area where there are a lot of damanged homes is likely to be damaged as well, having been through the same storm. It might even be in worse shape, since there weren’t people living in it to deal with problems as they arose. Second, it does not account for the typical condition of a foreclosed home in the best of times: it could be leaving one distressed dwelling in favor of another! Finally, I don’t think bank representatives will want anything to do with this plan. They will cite liability concerns, but the truth is that if there is a refugee living in it for some unspecified period of time, that makes it difficult to sell.

I love that the new administration is willing to really brainstorm some novel ways to deal with problems. However, ideas like this need to be thought through before they are discussed in public.