A couple of weeks ago a constituent called my office and said that they were having trouble affording their mortgage. Business had slowed down and they were making as much as they use to though they had never been late with a payment. They looked into President Obama's Making Home Affordable Program and were happy to see they qualified to refinance and modify their loan.

Then the bad news...(Hint: It involves AIG Again)

The service provider that owned their mortgage was American General Finance, a subsidiary of AIG. American General told the constituent that they were not participating in the program because they did not receive bailout cash.

When I contacted American General they sent me a note saying that because they were not TARP eligible, they would not participate. The official response was sent on stationary with an AIG logo (Too easy right?).

So the mortgage arm of bailout king AIG ($200 billion in assistance) refused to participate because of a very sketchy excuse?

Yesterday, I wrote a final letter to Ed Liddy, the chairman of AIG. I told him that it was wrong that American General was ducking out of a program that could keep 7-10 million families in their home after the taxpayer didn't duck out when they were "too big to fail."

AIG reversed their position. They will participate in the Make Home Affordable Program and we are getting my consituents the help they need. I hope many of you will also benefit.

But it shouldn't take this must action from Congress. Nonetheless, we'll stay on top of all of this so our constituents can get the relief they deserve.

Check out the Columbus Dispatch article on my work.

 By Jonathan Riskind
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

   WASHINGTON — Did an inquiry by Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy on behalf of a desperate constituent facing foreclosure persuade a giant AIG-owned mortgage company to take part in an Obama administration crafted loan-modification program?

   In an exchange between Indiana-based American General Finance and Kilroy, D-Columbus, the mortgage company doesn’t acknowledge a cause and effect in its reversal. And AIG indicated that the chain of events leading up to the change of heart predates Kilroy’s involvement.

   But the timing of the company’s decision to participate in the Making Home Affordable program and Kilroy’s questioning is at the least a striking coincidence.

   It all started April 7 when Kilroy staffer Noah Cuttler sent an e-mail to the mortgage company, one of American International Group’s holdings.

   Cuttler said a Kilroy constituent had hoped to restructure an American General Finance subprime, variable-rate loan under the government incentive rules set out by the Making Home Affordable program.

   “The constituent is upset that a subsidiary of AIG elected not to participate in the program, even though AIG has received $40 billion in TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program bailout) funds and has been pledged an additional $30 billion in TARP funds,” Cuttler wrote.

   But Kilroy was told in an April 15 letter from American General vice president and general counsel Thomas Graber that the mortgage company decided not to participate because it is “not a bank, and does not take deposits” and is not “eligible for the various programs covered in the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), nor for the FDIC’s Term Loan Guarantee Program.”

   But another letter was sent Tuesday to Kilroy by Graber as an “update.” Graber said that AIG had entered into new agreements with the U.S. Department of Treasury, including one that said all its subsidiaries, such as American General Finance, would begin participating in the Making Home Affordable program.

   Said Kilroy: “It should not take an inquiry from a member of Congress to make bailout recipients participate in a program that will help American families struggling with their mortgage, but I am glad I can call my constituent with a positive outcome that will help other families as well.”

   The Obama administration unveiled the program in March.

   It aims to help homeowners stave off foreclosure by providing financial incentives to mortgage companies to modify existing loan terms.

   An AIG spokesman said yesterday that American General Finance is “proud of its strong track record of modifying loans that have kept people in their homes and avoided default.”

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