White House reviewing FDIC mortgage plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday said it was carefully reviewing a plan by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp to prevent foreclosures by sharing any losses with mortgage companies that agree to refinance certain home loans.

"The FDIC has developed a proposal that the administration continues to review," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

"As we review proposals we're thinking about how effective they would be, how they fit with other programs," he said.

"And we have to think about cost," Fratto said, adding that the TARP programs were designed to have some return for the taxpayer. "So ideas that are straight outlays of taxpayer money, with no return expected, need careful review," he said.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)