Joanna Weiss: Give SoftSecond Mortgages A Second Look

In the wake of the financial crisis, federal programs to encourage low-income home ownership are under scrutiny from lawmakers who say they put mortgages in the hands of people who could not hope to pay them.

In her latest contribution to the Globe's op-ed page, columnist Joanna Weiss mounts a full-throated defense of one particular subsidized loan product: the SoftSecond mortgage, which she says has made a world of difference in some Boston neighborhoods.