More than one million Latino families have either lost or will soon lose their homes. In California, Hispanic-owned homes account for nearly half (48 percent) of all foreclosures. The rapid loss of homes among Latino and Black homeowners has increased the gap in homeownership rates between White families and families of color. Our research shows that foreclosures wipe out wealth that should have paid for retirements and college educations, depress neighborhoods and home values, and harm family relationships.
Our efforts to support community-based housing counselors working with families in foreclosure has helped us better understand how national foreclosure prevention programs and policies can effectively reach the ten to 13 million families expected to lose their home during this calamity. As did others who are deeply concerned about the impact of the housing crises on families, we worked tirelessly to share information and provide guidance and recommendations to Congress and the administration. We had high hopes for the Obama administration's signature Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). And when we recognized signs of trouble with HAMP's implementation, and complaints from the community began to mount, we offered additional options and solutions to administrators.
Unfortunately, many of our recommendations went unheeded. While HAMP set out to provide three to four million modifications, only 600,000 families have received permanent loan modifications through the program. Treasury has made some tweaks, but fundamental changes are needed to reach more families in distress. Our counselors still report difficulty obtaining modifications for worthy homeowners, and the lack of compliance has made justice unattainable for those wrongfully foreclosed upon. Moreover, the private sector's move away from HAMP―proprietary modifications outnumber HAMP modifications two to one―suggests that the program's influence and relevance are waning. At best, HAMP addresses the housing crises of yesterday; continued congressional focus on the program is preventing us from taking the bold steps that are needed to help millions of Americans facing foreclosure today.
For these reasons we are left with little choice but to support the "HAMP Termination Act of 2011" (H.R. 839). It's time to focus on foreclosure prevention remedies that reach further. Congress and the administration must consider more effective approaches, such as these five promising ideas:
•Leverage private-sector innovation. Rather than modifying mortgages one at a time, remaining HAMP funds could be leveraged to negotiate directly with investors to buy toxic mortgages in bulk. The savings can be passed to the homeowner in the form of principle write-downs and other modifications. Wall Street is way ahead on this, and similar models should be brought to scale.
•Support local success. Boston Community Capital is helping evicted homeowners reclaim their property. States are using the Hardest Hit Fund to respond to unique local conditions. Congress and the administration should elevate and scale local victories.
•Require more accountability from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The OCC called for an end to the "dual tracking" of foreclosures and modifications, and Bank of America has committed to partnering with others to address this unfair practice. Their efforts are severely undermined, however, without Fannie and Freddie on board. The Treasury and FHFA must compel the GSEs to implement this basic tenant of responsible foreclosure prevention.
•Give the state attorneys generals (AGs) a shot. The AGs must accomplish what the Treasury has not―set firm, enforceable rules for modifications that include principle write-downs. The recently leaked terms raise concerns that the settlement might not go far enough. The AGs must conduct a rigorous inquiry and not settle until they have the best deal for their state.
•Give homeowners some leverage. Many deserving homeowners miss out on modifications because they are mired in their servicer's bureaucracy. A little leverage in the form of a bankruptcy safety net would prompt more thorough customer service. Bankruptcy reform has failed in the House and Senate, but this budget-neutral option should be reconsidered for struggling homeowners.
Other efforts show more promise―namely the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and state endeavors through the Hardest Hit Fund―but these programs are not a substitute for a national strategy to modify mortgages for deserving homeowners.
Stabilizing our housing market is essential to our economic recovery and should be a concerted, bipartisan effort. We call on Congress and the administration to set politics aside and work together on a comprehensive strategy to put an end to needless and wrongful foreclosure.
The Hardest Hit fund pays up to $500 per month for six months toward homeowners' monthly mortgage payments, which are, for many homeowners $1700 or more monthly. Many homeowners are now unemployed or underemployed in a state where minimum wage is what the majority earn.
Add to that the fact that the right to decide who's helped is left to the lenders and investors, which makes no sense because they have not yet helped a significant number of homeowners through other programs.
The 2nd phase of the Hardest Hit Fund in Nevada, is not available yet. The 2nd phase is Principal Reduction of up to $50,000, but only if the lender agrees and pays half of that ($25,000), and this is for homeowners who are $100,000 or more underwater on their mortgages.
These programs are a pitiful joke and meaningless to homeowners who need help N-O-W.
Add to that the insult judges are paying to homeowners by not even requiring lenders to produce the paperwork that proves whether they have a right to foreclose. Stop all foreclosures until a solution that helps homeowners keep their homes is reached.
Oh, I forgot. The banksters don't like that plan ...
(Fair warning; your bankers WILL NOT like it.)
Declare Chapter-7 bankruptcy. That's right ... total liquidation. You can easily show that your debts far exceed your assets and that they will continue to do so for a long time. You can also show that the largest debt ... on the house itself ... greatly exceeds the value of the house itself ... which is, of course, an asset.
Banks do not like to hear such talk. In fact, they will do anything to avoid it (except to deal reasonably with you, which would of course require them first to acknowledge the truth of your position). Instead of dealing fairly with you, they will throw you out of your home in order to preserve the fiction that their companies are actually "bulging with cash" when they are worse than bankrupt.
So ... force the issue. There are probably 100 million people in this nation who are in an identical situation and who have so far been persuaded that "a legal contract" is "a blood oath." Enough of that... this is business. My debt to you cannot be paid. All of it. It is now going to be a legal finding-of-fact that my entire debt is now ...gone... and so is the bank's imagined asset.
Poof.
http://www.hopeforhomeownersprogram.org/news/president-bush-signs/
Quote-
President Bush signed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. It is said that over 400,000 homeowner's will be able to take advantage of this bill. Home owners will be able to stay in their homes providing their current lender agrees to the terms of the FHA backed, "Hope for Homeowners Program". People with high interest rate mortgages, close to foreclosure or in currently in foreclosure may be able to take advantage of the bill signed today.
The new bill also established a $7,500 tax credit for 1st time homebuyers. 1st time homebuyers will be able to take advantage of this tax credit if they purchase a home between April 30th, 2008 and June 30th, 2008." -End quote
--------------------------------
Neither HOPE nor HAMP were mandated programs. The servicers are/were allowed to make up their own guidelines. HAMP itself is not a bad program - but didn't/doesn't work because it was NOT mandated, and is more like putting a band-aid on a fractured limb.
Excellent point. I have to wonder what the thought process is where everyone knows that businesses run on profit, not charity, and will do what they believe is best for their own wallets. I don't have a problem with profits because it is a fact of life, but the politicians don't seem to know it. If they really wanted to help the people, instead of themselves, the servicers would have had mandates put on them.
Homeowners in distress are angry tax payers, but I don't understand why EVERY tax payer is not furious.
Don't allow the corporate owned media rhetoric f00l you into thinking that banks and wall street are the good guys, and homeowners are the bad guys.
On another topic - I hope all tea party folks will read this and post their opinions:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/25/ges-us-tax-bill-zero_n_840472.html
As far as heating and cooling bills go, those tend to be in the homeowner's name, payable by the homeowner. I don't know where you live, but in Ohio they cut your power if you don't pay your bills. And if you move out owing utility bills, the utility companies will sue you for what you owe. They have no legal basis for going after the bank for the homeowner's bill.
So because the Democrats and President Obama rolled out HAMP . . .
It's the Republican's fault the program is a failure. Got it.
This has to be the most hypocritical program to come out of the financial disaster. Obama had to pretend that he was for homeowners while secretly allowing the banks to 'process' people out of their homes.
It's tempting to still blame people who were 'given' mortgages they could not afford(grapepickers with $500k mortgages), but we all know people who honored their debts and still were foreclosed because their mortgage was 'bundled' into a 'securities pool'.
Now Obama tries to cover the fact that even US troops and veterans were swindled by the Wizards of Wall Street.
The "cabal of ignorance" continues to rule the markets, and they expect the American people to remain ignorant...and that's why they are against public education. They don't want your children to understand how they stole their future.
A moratorium on foreclosures.
Back in 2008 our leaders were looking for a way to save the homes of working families and after several minutes grueling brainstorming they came up with a plan to bailout those responsible for the mortgage mess. Somewhere along the line, they totally ignored the working families that they had claimed they were helping.
Since that time they have been patting themselves on the back having claimed to stop a recession from becoming a depression and not noticing that millions of Americans lost their homes and their retirement savings.
And the real kick in the head is that those bad actors at the financial institutions, who did not lose their jobs, homes and savings, are getting those homes to resell again. As it is those same bankers are fat and happy and sitting on their bailout money and minimizing their risk instead of reinvesting it in a major way. This another reason the recovery is so slow.
If congress and Presidents Bush and Obama really wanted to help working Americans they would have stopped foreclosures and allowed the bankers to sink instead. There would have been no depression. Only new faces running those financial institutions and the recovery would be well on its way to pre-bailout levels.