foreclosure

GAO Confirms HAMP is Hopeless

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Recall when we said HAMP is a scam? A new GAO report confirms that conclusion (well not so dramatic but the statistics are the same!)

When Treasury announced the program in March 2009, it estimated that HAMP could help 3 to 4 million borrowers. Through February 2010, including both the portion funded by TARP and the portion funded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:
  1. about 1.1 million borrowers had begun trial modifications
  2. about 800,000 were in active trial modifications
  3. fewer than 200,000 permanent modifications had been made

Win for Renters - Fannie Mae To Stop Evictions of Tenants in Foreclosed Homes

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One small step for the people. Fannie Mae is stopping the practice of evicting the tenants who are living in rental properties that have been foreclosed on.

Makes sense right? The bank takes over the property which is earning income from renters, so why were they kicking them out in the first place?

This is a win for all of those renting who were getting thrown out on the street over something they had no control over.

HOPE Program Hopeless

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Abandon all Hope all Ye That Enter Here - Dante

The New York Times calls the new program HOPE a lead balloon:

Under the program, the government will insure up to $300 billion in new, more affordable loans for troubled borrowers. For the insurance to kick in, however, lenders must first voluntarily refinance the delinquent mortgages by reducing the loan balances to 90 percent of the home’s current market value.

In exchange, lenders would avoid the expense of foreclosure and uncertainty about being repaid. The government would stem the social and economic damage of more foreclosures, at presumably little risk to taxpayers.

There’s just one problem. At a Congressional hearing in September, lenders were lukewarm about participating in the new program — reluctant, it seems, to take the loss that comes with reducing loan balances.

Action Alert for modifying bankruptcy law on mortgages

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The AFL-CIO has put out an action alert:
The U.S. Senate is considering a bill (S. 2636) with a key provision that would fix bankruptcy policies to allow borrowers to restructure their mortgages in bankruptcy court.

You can protect thousands of families from losing their homes by asking your senators to support "Pay and Stay" (also known as Title IV of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, S.B. 2636)