New ideas to prevent foreclosure?
Foreclosure filings are occurring every 13 seconds in this country.
And government programs to fight the foreclosure crisis look increasingly inadequate and should be reworked and supplemented with new ideas, a congressional watchdog said today, Reuters is reporting.
“Rising unemployment, generally flat or even falling home prices, and impending mortgage rate resets threaten to cast millions more out of their homes,” according to the report, which focused on the Treasury Department’s efforts to curb foreclosures.
Should more be done beyond the current programs? What?
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© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
18 comments Add your comment
Mr. Landlord
October 9th, 2009
2:01 pm
No, these people will be able to turn around and rent an even nicer house from me without all the headaches of home repair. Thank you.
Concerned Georgian
October 9th, 2009
3:48 pm
Unfortunately, you can’t do anything about job loses and declining real estate values. However, foreclosures can be minimized if the banks are willing to lease these properties back to the current owners. If the owner can’t pay, they are going to get an apartment or rent a house anyway. Why not have an agreement between the banks and the mortgagees. The bank will have to take a lost on declining real estate values unless the owners had mortgage insurance, right?
glad notnatl
October 9th, 2009
9:43 pm
I agree with Mr. Landlord. If we want to continue with a capitalistic businss model, the foreclosures must run through the natural course and eventually shake itself out. Whether people own or rent, they will be living somewhere. It may be some time before many Americans can be homeowners. And, yes, that is a shame.
deborahinAthens
October 10th, 2009
6:13 am
As an example of how stupid our representatives are…the banks are dropping like flies because of the losses incurred from making bad loans to people that can’t or choose not to pay them. Now there is terrific pressure on the banks to put a moratorium on foreclosures. What do you think the banks’ balance sheets are going to look like in the coming quarters as these bad loans show up on them? Then the government is going to pressure the banks to “get fiscally fit”. What a bunch of idiots. They live in a fantasy world where everyone gets a happy ending because we are America and God forbid someone doesn’t have a 3000 sq foot home with three and a half baths, and an SUV that gets 55 miles to the gallon.
Fred
October 10th, 2009
10:29 am
Let the free market take care of it. Same with the auto manufactors.
SwimtrunkDawg
October 10th, 2009
11:01 am
We have plenty of room in Athens for everyone. Don’t be shy, come on over.
snelville view
October 10th, 2009
11:06 am
When will it ever stop.
We bailed out GM and Chrysler and then turned around and gave money for clunkers so they could repay tus. Little do the peopel who received the beenfit relaize they have to pay income tax on the benefit.
May I am thinking too simply, instead of the large amount given away let AIG, Citi, Gm and Chrysler go under, others will be there to pick up the pieces.
A true stimulus/econmic recovery would have been to split up the funds evenly between all tax payers regardless of what was paid in taxes. Somne would have paid off loans and then the bailout companies have money, other woudl have spent, stores keep people working, manufactures keep people working, “May the current president is not for the little man as wants to indicate.”
snelville view
October 10th, 2009
11:07 am
Sort should be maybe
Shananeeeeeee Fananeeeeeeeee
October 10th, 2009
12:32 pm
Yeah, don’t buy a house you can’t afford.
FaceSitter
October 10th, 2009
12:38 pm
Lisa Wu can come and stay at my house.
Concerned Citizen
October 11th, 2009
8:31 pm
Our mortgage payment is going up by $100 a month for what?? You guessed it…increase in property taxes. Now’s whose fault is that?
1000ton
October 11th, 2009
8:58 pm
there are too many different situations. Not enough people under payroll to evaluate or consider each case. Is just imposible and also remember this never happened before in this Country. It’s always about money and everyone wants to make a profit “what’s in there for me, is it worth it?”. It’s not, unless you’re the one in the hole, if that it’s the case, guess what? You’re on your own, sad but true. You will not get any help because no ones cares, there will be many waiting till you fail so they can profit. That’s another good reason why H. Paulson and our Feds let Lehman Bros failed, there were waiting for this to happened…only a few profit from it, it was a great feeling for Paulson and his associates to see them failed. If you have cash, you’ll be OK, if not, step aside.
antoinette bell
October 11th, 2009
9:29 pm
Banks must be willing to remodify loans to bring them in line with existing property values. I attempted to do a remodification but all bank was willing to offer was a forebearance (where everything owed is placed on the back of the loan). They were not even willing to lower interest rate and take loan from an ARM to a fixed…not to mention the no. of times my loan was sold during this process.
@Shananeeeeeee Fananeeeeeeeee : Don’t be so judgemental. I did not buy a house I couldn’t afford. I bought I condo when I had a job and before I had surgery. One day you too could lose your job or business or God forbid, have a medical issue that impacts your ability to continue your current standard of living.
Until people become more important than profits in this country, nothing will change. I don’t know if God is coming back to judge all, but if S/HE does…the only thing left standing will be the houses we can no longer afford.
antoinette bell
October 11th, 2009
9:30 pm
…and maybe Jimmy Carter (love him!)
2Cents
October 12th, 2009
5:49 am
Make no mistake, the problem(s) is big enough to be shared by all, but at the core is greed. People and business made bad choices in good times. Bad times came and the government joined that group. It’s made more complicated by the promise of “help is on the way”. When the government said “help is on the way” business dried up. Who is willing to part with their profit margin when the hope exists, “if you look pitiful enough”, you too can get a government handout. Stop the bailout(s) and let business get back to normal. Create a nationwide fair trade law….Oops, we already have that. Just no one left to enforce it. Dang….another bailout please.
I Know How
October 12th, 2009
8:53 am
A simple way to fix the problem. Start a Federal Gov equity program that works like this. Example homeowner with 200K mortgage. Gov assumes half of mortgage for 5 years and pays bank 2% interest only. Homeonwer pays fix 4% interest only on other 100K with no pmi. Cuts payment from 1600 to 800. After 5th year 1/3 of mortgage is added back, 6th year next 1/3 and at end of 7th year homeowner is back to paying full mortgage that they agreed to at first and home is never depreciated. Homeowners that have been foreclosed on could get their homes back as long as the house is available and they can show that they can afford the reduced payment plan. This would create a market for these houses and stabalize home prices. Local and state gov would not take the hit of house being depreciated and losing tax revenue. Homeowners who did it right would not be penalized by falling prices because this program would ensure that the full purchase price would be paid. After emerging from the program a homeowner would be required to pay a 1% additional interest charge for the next 8 years to pay for the first 5 year break in payments. This would cost less than 1/3 of the billions the gov is now wasting on the problem. The gov would recoup billions in addtional taxes as the homeowner would not be able to claim a full tax deduction for interest. No closing for the loan is required instead the bank would send troubled owners a form electing to go in the program and thus be adjusted. The banks and lending institutions that were a big part of creating this mess would not now profit from predatory refinancing cost. The program would be quick to istitute and could help most owners within 30 days of inception. Ran it by bankers and real estate persons they think its a great way to fix the problem. The economy will be bad for the next 8 to 10 years without a fix of the house market. This will get it done fast
Kim
October 12th, 2009
10:43 am
Thank goodness someone has an idea instead critisism…Anymore ideas out there
Tonya Jones, REALTOR®
October 12th, 2009
10:59 am
When homeowners are facing imminent foreclosure, sometimes the best alternative is to do a short sale. This keeps the homeowner from having the foreclosure on their record and saves the bank from having to take the house back and pay attorney’s fees. Homeowners should work with an experienced licensed Real Estate Agent for this service and should never pay money to those fake “Mortgage Modification” companies who charge $1,500 and don’t do anything to stop the foreclosure. A good Real Estate Agent will present the homeowner’s case to the bank and work to obtain a satisfactory offer for the home. For more information on short sales and selling your distressed property please go to:
http://www.tonyajones.com/Short_Sale_Info/page_2287176.html
If the URL above is not a hyperlink you can view the website by copying and pasting the URL into the address bar on your browser.