Paul - pls listen to Obama reference 7-9 million homeowners mentioned in this speech (just after 3 min. point) and then explain why the 3-4 million figure is cited in your piece, and everywhere else.
Did this president promise one thing when the klieg lights were on and crowd was cheering? And then cut that estimate down, quietly, more than once to be less than half that number?
And *then* have Fed housing types like Phyllis Caldwell start the line that the number was actually supposed to mean how many might *try* for help, not necessarily get any help? (And the try typically damages them, as you have noted…)
Why does the hopey changey crowd get to move the goalposts and have the media simply parrot their reduced aims, as fact? Why does no-one cite the actual number that was advertised??
Please address.

Paul - here is the You Tube clip: the 7-9 million homeowner statement is after the 3 min. mark:

http://bit.ly/dkrnHB

Paul, your site screen won’t let me post the You Tube video.

Pls search You Tube: Obama, mortgage, Arizona: then play the 10-min. clip of his Feb. 2009 speech.
At the 3 min. mark he starts to explain that 7-9 million homeowners could receive aid, the original goal.
Not 3-4 million…they have furiously moved the goal posts every few months.
How about some accountability for the original number, stated when cameras were rolling and people were cheering?

Yeah Banks are modifying loans all-right in-house.

The only problem is after 1 year of trial payment which is reduced from the original amount, the bank send you your new payment amount.

This new payment usually 3 times of your previous trial payment and two times more then your original mortgage payment.

The banksters make it so it will benefit them and screw the homeowners and families.  Does anybody know when banks actually helped someone else? I didn’t think so. Banksters only help banksters.

And for last. Obama has no clue of the foreclosure mess. In Falls Church Virginia Obama announced on CNN

” hundreds of thousand of people loosing their homes”

NO MR PRESIDENT WHEN YOU ANNOUNCED THIS ACTUALLY 3.5 MILLION PEOPLE ALREADY LOST THEIR HOMES.

It is in this video after the first 5 minute.
5:18 to be exact

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iHxcsQJjbA&feature=related

So, I once again ask this stupid question:  WHY are the banks STILL claiming to help homeowners?  WHEN will they put their money where their big, lying mouths are? 

Mr. President - any answer?? Mr. President?  Mr. President?  Someone? Anyone?  I’m going on 22 months of delays with Chase and have now decided to write my own modification and send it with my payment directly to Jamie Dimon.  It’ll go by HAMP Guidelines, it’ll be written in HAMP format.  I’lle ven have it notarized.

What do you think?  It’s taking Chase SO LONG to do this simple thing so I’m taking control.  Such a “teacher thing” to do, huh???

I did the same thing. No judge or jury can deny we tried. :)

Sounds like it’s all in the game plan. The banks modify a few of them, to say they’re doing something. Obummer points to those few and says his grand scheme to save the economy has done something. But the banks really just keep RUINING the economy and the Democrats will likely say, “he just needs more time!”

It’s all smoke and mirrors. The Emperor has no clothes (or just enough to say he’s not totally naked).

It is all so simple that the banks can’t figure it out!  Gross monthly income x 31%.  Provide documentation of income and a list of living expenses.  But the banks have to complicate it with pages and pages of paperwork that they lose or claim is outdated by the time they get to it.
Is our government so TOOTHLESS that it cannot enforce the modification order??  They just hold hearings where the banks lie, and the gov thinks they have accomplished something.  The banks are laughing at you Mr. President!

This whole thing is just a sick mess. I have been waitting for 4 yrs. And now I have been put on a 3 month forebarence. I keep looking out the window when I am home from work to see if they r going to put a forecloser note on my door.
I was laid off from my job after 16 yrs and work pt now. I have lived in my home for 15 yrs.
Wells Fargo told me I couldnt get on the HAMP due to having too much equity in my home.
I have done the forebarence thing twice now. I wasnt even behind in my notes till they started with it. Now I am 20 thousnds behind.
I just dont know what to do , I just dont know. I am scared, sad, worry all the time. I look at my animals and wonder what the future has planned for us.I pray all the time.
Why is it that they just cant help us? Why?
I dont understand why it is so hard?
Well good luck to everyone….

It’s time to stop waiting for Banks, President, or Mr. Geitner to save homes. Instead use the direct action model used by City Life /Vida Urbana in Boston.Using the link below you can see how City Life has successfully stopped foreclosures and evictions with a 1-2-3 combo aimed at the banks.The first step is to surround the threatened house with lots of people.
See full description at:
http://bit.ly/frWc4P

This article confirms that I am about to do the right thing and stop expecting that, some day, the servicer and investor will see the abundant logic of a loan mod. Started loan mod negotiations 12/2008. Stayed current until 05/2010. Could no longer sustain the monthly payment and went in default since. Went to NACA event in July and was offered 40yr/2% by Wells Fargo, servicer, but when I returned home the solution was rescinded (investor, Goldman Sachs, did not approve, I was told). Last month had a change in income (from unemployed to disability for an AIDS-related condition) and wrote a letter to former White House counsel and currently has Goldman as a client, Gregory Craig, about my situation (to his credit, he actually has engaged with me six times since I first wrote him when I learned he was moving from representing Obama to representing Goldman) and magically the servicer reopened loan mod “talks” and asked for only two updated docs but nothing else has happened since - except I just received foreclosure notice from Wells’ in-state attorney with a date of sale set for February 2011. I could continue the charade and pretend that there is a chance they will come back with a loan mod solution and just “enjoy” the “free ride” in the meantime (in my State, deficiency suits are allowed so there is no such thing as a free ride) but instead, I have decided to regain some semblance of power in this situation instead of always waiting for the bank to make the next step and invariably pulling the rug from under me and I expect this evening to put a deposit down for a leased high-rise condo that is larger and nicer than my current one but almost half the monthly cost of my mortgage (rents are REALLY low, I find out) and leave the rest for the banking and attorney vultures to clean up. If any of this resonates with anyone else, I just want to say that, since I made the decision last Friday to not play the loan mod game anymore, I feel like a ton has been lifted off my shoulders. It was just too consuming and now, finally, I see the light. I’m sure I’ll be sued for deficiencies and I’m sure I’ll have to file Chapter 13, but I’d rather get that clock rolling than postponing the inevitable that has weighed heavily on me and my family now for years. My advice to anyone who thinks that just maybe they will get that loan mod, to start thinking about leaving the keys for the Sheriff to pick up. It is just not worth the emotional toll. Paul’s article proves that waiting for the banks is a losing proposition.

The solutions are simple
1st,  Take the whole HAMP, HOPE,  etc programs out of the hands of the Servicer’s and Banksters, And give it to and independent agency that can be Fair and balance , (maybe the new consumer protection agency?)
2nd, Stop the dual track system that the banks are using where at the same time that they are processing a modification they are also FRAUD-CLOSINNG in the homeowner
Give the programs to honest people that can be fair and balanced !

One segment of the denied modifications is due to the fact that those with equity in their homes are automatically excluded. 

Buried in the FDIC HAMP Guidelines, on page 3, is a statement MANDATING that the modification only be given if it will result in a better financial outcome than foreclosure for the INVESTOR (i.e. for the BANK, or the owner of the mortgage backed security… not the homeowner.) 

This immediately excludes anyone with substantial equity in their home, because the investor gets a better “financial result” by kicking them to the curb and tapping into that equity. 

The servicer also benefits with all sorts of crazy fees and penalties, as does the foreclosure attorney.

Only the homeowner…and their neighbors get screwed.

The HAMP program was designed to help investors not homeowners.  (Just ask Tim Geithner).  Any benefit to homeowners is a coincidental byproduct of the program, that the government has falsely hyped as an effort to help struggling homeowners.

Furthermore, the government’s
“makinghomeaffordable.gov” website’s HAMP evaluation tool never asks about equity, so it suggests that those homeowners ARE good candidates for modifications.  The banks, in turn, will put those homeowners on a trial to squeeze out a few more bucks before they fess up to the fact that they never intended to grant a permanent modification, no matter how well the homeowner did with their trial payments.

So, if fact, for those homewoners with equity, HAMP is just a government sponsored scam.

Even the Attorneys General who appear to be pushing the banks aggressively to complete modifications, are ONLY addressing those who don’t have enough equity to make foreclosure a great option for investors.

It’s sometimes hard to believe that this is happening in AMERICA!  (yes, call me naive!)

Hey, JS!!!  Glad to see you’re still amongst the living!!  Sorry - just thought I’d try to make you smile.  22 months and still “under review” with Chase. I’m seriously at my wits end with them and just want this modification to be completed once and for all - like, they could’ve done it 19 months ago but my guess is they wanted more interest to accumlate to line their pockets.

I’m still fighting and I’ll win in the end.  Being told for 22 months that I’m the “ideal candidate” is getting old, though.  JUST DO IT!!!!!!

Did anybody had a chance to watch Obama video I posted earlier? How informed is our president?

I am happy to say that finally after 2 years of jumping thru hoops with Citi…They modified my mortgage. Interest went down from 6.625 to 4.625 effective 11/1/10.  My payment went down almost 200 bucks.  That probably doesn’t sound like much to most, but it’s enough for me.  I am just happy that Citi worked with me to keep me here.

Maureen:

I assume that’s a reference to CHASE bank’s written threat to drop me from the modification program if I didn’t send them a copy of my death certificate.  I missed the reference on the first pass. That IS funny. I am smiling now!

For anyone who didn’t catch it in previous posts, CHASE, did, in fact, threaten, in writing, to drop me from the modification program if I did not provide my death certificate and proof of social security death benefits.

I wonder if this is what Stephanie Mudick, Executive Vice President, Office of Consumer Practices, JP Morgan Chase, meant when she testified before the House Committee on Financial Services last
Thursday, that “JPMorgan Chase is committed to ensuring that all borrowers are treated fairly and with respect” ????

Bruce, this is what the banks want the want you to quit, please don’t demand to see the NOTE of your mortgage If they don’t have the NOTE they don’t owe your Loan, Write a complaint to your congressman, senate, etc Of course Golman SUCKS !

Garbor I did i saw the video at the 5 minute

youtube.com/watch?v=6iHxcsQJjbA&feature=related

You are 100% right

The largest fraud in foreclosure.
The sooner the banks foreclose the sooner the fraud gets covered up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3e71oxkp74

Here more.. It goes on and on and on

msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/#40322376

Banks are making the short sale process easier, If you qualify for a short sale you will be able to sell your home for less then what you owe even if your not late on your payments, Absolutely no cost to you the lenders will pay all fees,closing cost and Commissions in Short Sale!
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•Experienced and Certified Short Sale Full Time Professionals

Don’t Wait the longer to wait the worst your credit gets
call us today free consultation 1 (877) 762-7416 or Email us: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Yes, i also know about companies trying to convince people to forget about doing modification and do a short sale, The reason for that? they make 6% commission (330K home $18,000 commission)
That is why some people said that tha Banks are making the process easier for short sale, I know people that have been trying to do a Short Sale for more than 6 months other, try to do a short sale with Aurora Loans for more than 8 month and then after the 8 month, Aurora Loans instead of giving them the shor sale they foreclouse on their home
Bnaksters are Bnaksters !

Acmod - thank you for all of your good info.  This whole thing is ridiculous.  Modifications sound pretty simple so why do banks drag the process on and on for so so long?  I’m on 22 months with Chase - BUT I’ve been approved, which probably means more delays and more interest for Chase.  BUT I will keep fighting and emailing Janmie Dimon until he can’t speak without saying my name.  This mod WILL happen even if I have to do it myself!!

JS - yes, that’s what I was referring to!!!  Glad I made you smile!!  It helps!!  :)

I had my house foreclosed on,  And my family and I are now living in a house-rental that is now facing foreclosure, I can attest to the lack of will on behalf of the banks and the administration to truly help home-owners.  The bottom line is, there is too much money to be made, especially when the bank forecloses on a property that has equity (as was my case).  My landlord has been trying to modify his property for over a year now.  He’s sent piles and piles of requested paperwork only to be told that it’s been lost or outdated and has to be resubmitted.  In the meantime the foreclosure wheels don’t stop moving forward.  The latest is the foreclosure mill lawyer (Steven J. Baum) wrote my landlord a letter saying THEY are now the point person for any modifications and he should not contact the BANK ANYMORE.  Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse!  Unfortunately, I am sure my landlord will loose his house and we will have to move again.  What a JOKE!

I also am having a problem with wells fargo. They requested three pieces of paper (proof of income (two paycheck stubs) , a hardship letter and a financial statement sheet) all of which we submitted and now theey are saying that the required “additional” paperwork was not submitted on time!!!!! No one ever contacted us on any additional paperwork and all the things sent orginally were as what they requested sent by certified mail. What a farce! Wells Fargo has got to be the worst for service and best for b.s. I will be contacting our state representatives, Lisa Madigan and even the White house if I have to.

Lula, Sent all documents again with recent dates with a letter describing what you are stating here and include all proof that you sent the docs before ( fax transmissions, certified proof, confirmation delivery etc etc)

Another one form Chase…

http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-foreclose-veteran-world-war-jensen-112210,0,5336211.story

this is whats going on exactly !

msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/#40342863

89 year old WWII US Veteran is loosing his home to
CHASE.

http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-for…,5336211.story

Hello everyone, Sorry for my absents from the discussion but I truly though I was getting someplace with this mess.  My organization was asked to come to DC to meet with Ms. Caldwell and her leadership team along with some people from HUD that joined by phone. There was follow-up by email with Director of Policy and Director of Operation. I had further discussions with the GAO. I think I know why all this is happening now. You can read more about it at http://www.housingwire.com/2010/11/22/what-will-it-take-for-the-media-to-care-about-the-2-trillion-foreclosure-crisis.

There is a fatal flaw in HAMP and the servicers know it.

If it was not discussed here I think it is worth everyone’s times to watch the Senate and House hearing from last week, you can find them on Cspan. I suggest you watch the first panel from the House hearing, skip through the statements by the witnesses but listen to the questions, draw your own conclusions.

I was asked to write some questions for the House hearing which I did, Maxine Waters did a great job but the bottom line is unless we get media pressure nothing will happen.

Hello everyone, Sorry for my absents from the discussion but I truly though I was getting someplace with this mess.  My organization was asked to come to DC to meet with Ms. Caldwell and her leadership team along with some people from HUD that joined by phone. There was follow-up by email with Director of Policy and Director of Operation. I had further discussions with the GAO. I think I know why all this is happening now. You can read more about it at housingwire.com/2010/11/22/what-will-it-take-for-the-media-to-care-about-the-2-trillion-foreclosure-crisis.

There is a fatal flaw in HAMP and the servicers know it.

If it was not discussed here I think it is worth everyone’s times to watch the Senate and House hearing from last week, you can find them on Cspan. I suggest you watch the first panel from the House hearing, skip through the statements by the witnesses but listen to the questions, draw your own conclusions.

I was asked to write some questions for the House hearing which I did, Maxine Waters did a great job but the bottom line is unless we get media pressure nothing will happen.

I was approved for a permanent modification last July after almost a year of back and forth and multiple trial periods with the bank.  I believe the following helped me get my approval:
1.  I submitted the required paperwork as requested multiple times.
2.  I called the bank like once every two weeks to make sure they were working on my modification and see if I was missing anything.
3.  Sometimes I ‘got in their face’ when I thought they were draging their feet.  This means threatening that I would go to the treasury department and complain they were hindering the process.
4.  Most importantly my monthly income was considered within the guidelines where I would not be paying more than 31% to service my mortage, taxes and insurance.

Charles:

Did you have substantial equity in your home that the bank could profit from through foreclosure?

Unlike Barry O, the banks are for-profit entities who have no obligation to modify or refinance mortgages, except to the extent that it might help them get repaid by the borrower.  Every borrower signs a “promise to pay” loan note or agreement.  This promise to pay means that borrowers will uphold this legal contract and show personal responsibility in repaying their debt.  The banks are not necessarily the bad guys here by simply asking the borrowers to repay what the borrower legally promised to repay. 
With the average delinquent home 16 months in arrears, I do not feel empathy for those people living for free at the expense of the banks and mortgage companies.  I pay my mortgage payment on time and have not been given any special treatment because of that, and I expect none.

Steve -

Great article.  I’ve been going through this process with Chase for 22 months.  I qualify for HAMP, always have, was put on an in-house forbearance plan by Chase which was 50% of my monthly gross income.  6 months into it, they sent me a “final in-house” with payments STILL 49% of my monthly gross.  I asked what happened with my HAMP mod and Lee Rogers of the Chase Escalation Team (yes, that’s the word they used - escalation) told me the file was “closed due to mising/non-receved docs.”  Problem there is, I was NOT notified of that from Chase at any point.  Then, since my loan is FHA (investor supposedly Ginnie Mae, whom Chase continued to blame for the delays), Carol Masters (another Exec. Member) told me FHA loans ONLY became eligible for HAMP mods this past June.  When asked why I was never informed of this, she told me “well, we didn’t know until the other day and we work here.”  That was this past July.  THEN, I receive Chase’s response to my QWR stating “JP Morgan Chase is the investor for this loan.”

In the meantime, they keep adding interest, not accepting my payments (they’re sitting in a “suspense account” until the mod is final - ???) all the while I’ve done everything asked of me and then some.  I’ve sent letters to SIGTARP, OCC (still under review since July), SEC, FHA/HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Congressmen in my state (MA), reps, etc.  I’ve more than proven I’m financially capable and committed to keeping my family’s home.  I’m a public school teacher of 19 years, so I also have stability in employment AND income.

I know Dimon reads his emails because he forwards them to Carol Masters.  I’ve contacted the media numerous times.  WHat’s next??

Maureen, I would call Treasury, when they say they are sending you to Homeownership Preservation Foundation HOPE Hotline tell them you don’t want to start over but you want a review by Treasury of your application, that you qualify for a HAMP mod and meet all guidelines.  See what that does.

Terry’s money; we are well past your position, the servicers are “required” to provide a modification, if eligible, for all Fannie or Freddie loan.  If they have signed a Participating Servicer Agreement (PSA) with Treasury they are “required” to give a modification if eligible.  If the investor does not participate in a modification program the servicer must inform the applicant.

In the majority of cases it is more profitable to modify, that is why the private investors have so much problems with their servicer and are trying to file suit to have the service determine eligibility. Investors are losing so much money due to the lack of performance by the servicer.

Lastly, the reason people are living in their home for 16 months is because the servicer can not do their job in the three months mandated in HAMP.  Most people would prefer to get it over with one way or another and not spend a good portion of their waking hours trying to get answers.  That is not even counting the stress level of the process.

The system is failing due to many reasons but the main one is the servicers do not have the trained manpower or technology to handle the crisis. There are also financial incentives to extend the process.

I would hope you would reconsider your position when passing judgment on the process or the participants stuck in it.

More solutions part 2
1-Replace Bank regulators
2-End Cops for crooks (change the heads of the regulatory agencies)
3- End Banks to Big to Fail (brake them up)
4-End the Trillions to Fanne & Freddie to cover up the Banks
5-Fire Eric Holder
6-Fire Geitner
7-Fire Bernanke
8- Fire all the heads of the Fed that used to work for Goldman “Sucks” (many working at the fed)
9- Call your congressman (demand that they stop this fraud)
10-Write to W.H (demand the same)
This crisis is all about fraud, Please for god sakes, get people in, that will enforce the rule of Law
Please let me know if any of you have any more solutions and lets put them all together

Steve.
In defense of the Terry’s money comment:  I have to say that the reverse is true—he is “way past” you on this, because the position “Each man is responsible for his own debt” is timeless.  You have simply gotten “way past” the idea of self-responsibility in your views.

Hi, Steve -

Thank you for the advice.  I’ve done it a few times and it goes to the HAMP Escalation Team, then back to Chase Escalation Team, then back to FHA/HUD, etc. etc. etc.  I keep pressing and contacting the media, contacting my state’s legislatures, etc.  There has to be something more I can do.  Chase always either sends my payments back to me or puts them into a “suspense account.” 

I’ve even sent everything to Maxine Waters.  It’s frustrating because I’m one of those homeowners who has done everything asked of me by Chase.  When I call, I get the run around, then disconnected.  All I want to do is keep my home and have proven to be financially able to do so with a modification.  The delays are endless and unecessary.  I’m almost ready to show up at Dimon’s office!!!  LMAO!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Lily, I’m sorry I did not expand on that point; when I say we are “way past” I mean that we have a crisis on our hands that if not handled properly now will impact real estate values for the next 20 years. The strategy that has been adopted is to modify when ever possible to keep below market properties off the market.  I support that strategy because it protects property values of the 9 out of 10 people that are still paying their mortgage. HAMP and other programs are designed to do just that.

You maybe right that I have gotten “way past” the idea of self responsibility because that will not solve the problem for every other homeowner in America that historically counted on equity in their home for everything from college to retirement.

My frustration comes from the poor implementation of a strategy by the servicer that is not servicing the “investor” with whom they have a contractual relationship with, or the homeowner. By the servicers poor performance for their own financial gain that are impacting tens of millions of homeowners, including those paying their mortgage.

Yes, people are in trouble for many, many reason. You speak of self-responsibility but please do not forget that there was some very poor underwriting in the past that allowed people that may have not qualified for a mortgage where given one.  It is akin to someone selling a car that they knew the engine would break in a year but they sold it anyway because someone else gave the loan, I do not have much concern for them either. Please remember there was also something called responsible lending which did not happen in many cases. The lender had a responsibility also but from your point of view it is just the average person that is responsible to keep up their end of the bargain, that is not really fair.

Regardless, we have to solve the problem and do it quickly.  Solutions have been offered that have been proven to work, we just can not get the government or the banks to get the job done.

Maureen, you have obviously contacted everyone. My I suggest one more office. Here is a contact at the Vice Presidents office.  Please do not mention where you got it from.  Take the position that you have done everything right and have contacted all the agencies and dept but you still can not get a modification. Forcefully tell them that if Treasury can not help you who can? Can they please call over to Dimon office. Eisenhower Executive Office Building, room 148, phone (202) 456-2861
Cameron Moody Director of the Office of Administration. If you want you can say to them that you know a solution for a case like your has been presented to Treasury - why won’t they act?

Good luck.

Steve -

Thank you very much. I’ll definitely do that tomorrow morning.  Not to wory - I won’t mention where the info. came from.  You’re truly a Godsend!!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!  :) I’ll keep you posted.

A recopilation of what and who we are dealing with…

1
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/problemsolver/ct-biz-1123-problem-shepard-20101123,0,1384207.column

2- http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_16601567

3- http://www.ajc.com/business/foreclosures-came-out-of-699191.html

4- http://www.propublica.org/article/homeowner-questionnaire-shows-banks-violating-govt-program-rules

5 – http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/04/05/26130.htm

6- http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/11/01/31512.htm

7- http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/raskin20101112a.htm

8- http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/175_216/ties-to-insurers-servicers-in-trouble-1028474-1.html

9- http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/175_216/ties-to-insurers-servicers-in-trouble-1028474-1.html

10- http://www.propublica.org/article/disorganization-at-banks-causing-mistaken-foreclosures-050410

11- http://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2010/11/erroneous-foreclosures.html

12- http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2009/11/23/story2.html

and goes on and on and on……

Steve, actually I can appreciate where you are coming from and it’s great that you have provided a place where those who are frustrated/stressed from the process can get insight.  I also don’t think that modification programs are a bad thing.  I am pretty sure you are well aware of self responsibility because of how proactive you are being, and am in agreement that there are plenty of people who are in this situation not of their own doing.
Unfortunately, a lot of people are in this situation because they spent money they knew they did not have because borrowing was easy, and now want an easy way out.  That large group of people makes it more difficult for those that really should be getting help to get it.  Someone is ALWAYS paying if it’s a debt, and if some of my dollars are going to help pay what someone else did not or cannot pay, I sure want to be helping someone who isn’t just taking a ride on my dime.
Having been in serious debt myself with no way out (and I don’t blame anyone there but myself), I decided that I myself had incurred the debt, I spent the money, and I would have to pay it back.  I did have a little help from a family member, but only after I did take responsibility and determined to pay what I owed.  I think there are others like me who do get so bogged down in all the process that they lose sight of their own responsibility, but will take responsibility if they are reminded of it.
Back to mortgages and banks, the beginning of that came from greed but it’s hard to say who that really is.  It’s not, most likely, the banks and mortgage companies at the level most of us deal with them but whoever holds the banks and mortgage companies in their hands . . . it goes on and on . . . I just want to encourage a sense of self-responsibility at a time when our government seems to be encouraging the opposite.  No one is perfect, we all make poor judgement decisions, but the reason I found Terry’s money comment refreshing is because it reminded me how important it is at the end of the day to take responsibility for ourselves.
It may not be fair that the average person has to keep his end of the bargain when the lender should take some of that hit, and shame on them, but in the end it is me who is responsible for money spent that I did not have, misled or not.
This is quite probably way off the focus you are working on here, but I wanted to explain my position which was not intended to be a judgment on anyone.  Have a good night.

Very well said Lily. I am not from this forum but Executive Director of an organization call AAHMP. My Founding Members are Real Estate Professionals that saw in 2008 what was happening to real estate and decided to do something about it. We have spent hundreds of thousands on lobbying efforts in Washington from Nov 2008 to try and suggest a way out of this.  We built a structure and platform for much more to handle the process. We have proof of concept with a MHA Modification program we ran in NH. We are typical businessmen that saw a problem facing this country and built a system to solve it, and yes we would profit but not from the homeowner. We have been told by everyone that our system is a good solution, we offered it to the servicers and government but it seems like no one want the solve the problem even though it impacts everyone. It has taken me 19 months to get to the top of the food chain at Treasury (Ms Caldwell) only to find out they may not really want to do what is necessary to fix the problems.  This is the reason I seem to lean slightly more in the direction of the homeowner instead of the servicer. Look at Maureen’s case, she has tried everything to be responsible but has been unsuccessful for 22 months. 

If HAMP was properly implemented in Mar 2009 we would not have the problems we have today. Because it was not,- partially due to incompetence and greed on part of the servicer, we have all these horror stories.

Just one last point; you mentioned that it seems people are being pushed to the government for help, to rely on them instead of yourself. I have always been a capitalist but changed my position for two reasons; first we see from this site and others and the thousands of other stories how the people can not get this done dealing directly with the servicer. Second; we had unfettered capitalism from the signing of Graham Leech Biley Act of 1999 and look what it has gotten us, a $2 trillion dollar mess.

Like your wonderful story of working your way out of debt, I know there are hundreds of thousands of American that want to take responsibility and do the same thing as you, they just need a chance.

Agreed and you are one helping to give that chance.  I do want to see those in crisis get a chance, and I understand you can get an entirely new viewpoint depending on what your perspective is.  This is a very difficult economic time and I admire those with the guts to try to do something to help.  Good wishes to you, Maureen, and others in this forum.

Thank you, Lily - good wishes to you as well.  When I took out my mortgage, I did so with my now ex-fiance, so we had 2 incomes & could afford what we bought. 

My children and I trusted him as we’d known him for quite a few years, so when I discovered he was doing some pretty rotten things behind my back (I’d been divorced once & that was enough, so trust for me is HUGE), I was pretty surprised.  He then became unable to hold a job because of some lies he’d told that caught up with him, was lying to me about working (he had his retirement from the Navy so there wasn’t any reason for me to question how he paid his bills), etc. etc. 

To make a long story short, the housing market was already falling apart when I discovered all of the things he was doing.  Since my children and I had lived in the same town for many years, it was my choice to keep our home for them.  He moved back to his home state of WI & agreed my family & I should keep our home. 

Since then, I’ve been doing everything possible to obtain a modification from Chase.  I qualify (I’m a veteran school teacher of 19 years, so I’m fortunate enough to have a stable job & income) for a HAMP, have been supposedly approved for one through Chase (although it’s taken 22 months & a million submissions of “misplaced docs”), and am STILL waiting for it to be completed.  Could we have moved?  Maybe.  My choice, however, is to fight for my children’s home - mainly because my parents are STILL in the home I grew up in (42 years later). 

If there was any financial question about being able to stay put, I would’ve accepted it and moved.  However, according to Chase, I was all set with a modification and would be fine.  I still believe that, but need to move mountains to get there with this bank.  So be it.  I’ll win for my family.

Thanks again, Steve, for the info.  I’m making my calls today and keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Maureen, Steve, and Lily, believe it or not I agreed with all of you except in one part of Lily’s Where she blames most the homeowner, Yes the homeowner should take responsibility and I believe they are trying , But please note that the banks put many homeowners in this situation, also I don’t see the banks taking responsibility for anything, not only that, but they got bail out, on top of that, they have received money for the HAMP (modification program) and they still not willing to help the homeowner, as matter of fact they still making millions out of the misery of families losing their homes, by collecting Insurance (AIG they bought insurance against that poor middle class family home that does not stand a chance), Please also note the the Banksters designed these loans to crashed, and the only part that the homeowners is guilty of, is of taking the bite, I agree homeowners should be responsible,  but were are the responsible banks? I don;t see one person in the financials business being prosecuted for the mess they created, not only that but now they are committing FRAUD-CLOSURES? by falsification of documents, affidavits, signatures etc to foreclose on the homeowner? Can you imagine if a homeowner would do that? he will be in jail next day ! but the Bankers are untouchable, you think is fair? you still think everything is the responsibility of the homeowner? they were also brainwashed (buy a house now, sell it tomorrow you will make money, Tomorrow the home will cost more, etc ) banks did that by creating false demand, inflating appraisals, and coming out with loans like stated assets, stated income, interest only, Liar Loans and Negam Loans (negam means the payment was not even the interest of the loan) but not one banker has been prosecuted for all of thse,  Lily i suggest you go see the movie Inside Job, I really recommended you will have a clear perceptive of what is really going on please go see it, because it will be too long to explain it all here, get informed

The solutions are simple
1st,  Take the whole HAMP, HOPE,  etc programs out of the hands of the Servicer’s and Banksters, And give it to and independent agency that can be Fair and balance,
2nd, Stop the dual track system that the banks are using where at the same time that they are processing a modification they are also FRAUD-CLOSINNG in the homeowner
3-Replace Bank regulators
4-End Cops for crooks (change the heads of the regulatory agencies)
5- End Banks to Big to Fail (brake them up)
6-End the Trillions to Fanne & Freddie to cover up the Banks
7-Fire Eric Holder
8-Fire Geitner
7-Fire Bernanke
9- Fire all the heads of the Fed that used to work for Goldman “Sucks” (many are working at the fed)
10- Call your congressman (demand that they stop this fraud)
10-Write to W.H (demand the same)

This crisis is all about fraud, and the Bnaksters and Servicer;s committing fraud,  Please for god sakes, get people in the regulatory offices, that will enforce the rule of Law
Let me know if any of you have any more solutions or suggestions lets put them all together and push for them to be implemented