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HAMP'd

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Economy
Posted on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 03:01:08 PM EST
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Via Atrios, HAMP'd:

U.S. home foreclosures jumped in the third quarter and banks' efforts to keep borrowers in their homes dropped as the housing market continues to struggle, U.S. bank regulators said on Wednesday. [. . .] HAMP loan modifications fell by almost 46 percent in the third quarter, according to the report.

There is an untold story in this - homeowners have come to realize that HAMP modifications are a scam that only work for the banks. You will see uncontested foreclosures increase as a result, as homeowners realize that walking away is the better deal.

Heck of a job, Timmie!

Speaking for me only

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    HAMP'd | 15 comments (15 topical)

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    What's the recourse for those who (5.00 / 0) (#2)
    by Anne on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 03:35:06 PM EST
    have gotten mired in a mess they didn't' make?  All this couple wanted to do was refinance a mortgage they had never missed a payment on:

    Bank of America told this couple that their house would go into foreclosure on Christmas Eve, which came as something of an anti-Christmas Miracle to them considering they had never missed a single mortgage payment.

    The problems started when the couple looked into refinancing their home and asked the BofA loan specialist for the "cheapest" option available. That rep tentatively put them in the Federal government's "Making Home Affordable" program, which was developed to help people who are behind on their mortgages.

    The couple decided not to use that refinance option but that rep's action put on their credit report that they were seeking a loan mod and sent out a credit destroying blast to all their creditors. Their credit card limits were reduced to $18,000 from $30,000, all their credit card APRs were jacked up to universal default levels, and other creditors started shutting down their accounts.

    Only after escalating through several tiers of Bank of America were they able to get the bank to promise to try to fix their credit lines. The couple will have to go each creditor individually to try to get their lines of credit reinstated. The foreclosure action is still pending

    More here.

    And there's "nothing" Bank of America can do?

    I used to work for Dun and Bradstreet (5.00 / 2) (#5)
    by TeresaInPa on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 07:36:46 PM EST
    it was during that time I decided that personal credit reporting agencies should be outlawed.  It is one thing to report on business credit, but I do not see what good it does society for individual people to have their lives ruined by credit reporting companies.  
    We should outlaw banks to big to fail and companies which can screw up life with a reporting error.

    Parent
    I used (none / 0) (#6)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 07:51:41 PM EST
    to work for them too and I saw how businesses got much better treatment than the personal credit consumers did. Their payment history only went on for 2 years or less back then whereas the individual could be haunted by a missed payment for 7 years.

    Parent
    yup (none / 0) (#8)
    by TeresaInPa on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 07:59:22 PM EST
    money goes to money and we are now at a point where the disparity between rich and poor is bigger than even at the turn of the last century.  Class warfare has been going on for a long time and it is time for the lower and middle classes to start fighting back.

    Parent
    I'm already there... (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:48:16 PM EST
    no bank account, no credit cards, no clue what my credit score is, not how I keep "score"...and it'll be a cold day in credit reporting agency hell (Dante's 7th circle, with the sodomites:)when I look up anybody's score with that crew...what's taking the rest of America so long, I don't know...I realize it's impossible not to fund some shadyness in the modern world, but we gotta limit our exposure to these beasts:)

    I hear ya, it is a bad scene...meticulous with the rich and famous "scores", to hell with you...different rules different fools strikes again.  

    Parent

    Rantaholic :) (none / 0) (#12)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Dec 30, 2010 at 10:52:21 AM EST
    I've always considered it a game of sorts.  And there was a time when a good credit score meant something.  When I was a single mom I worked hard to have a good one and it did me a good turn, I got loans to start a business and buy a piece of land too.  Nothing fancy....but I had a history of being trustworthy and taking my debts seriously.  But banks used to work with people too, if you had a crazy month you could call and reschedule payments...you would actually go in and sit across from a person and iron out the wrinkle together.  Those days are gone.  Little people doing little things like that do not yield the big bucks that the banks have made doing all this triple leverage crap and creating nothing but algorithms.  They never want to go back to those days again either of making a simple living along with everyone else.  And the credit score system is now a scam too and nothing more.

    And what is a funny scream? Now the banks are going to sue each other for selling each other leveraged into oblivion crap back and forth.

    Parent

    Right there with ya... (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by kdog on Thu Dec 30, 2010 at 11:22:52 AM EST
    on trustworthyness and paying ones debts...because of how it reflects on you and your good name, not a stupid numerical "score" compiled by mofos shady beyond our relatively trustworthy imaginations.  Once again I'm out of the loop of you older cats who once knew something different...this is my norm.

    You want a credit reference, I got names for ya, but they are not Equifax or Experian, they are actual human beings who know me, with hearts and brains and souls.

    Parent

    You just called me an old cat (none / 0) (#14)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Dec 30, 2010 at 11:36:27 AM EST
    Sheesh...listen here whippersnapper.  I guess you didn't hear that Jon Bon Jovi made more money touring the world than anybody else this year....old cats......snort

    Parent
    Actually I said.... (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by kdog on Thu Dec 30, 2010 at 11:42:45 AM EST
    older cats...which is technically anybody 34 and up....not necessarily "old".

    Besides...you're the one who said you coulda been my babysitter, not me pal:)

    Parent

    I worked for them, TRW (none / 0) (#9)
    by Catesby on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 09:32:30 PM EST
    and Experian as a contractor.  This was in the days where they could not put data into a format that could be used by PCs and I did it for them.  For years I had ABI's complete data file on my own system to enable easier order fulfillment.  And not once was I asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.  Luckily I an scrupulous.

    I was amazed at the data that passed through my office from these companies as we processed conversions from mag tapes.  

    I did a test one day with TRW I think it was.  They called asking for information on the company.  I lied through my teeth, making out like we were raking in the dough.

    I then ordered through a broker I worked with a small list that would include my details.  

    I'd be damned if they didn't put in every figure I gave them verbatim.  

    Which was when I knew they couldn't be trusted as purveyors of information at all.  All they care about is who they can convince they have good data.  And they really don't.

    Parent

    Oh, boy. (5.00 / 0) (#4)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 04:12:56 PM EST
    I could literally write a paragraph on this one. The banks will drag you along "pretending" they are doing something all the while claiming you didn't send in the right paperwork and everything. On and on it goes until the homeowner just literally gives up or realizes IT IS a scam and NO ONE has their backs.

    This will create a lot of (none / 0) (#1)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 03:30:44 PM EST
    instability too for our economy, as if there wasn't already enough.  I have a feeling that all those new algorithms used to design all of these "investment vehicles" don't factor in Americans just numbly and brokenly walking away from such things and seeking a meaningful life in other places and other forms.  Because of bankruptcy reform I think it was assumed that we could all be bled unbelievably dry but you can only exponentially leverage "dry" so far too before you blow the whole system...and they have.

    Let the fighting begin (none / 0) (#3)
    by CST on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 03:59:14 PM EST
    Bank of America (owns Countrywide) being sued by Allstate

    "Allstate maintains that beginning in 2003, Countrywide abandoned its underwriting standards and misrepresented crucial information about the underlying mortgage loans that made up the securities it sold. The company, then the nation's largest home loan originator, presented securities backed by the mortgages as safe investments to Allstate and others by concealing material facts, the suit alleges."

    Also being sued by the states of Arizona and Nevada.

    "Bank of America violated Arizona's consumer fraud law by misleading consumers who tried to reduce their monthly payments to keep their homes... Hundreds of homeowners kept making their mortgage payments because Bank of America repeatedly assured them that their loans were being modified, Goddard said. Instead, many lost their homes anyway."

    has anyone else noticed? (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdm251 on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 07:54:01 PM EST
    it seems like their is plenty of money to loan if you are going to do something stupid with your money, I work part-time but had no problem qualifying for a car loan  but when I tried to get a condo for about the same price as the car no one would give me a mortgage; and no i didnt buy the car first.

    Mort-gage Strike... (none / 0) (#11)
    by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:56:58 PM EST
    Mort-gage Strike! Mort-gage Strike!

    Don't walk away...squat.  If that doesn't work, then walk away if that's what makes the most sense.  You owe these entities nothing but scorn.

    The Fox News unintentional comedy is gold tonight on this btw, with talk of "promissory notes" being "promises" to pay the full nut, walking away is breaking a "promise"...I sh*t you not.

    HAMP'd | 15 comments (15 topical)

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