“Homeowners fighting still-abusive servicers will not get legal help or counseling to stay in their homes.”

You ain’t just whistling Dixie with this Dave! While I can’t claim my servicer is abusing me since I’ve been dealing with them through the court on my foreclosure (which carries its own abuse), and I do have legal help (though he’s been working without pay for quite some time), there is no counseling help available to me that would do anything toward keeping me in my home. So even though my situation doesn’t sound that bad, it’s been highly stressful and debilitating to my health. Last week I started thinking that being homeless had to be easier than continuing the fight to just have a roof over my head!

Let me add my thanks and welcome for being here today Professor!

As one of millions of victims of what happened, I’ve been trying to understand why it seemed like the entire business community collapsed at the same time in 2008. While I’ve mostly learned how that happened, it seems like very few people, especially our elected officials and policymakers at all levels of government, have done anything worthwhile to bring us out of this depression and put us on the road to recovery.

In a time when no elected official will listen to their constituents, much less do what they want, what can we as indivuals do to be heard and affect any sort of change in policy?

Maybe the housing groups should think about protesting and testifying at the IL state Supreme Court’s public forum for their Foreclosure Committee on June 8th. The first public forum on April 27th didn’t get any protests or have any homeowner or homeowner activists or advocacy groups involved. This is the group that is revising the IL Mortgage Foreclosure Act – which is how every foreclosure in this state is done in every courtroom! We are in immediate danger of revisions being made permanent and must make our voices heard!

As one of those former GMAC mortgagees, it sucks! Not only was I never included in the “settlement” because I have a Freddie Mac loan, I was told today that they refuse to stay the sheriff’s sale in the morning because I didn’t have required SSDI paperwork submitted with my HAMP/Loan Mod App. The package had to be sent in before my SSDI hearing last week, but you would think they could put off the sale for a month or two so the paperwork could be sent and we discuss whether or not it’s enough. Overall, pretty damn callous to tell someone who is disabled that they are going to be homeless in a few weeks because all they want is the house to sell and be paid for the 2nd or 3rd time.

Cynthia,

Instead of each individual needing to file a lawsuit against their bank/servicer/whoever, did that “agreement” take away our right to file any class action lawsuits?

I’m somewhat leery of class action anything right now due to being screwed on the actual settlement amount ending up at almost nothing in a different suit, but would think it’s at least one recourse to be considered.

We need to reverse the changes to the bankruptcy law from 2005(?) and put them back to where they were before then.

We also need far more than a bazooka on the Administration’s housing policy, something more along the lines of a nuclear bomb might be about right. And Obama isn’t using a rifle, he’s using a small water pistol – not even one of those supersoakers, but the old-time small handgun type.

This is not at all surprising given the track record of any level of government to actually assist the victims of this tragedy! Here in Illinois, it took them months to put together the the criteria, so it started taking applications sometime last summer. The AG’s office encouraged me to apply for it, even though I didn’t think my situation qualified for it. So I did, and long story short, was declined because my past due amount took up the entire available amount, and there was nothing left to pay ongoing. Some help!

I’d like to see them reach out to every homeowner who has been victimized and find a way to push out the statutes of limitation, along with providing individual legal assistance for each and every homeowner to sue their bank, servicer, whoever in order to get some sort of recompense.

sigh – not likely to happen, but I have to have those moments to dream of a better way for us to be treated.

I had one credit card send me copies of statements as their “proof” that the debt was not only valid, but that it was mine! My response agreed that they had indeed sent me “copies” of “statements”, but that it did not constitute proof of the debt and that I would testify to that in court. Needless to say, they didn’t show up the next week in court and the matter was dropped.

The current scourge, at least here in Illinois, is to have someone there that asks you to go into a side room to “make a deal” on the debt. People do it because they are honest, but don’t realize that it’s a scam to get a court-authorized agreement on the books so that they can later be arrested for defaulting. Our AG put forth a bill to stop the practice since the courts were handing over the bonds, thus creating a modern day version of debtors prisons. So far it seems to have passed one of the state houses and is on its way to the other one.

There are a lot of things related to this mess that have not, and are not, being discussed anywhere! This is just one. Another is the deficiency judgment being collectible, the banks claiming their losses through PMI – who then go after the homeowner for reimbursement on the claim – that deficiency judgments are also considered taxable income until the end of this year, with Barney Frank putting up a bill to waive that, and finally you have Freddie Mac who is instructing their servicing companies to not go after the former homeowners for the amount of the deficiency judgement, yet it’s ok for people who’ve gone through the entire foreclosure process and lost their homes!

Add me to the list of admirers for the women speaking out and trying to get the establishment men to listen!

Regarding deficiency judgments, I hope that we will start seeing more of those being waived on Freddie Mac loans because of this notice in their February 15th Bulletin 2012-5:

“DEFICIENCY FROM SHORT PAYOFFS AND DEEDS-IN-LIEU OF FORECLOSURE

We have updated the Guide to reinforce the requirement that the Servicer, for itself and on behalf of Freddie Mac, must waive all rights to pursue payment of the remaining balance owed by the Borrower under a Freddie Mac-owned Mortgage for all approved short payoffs and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions that have closed in accordance with the Guide and applicable law.

Sections B65.41, Closing, Reporting and Remittance Requirements, and B65.48, Closing, Reporting and Remittance Requirements, have been updated to reflect this additional information.”

This unfortunately does not cover those who have lost their homes through the courts, but should help others. Their Guide is an interesting thing if you know how to read it!

Dr. Phil always says that when “you choose the behavior, you choose the consequences.” The city, and it’s erstwhile mayor, have chosen their behavior, but have they really thought through all of the possible consequences? I think not!

“The real question, given the facts, is whether or not anyone at the state or federal level is willing to shut down what amounts to a racketeering outfit known as mortgage servicers.”

And I think we all know that the answer to this question is that, no, nobody at the state or federal level is even remotely willing to shut down the criminal activities, much less arrest, try, convict and incarcerate all of the people involved!