YUP!! What a slap in the face to those who pay their bills on time and didn't over spend, like myself.
IT PISSES ME OFF!! We reward failure, but shit on success and capitalism.
I don't think it's just an issue of who doesn't pay their bills....
I just glanced through several articles discussing this MERS thing....kind of important to me, since I list and sell foreclosures.
As many of you may know, the majority of people who have tried to modify their mortgage....for ANY REASON....have not been able too. The homeowners have approached their lenders, who have either strung the homeowner along, or flat-out refused to talk to them.
I've been listing and selling foreclosures for 8-9 years. Those who got loans they couldn't ever really afford, were foreclosed on 2-3 years ago. Those that are being foreclosed on now, the majority, have 1) had their financial situation change - they lost their jobs and can't find replacement job at same income level. 2) the value of their home has reduced so much that their payments are ridiculously high for what the home is worth. 3) for whatever reason, their house is on the market, or has been, and the house either won't sell because of a saturated market, or they cannot get anywhere near a sales price for the amount of the mortgage. I'm doing reports now, on houses that were purchased 10-20 years ago, more often than those purchased 5 years ago.
This MERS thing -today is the first I have heard of it -- could explain why lenders aren't willing to discuss loan modification with the homeowners. These same lenders who were given bailout money -
by the government - for the purpose of salvaging the housing market.
No homeowner wants to lose their home.....and sets out to fail on their mortgage. First time homeowners have been particularly susceptible to bad loan practices. They didn't know any better when a lender is sitting there saying that they (lender) will loan a buyer 105% on a house, and all the buyer has to cough up is $75 or 100 for a credit check and mortgage application fee....because it wasn't just ONE lender doing that type of loan....it was most, if not all, of them! I, as their Realtor, could only tell them it's a dumb idea....but the only result was for me to lose the sale, and for the buyer to go to another Realtor who would encourage them to get that type of loan. Anybody who wants a home, paying more rent than a house payment will cost, and being told by a lender that they can make that happen...is going to do it!
Then in the mid 2000's --- property values dramatically increased in many places across the country, allowing many homeowners who were in nice houses, but small for their families, to go into a larger home. Builders went crazy building houses...at all price levels as there were buyers coming out of the woodwork, so to speak. Many homeowners put their first houses up for sale, made a "killing" on them to the "first time buyers"(getting 100% or better loans), and moved into houses, that
at the time were priced at fair market value - for that specific market at that specific time ---plopped down a significant amount of money, that they had made from selling their first home....and thought they would have a great house, that would only increase in value over time, making for an incredible
sure investment, as opposed to the stock market.
When the first time buyers got into trouble, lenders foreclosed, putting themselves in a situation that they helped create with 100% loans, causing the bottom of the pyramid of the housing market to collapse. As the rest of the economy started to collapse, those who had been in good financial situations started getting in trouble through job loss, inability to sell their homes due to lack of buyers and housing prices dropping.
We are in a vicious economic circle that started years ago with Greenspan screwing around with interest rates (prime) and Sept 9, 2001. It was the housing market that helped this country after 9/11, and it's the housing market that is going to bring us down.
Everything is so entwined that it continues to cycle furiously around, just like a wheel on a motorcycle...stop the wheel, and the bike falls over.
The stimulus monies were supposed to stabilize the housing market....but the market can't be stabilized if those holding the money -refuse to use it for what it was purposed. The banks could have greatly slowed, even turned it around....had they chosen to. But they didn't....WHY NOT?
Perhaps there needs to be some in depth investigation into why didn't the banks use the stimulus monies to help homeowners? The banks didn't need to reduce the amount of money that homeowners borrowed...they needed to alter the terms of the loans. BIG difference! It would have helped to prevent the home values from decreasing - which affects every homeowner!
I hate to sound like a have a tin foil hat on my head....but the stimulus act to help the homeowners was put into effect in Nov 2008, with a Republican president being the one to sign it, but a Democratic president....who many distrust not because he's a Democrat....overseeing the disposition of the monies.
Now this MERS thing shows up.
Just what the hell is going on?