Foreclosures...

[Paul F.]

C(-)ris wrote:
If they did that everyone would take advantage of the system and stop paying. The system only works because they kick people out who won't pay.

:agree:

[decocritter]

I agreed with chris, but now things are out of hand way out of hand. Vacant homes in these huge numbers are changing the game for those that were honorable, nearly paid off their homes, and are being eaten alive by taxes. Counties are not using foreclosures in the equation.

[decocritter]

Do the banks want any more run down foreclosures, worth 25% of what they loaned, or would it be better to let folks stay in and make some sort of payment and try to keep the properties up?

[decocritter]

Did we not bail banks out? Maybe it is their turn?

[Black]

I've kept up my payments and will probably be able to do so for at least the foreseeable near future. It's meant working 6 days a week, working extra unpaid hours to maximize my value to my employer in order to stay off the chopping block, and foregoing luxuries that many people consider basic needs these days.

What do I get?

[Black]

decocritter wrote:
Do the banks want any more run down foreclosures, worth 25% of what they loaned, or would it be better to let folks stay in and make some sort of payment and try to keep the properties up?

I see people "squatting" in homes all around me that have gone years without mortgage payments, and upon which the bank has taken no action. Many of these homes are full of gang losers and serve as meeting places and lookout towers. When they're finally foreclosed and put on the market, it's like a dream come true.

[decocritter]

Squatters - that is a whole different element. If families could stay and pay on the mortgages, it could prevent vacancy and squatters

[mrbigstuff]

vision63 wrote:
Anyone you know that need help, you need to steer them to one of NACA's loan modification events. This is the only organization that has the teeth to help in some measure. There is one today in San Jose. I have many friends that have found relief. Also, buying a house through NACA is best way to buy one.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section.../south_bay&id=8196908

https://www.naca.com/index_main.j

usually based on income maximums. many people will qualify but some who are still working will not.

[Black]

decocritter wrote:
Squatters - that is a whole different element. If families could stay and pay on the mortgages, it could prevent vacancy and squatters

In many of these cases the squatters were the tenants before the owners walked away. Chicken/egg-- end up with a bunch of non-paying bangers in your building and you're screwed.

[Black]

Press release just received via e-mail:

Welcome Wagon and Press Conference Demanding that Attorneys General Hold Big Banks Accountable for Mortgage Fraud

I thank Hurley Green, Publisher of the Independent Bulletin, for providing the following media advisory regarding an upcoming welcome wagon and press conference. This issue really is critical to us in the 24th Ward, as we ranked #4 in mortgage foreclosures last year, according to the Woodstock Institute. I won't be able to attend the welcome wagon and press conference. If anyone is able to attend, please share your reactions on the board.

Media Advisory for June 21, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. Central time
Contact: Monica Trevino at 312-286-4430 or monica@npa-us.org
Margot Friedman at 202-332-5550 or mfriedman@dupontcirclecommunications.com
http://www.newbottomline.com/ http://www.npa-us.org/

Clergy, Underwater Homeowners from Across the U.S. Urge Attorneys General to Hold Big Banks Accountable for Mortgage Fraud

National People’s Action to Release Report Showing Spike in Cook County Foreclosures on Prime-Rate Mortgages

(Chicago, Illinois) Clergy and homeowners threatened with foreclosure from Illinois and across the country will be at the Drake Hotel’s Grand Ballroom on June 21 at 1:30 to welcome state Attorneys Generals holding their NAAG summer meeting and urge them to stand firm for a strong settlement agreement with the big banks they are investigating for mortgage fraud.

The clergy and homeowners will provide the AGs with “welcome packets” that contain jail-bar and handcuff-shaped cookies to symbolize the importance of criminal penalties for bank executives, a tourist map of foreclosed homes in Chicago, and flyers with homeowners’ demands. The AGs have spent hours in closed-door meetings with the big banks. They must give equal time to the citizens and constituents they were elected to protect. The event is being organized by The New Bottom Line campaign, a coalition grassroots community, faith and labor organizations that has been pressing the AGs to reach a strong settlement with the banks.

At 2:15, in front of the Drake Hotel, National People’s Action (NPA) – a member of The New Bottom Line campaign – will release a report on residential foreclosures in Cook County, IL during the last 18 months. Among the findings: more than 40 percent of all new foreclosure filings have been on fixed prime-rate loans. The data indicates that the failure to enact effective loan modifications has allowed the foreclosure crisis to grow beyond homeowners with subprime mortgages who were affected first. (Key report findings below.)

The clergy and homeowners will call on the AGs who are investigating the nation’s largest banks for mortgage fraud to stand firm for a settlement agreement that includes principal reductions for millions at risk of foreclosure; criminal penalties for bankers who committed mortgage fraud; restitution for families who lost their homes due to fraud; and strict enforcement of the settlement terms on the banks. Constituents will not settle for remedies that are optional for the banks.

Who: Clergy and Homeowners from Illinois, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and Washington State

What: Welcome Wagon for State Attorneys General followed by Press Conference to release NPA’s Cook County foreclosure report

When & Where: Welcome Wagon at 1:30 in the Grand Ballroom; Press Conference and Report Release at 2:15 in front of the Drake Hotel, 140 East Walton Place, Chicago, IL

Visuals: Jail-bar and handcuff-shaped cookies, tourist map of foreclosed homes, blown up foreclosure map, banners & signs with homeowners’ demands for AG action

Key Findings from National People’s Action’s Report on Cook County, IL Foreclosures

NPA will release a report on residential foreclosures in Cook County, IL covering the last 18 months of the foreclosure crisis. Since the start of 2010, Cook County has had over 75,000 residential properties in foreclosure. In the last 18 months, nearly 29,000 Cook County homes have been lost to foreclosure and have become bank-owned property (REO). This report reveals that the nation’s five largest banks own or service nearly 60% of all home foreclosures in Cook County.

The report identifies the top Cook County foreclosure "hot spots" - areas that have seen foreclosure activity on approximately 10% of a neighborhood's housing units. The report also shows that more than 40% of all recent foreclosure filings have been on typically prime-rate mortgages. The report asserts that many of these recent foreclosures represent the failure of the major national banks (as mortgage servicers) to extend workable loan modifications to overburdened homeowners. The data supports NPA’s claim that the failure to enact effective loan modifications has caused the foreclosure crisis to grow beyond homeowners with subprime mortgages and to now impact a wider population of homeowners.

Additionally, the report finds that African-American and Latino neighborhoods are the hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis with three times the volume of foreclosures and bank-owned property occurring in Cook County’s communities of colors.

About National People’s Action

National People's Action (NPA) is a Network of community power organizations from across the country that work to advance a national economic and racial justice agenda. NPA has over 200 organizers working to unite everyday people in cities, towns, and rural communities throughout the United States.

About The New Bottom Line campaign

The New Bottom Line campaign is a coalition of community organizations, congregations, labor unions, and individuals working together to build a movement that challenges established big bank interests on behalf of struggling and middle-class communities. Together, we work to restructure Wall Street to help American families build wealth, close the country's growing income inequality gap and advance a vision for how our economy can better serve the many rather than the few. The New Bottom Line campaign includes National People’s Action (NPA), PICO National Network, Alliance for a Just Society, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and Industrial Areas Foundation of the Southeast (IAF-SE) and dozens of state and local organizations from around the country.

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