PRESTO! CHANGO! YOU ARE NOW HOMELESS!!!

Paula and Carla - Your arrogance speaks volumes. I get what has been going on behind the curtain, I understand that.

The simple fact here is that millions of Americans bought more house than they should have, or refinanced and pulled more equity out than they should have, and now they're defaulting on their obligations and getting evicted from their homes in accordance with the contracts that they signed.

When a home owner agrees to pay a bank $300k over 30 years, and the home is suddenly worth $600k, does the homeowner decide that the bank should get a higher cut than they agreed upon in the contract? No. That's ridiculous. When that same $300k home drops to $150k, all of a sudden we expect the banks to take the financial loss though, right? It's their duty to suck up the losses instead of the people who signed a contract agreeing to pay back the full amount, plus interest.

Trust me, I know people who bought at the peak of the market, whose neighborhoods are in the 60%+ foreclosure markets with property values plummeting due to the quality of tenants moving in - it's hard for a guy to justify paying a $300k mortgage on a $150k piece of property... but is it the bank's job to absorb that loss just because the owner doesn't want to pay anymore, even if they're financially able to?

Our economic meltdown goes straight to greed, no matter where you look. Factories are going overseas because labor is cheaper, the public buys inexpensive goods made overseas to get the best deal possible, Wall Street investors demand profits from banks as well as manufacturing companies and everything else... This is not news to me, and it shouldn't be news to anyone else out there.

The funny thing is that everyone investing in Wall Street needs banks to do well, but here we are calling for them to flounder. Have you thought what the repercussions of your desire is? Have you thought about what that will do to those home owners and buyers who are heavily invested in financial institutions? To their retirements?

I don't think that banks should get off scott free for the negligent and downright criminal practices they had, but I'm also not blind to the fact that we need them to remain solvent and profitable if we expect any sort of economic recovery. I would much rather see the individuals who set the policies and profited off of them sent to jail.

BethAnn - Careful, you might get labeled as ignorant for your sarcasm in the face of someone ignoring the consequenses of not paying their mortgage for more than a year!

I looked,but couldn't find the article.  Does anyone on this thread have a link to the article? 

I spoke with someone recently about their personal efforts with a loan mod gone BAD. They told me that they tried to do a loan mod.  It was botched.  Within weeks, they were getting FORECLOSURE NOTICES from the bank.  They had been paying timely, and making their payments. They were not in arrears, and never late in payment.  This is from a person who is very educated, intelligent and their only crime was buying in a top heavy market.  They love their home. 

Thanks, I used your link and read the story.  Poor lady. I wonder if we'll ever hear what the outcome of the lawsuit will be?  

The blog title makes it sound like foreclosures are happening overnight without any sort of warning. Yes, the woman in Jersey was under the impression that she would retain her home, and yes it is tragic that the wheels didn't stop. She will most likely come out way ahead due to her inconvenience.

However, she is the one who decided to stop paying her mortgage.

The woman who decided to fax the note to her lender saying "I'll be dead before you foreclose on me" and then shot herself the day her home was to be auctioned off - she made the decision to stop paying her mortgage... for 42 months. Three and a half years went by without making a mortgage payment before the horrible bank decided to foreclose on her.

Yes, these awful banks! How dare they try to maintain their bottom line. How dare they answer to their share holders (you and me, our 401ks, our parents and friends). How dare they try to remain in business. They should let everyone bail on the contractual obligations because times are tough.

The very mention of reducing commissions is enough to send many agents into fits of rage, but how dare those dirty bankers try to stay in business! They should forget debts and work for free - even though that would cause even more damage to the stock market, to unemployment, to the real estate market...

Next time you have your car serviced, try asking the cashier to forgive your service bill because you're having a hard time. See what they say. Better yet, tell your broker that you won't be paying your office split or desk fee this year because money is tight.

Banks are businesses, run by humans. Humans suffer from greed (gee, isn't this whole problem a result of major greed??). People make mistakes, and sometimes big business processes are hard to stop. If people who are running banks are making decisions to act illegally, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

What I'm getting at here is that EVERYONE needs a little more personal accountability. We make decisions knowing the consequences all the time. Those running businesses need to be held accountable for their decisions, just as they are holding home owners accountable for not paying their mortgages. Our nation as a whole loves to assign blame to everyone but ourselves. We, as agents, sold people these homes. We profited from their decisions. We will continue to profit off of them as their homes are resold. When another blogger asked the question if we were at all to share in the responsibility, the overwhelming reply was NO! We didn't force people to buy homes they couldn't afford. We didn't hold them down and make them sign the papers... We as an industry like to place the blame squarely on the homeowners for making their own decisions. But now it is becoming more and more popular for us to side with the homeowners who are struggling to pay the bills and blame those nasty, unfeeling, inhumane banks.

No, I'm a realist. Professionally I'm a real estate salesperson, but I've worked for and invested in financial institutions in the past as well.

Paula...what a great post to bring us back to what this is all about...people not banks, not money and not how much you can consume. I was so moved by all the requests that I had for Loan Mods that I wrote to my Two California Senators. I told them how I was in the trenches hearing from people who were on the brink......I pleaded that they bring this to national level standards. One of our Senators was in close communications with President Obama at the time. I know she went into discussions with him and I KNOW my letter went with her (in her Psyche). This was months ago......WHOA! It has gotten worse and every time I see a bunch of people gathered on the court house steps ready to bid in a auction, I think of all the people who lost their homes. Thanks Paula for allowing me to share on your wonderful post

Paula...I remember the post then and I  like it even more now. Your comments to me should be a topic for you...to present in another post. I think you have something there for discussion. Until they stop changing the rules (and making so many of them), in Real Estate, perhaps we will see it pick-up over the stock market. Traditionally, that's the way it was. One fails, one grows. One grows, one fails. It goes in cycles. I think 9-11 interfered with our cycling. The damage done is far reaching and still upon us for that treacherous deed.

Paula.....your very welcome. Afterall, you inspired me to inspire you. I would be honored to comment on any of your posts. Carry on, my dear girl

Paula...I am having a good time, practicing Real Estate, meeting and blogging with people. Whats not to like? It is fascinating at times too.....When I go to comment on someone else's blog that I feel like commenting on, I often get an idea for a post for my self. So you see just getting involved and participating keeps ActiveRain (and each other) right on the edge of our business and ourselves. Think I will take a peekaboo over your way too.......

Blogging is a strange dynamic......you can be sitting in a room and not say a word to people but think a lot of thoughts. Not so when you are blogging. If you have something to say, it is no farther than your key board and it doesn't come with a lot of anxiety. We are witnessing a new type of "front porch activity" that brings people (and their writing skills, experience's and the like) out of their closets. It is not only rewarding as you say, but informative. Everyone wins.