One day Bank of America admits its paperwork is screwed up and cancels all foreclosures in 28 states. The next day it cancels them in the rest of the 57 states. And the day after that, President Obama says foreclosures should continue.
Somebody get us a friggin’ scorecard, because it’s getting tough to tell who’s on which side of this fiasco.
We’d like to say CNN.com has the latest details, but this story’s moving so fast that it’s tough to know what the latest details might be.
Pressure is mounting on U.S. banks to halt more foreclosures amid widespread allegations that loan servicers failed to verify legal documents in what could be hundreds of thousands of cases.
Members of Congress from California wrote to the heads of the Justice Department, the Federal Reserve, and the Comptroller of the Currency on Tuesday, requesting that they investigate the foreclosure processes of banks under their purview for “possible violations of law or regulations.”
In Texas, the Attorney General’s office sent “suspension notices” to 30 loan servicers in the state, asking them to halt foreclosures until they have completed a review of their procedures. The Attorney General in Massachusetts also urged financial institutions in the state to put a hold on all foreclosures.
The moves come after Ally Financial, JPMorgan and Bank of America all announced plans last week to freeze foreclosures in the 23 U.S. states where they must be approved by the courts.
Foreclosures continue in the remaining 27 states, including California and Texas, where they are not subject to judicial review. Two other major financial institutions, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, have yet to halt any foreclosures.
Our advice? If you can’t make your house payment, do what Barney Frank did – take in a renter who can run a gay prostitution ring out of your basement. Your cut might just be big enough to make your monthly payment.
Source: CNN.com
This post was last modified on October 15, 2010
View Comments (3)
I am not a math whiz, nor an econmic guru, but it seems to me that foreclosures in this market are not a good business practice. The bank forecloses on a house. The previous owners are now homeless. The house sits empty, because in this market, no one can afford to buy it. The longer it stands empty, the worse it affects property values in the area, increases damage to the house, vandalism, criminal activity etc. Meanwhile, the bank is not collecting any money for the house. Seems it would bmake more sense to keep people in their homes as long as humanly possible. A tenth of the mortgage is better than none. And the faily remains stable, has a chance of getting a new job, recovering from illness, etc and can up their mortgage payment.
It is a lot like watching Darth Vader (the banks) battle Sauron (the goverment/Bawney Fwank).
I always wondered what Sauron would sound like when he took off that spikey helmet -- now I know. Elmer Fudd.
Hard to say who irritates me more -- Barney Frank/Elmer Fudd or AlGore/Elmer FUD (FUD is a geek term meaning Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, the last refuge of a salesman whose product sucks -- spread rumors about your competitors and play to your customers' doubts and fears.)
I originally had felt like the banks got the wrong end of the stick when it came to the collapse of the housing market. I now understand that they cannot run a business properly, and should be allowed to collapse.