Having been involved with refinancing my mortgage earlier in the year,and then trying to ascertain whether I should do it again has made me very aware of conditions on the ground.
Years ago,when I went in to practice in Monsey,I went into the bank,applied for a morgage,and dealt with the Bank President.It was a longstanding relationship, until he left the bank, when the bank changed its name and it all became impersonal.
Today,when you are finally able to get a mortgage, the bank sells it to a third and then multiple parties.At the end Fannie or Freddie wind up with the document
People like our family, and 90% of American homeowners work hard to meet their monthly mortgage payments.They did not lie on their applications,nor did they deliberately get in over their heads.Of course in life,some people suffer setbacks,lose their job, illness etc and find they cannot meet their obligations.For these people bankruptcy or foreclosure are part of our system.
However, when people accepted mortgages with fraud, or by accepting an obligatioin they knew well in advance they could not meet,then the call to stop all foreclosures, or to reduce the principal is unfair and unjust to all those who pay on time.
The real criminals are the politicians of both parties,Freddy and Fannie and the mortgage brokers who took part in a great charade, that hurts all of us.
Howevever, if a person has not paid their mortgage for 18 months ,and so on, the foreclosure should be expedited.This not only fair,but will allow new owners to come in and take these homes off the market-thereby saving neighborhoods.(where vacant foreclosed homes become an eye-sore)
