Upcoming Foreclosures

What's the deal with the Government not coming to the table with regards to these foreclosures?

We all look for who to blame and the Government is quick to look all around for a resource however they were aware of what was happening to housing prices and at the time only stood by and watched property taxes increase in some cases 500%. Why are they not rolling back past due tax bills to the amount before the sale that caused the increase and apply the amount as a lien due in 10 years? The economy will not withstand their hard line approach. First 5, you have a point and I completely agree that it's the responsibility of the home owner. However I work in the industry and this thing is goin to hit the fan in the next few months if we don't do what we need to here rather than whats right. Do you realize that the sale of an REO property in your neighborhood hits your home value in the immediate area by as much as 27%? Who do you think pays for all of this if the banks most effected by this cease to exist and leave a trail of debt in their wake. I'd rather pay now than wait till things get really bad. All of you out there in their 40s and 50s remember the S&L problems in the 80s don't you? Besides I suggested a bond type lien, not a bailout gift. Please reread the question till you get it. Foreclosure Fish has the right idea, however the negative impact of expensive Government involvement is already in place with the programs created. It's as though Local Government has a trashbag full of money and when the trashbag gets a tear they increase the costs to the tax payer to buy more trash bags. It's already costing us money, as well most lenders required an impound account to make sure taxes and insurance on the property are maintained. I've found that most lenders are not just absorbing the cost of the P&I but in many cases the T&I as well. One of my Loss Mitigation clients owed 12k in back payments and an additional 15k in taxes and insurance so local government has not even begun to feel the pain yet... who do you suppose they're going to run to when they stop getting paid. Further, you cannot tell me that the costs to operate local community has increased to the same 500% degree as property tax revinue.

Public Comments

1. A good parent will let the child go,fall down and skin his knee once in a while, rather than hold his hand until he's married.....It makes the child a better adult.
2. Let me get this right I stay within my budget and pay for my mortgage. And someone else is living out of their means and want me to pay for them too? What about the people in trouble give up other things and pay their mortgage, like Cell phones, new cars, new clothes, eating out, you know. You do understand who the Goverment is don't you?
3. It's nice we can blame the government rather than our greedy little selves, isn't it???? Government didn't make banks loan money to people who were totally unqualified for home ownership? Government didn't make banks loan money to people who badly wanted a home, but who have never properly managed their finances and had bad credit? Government didn't make wannabe homeowners sign up for adjustable rate loans which would predictably climb past their ability to pay. Government didn't give houses to people who had a history of making one poor choice after another, of running up high credit card bills, of not paying their obligations, of not supporting their children, etc. Government didn't make housing prices rise and rise and rise. Government didn't make us all take out HELOCs and buy and buy and buy.
4. because these home owners agreed to sub prime loan conditions.....prepayment penalties/negative am/adjust rate/etc.... It amazes me that consumers let others decide whether or not they can afford something..... I opened a checking acct recently and, yeah, got a healthy credit score......and received a credit card, unsolicited, with a $12K limit......I mean C'mon!!!!!!
5. Well... Its like this you gotta be a big person that read ALL the fine print to take a loan to begin with. That being said, it IS a crime that the creditors are allowed to manipulate the people into believing that this is a 'quick fix' and 'a better deal'. This occurs at many levels. Take colleges for instance. They give out credit cards like penny candy on the first week of school. Thats right! Free credit cards to 18 year olds with no credit history. Credit limits are low but make 3 payments and they double your limit. Scary stuff! Americans (or anyone) must step away from the ADDICTION of spending and figure out what lifestyle their income will support. This is an epidemic that is brought on by what we refer to as hegemony. (look it up)
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7. why should they ? I make money be re-selling peoples bad decisions. Some profit when its up and some profit when it goes down. Full circle
8. The only real problem with the tax lien/bond issue is that government at all levels often has a very, very difficult time rolling itself back. Look at all the new foreclosure help programs being created by local and state governments right now. They aren't going away any time soon, even if the foreclosure problem becomes less severe. Once government programs are created, they often stick around to become entrenched interest groups. And one such as a foreclosure help hotline which "helps the children" and "keeps the American Dream alive" will not be easy to get rid of. And then the programs need to be financed, with ever increasing budgets to pay for new equipment, new invasions of privacy, new employees, and cut-backs in service. Cutting property taxes without cutting government spending will not help the people who have been funding this huge increase in government. If government did spend less, then more homeowners could keep their property taxes and use them to pay their mortgages. Ironically enough, though, government will keep spending on new programs to help homeowners, which will just hurt homeowners to the point of so many foreclosures putting the local governments in danger. Without property tax revenue, they can't pay their own municipal bonds and fund the police departments and other so-called government services. Of course, they could rely on increasing revenues through other means than property taxes. Cops could pull over more people for coasting through stop lights or speeding, and issue more tickets. Fines for smoking in public or a county income or sales tax on everyone may increase revenue in the short term. To be effective for the long term, government really needs to cut spending and return some of that money to the homeowners and other taxpayers. Otherwise, all these temporary programs will just continue to hurt the people they have been set up to help. Something needs to be done, but done correctly. ForeclosureFish