It’s an understatement to say that homeowners have had it up to here with banks and the foreclosure process. Those caught up in the wake of the foreclosure crisis often see the banks as heartless and just out to make a buck.
Some feel like what the banks have done to the American homeowner is criminal. And they just might be right.
According to a investigation by CBS I-Team reporter Al Sunshine, 50 state attorney generals are investigating the foreclosure debacle. As it turns out, the bank you borrowed money from probably does not own your mortgage anymore. Many mortgages have been bundled up so they look safe for investors and then sold off, Sunshine says.
He estimates 95% of mortgages are now controlled by what’s called a servicer, which is a bank or financial company which handles your mortgage and monthly payment. They are the ones who collect fees and penalties from home owners, and according to Sunshine’s report, they are the first ones to make yet more money when a home is foreclosed.
And therein lies the problem with the mortgage system, foreclosure attorney Roy Oppenheim told Sunshine.
“It was in their interest to have the foreclosure go through the process versus a modification,” Oppenheim explained. “Typically the way the servicers were compensated, they would receive more compensation through a foreclosure than through a modification.”
So the interests of the borrower are in constant conflict with the interests of the servicer. Since they are often not the bank that lent you the money in the first place, there is little risk to them, and foreclosure is better for their bottom line.
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My good friend, Julie Kay, recently wrote a South Florida Business Journal story on the mixed reviews for the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, as legislators like to call it.
