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Showing posts with label Homeowner News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeowner News. Show all posts
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
~ THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT ~ WE ARE UPDATING THIS SITE
NOTICE
No2housingcrime.org wants to thank you for your support. We appreciate you following this page for the latest in the foreclosure crisis. We apologize for not giving you updated information. The foreclosure crisis continues to affect millions of Americans and may be with us for several more years.
For the latest on foreclosures you can follow
www.occupyfightsforeclosures.org
www.facebook/occupyfightsforeclosures
For questions regarding this blog you can call (323) 592-4663
For immediate attention to your questions you can email carlosoccupy@gmail.com
ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
No2housingcrime.org wants to thank you for your support. We appreciate you following this page for the latest in the foreclosure crisis. We apologize for not giving you updated information. The foreclosure crisis continues to affect millions of Americans and may be with us for several more years.
For the latest on foreclosures you can follow
www.occupyfightsforeclosures.org
www.facebook/occupyfightsforeclosures
For questions regarding this blog you can call (323) 592-4663
For immediate attention to your questions you can email carlosoccupy@gmail.com
ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Carlos the mailman: The Reality Behind the Housing Recovery Hype
Carlos the mailman: The Reality Behind the Housing Recovery Hype: By Carlos Marroquin Los Angeles, March 17, 2013 - In recent months, real estate pundits have been saying that the housing markets ...
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Foreclosure Settlements, Senator Warren Thinks the Public Has a Right To Know What They Found
WONDER WARREN
By David Dayen
To help settle a probe into illegal mortgage practices, servicers were ordered to review all foreclosures between 2009 and 2010. The senator from Massachusetts thinks the public has a right to know what they found.
Since the start of the new Congress, liberal Democrats have anxiously awaited senior Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren’s initial moves. Celebrity entrants into the Senate—from Hillary Clinton to Al Franken—have tended to take a modest approach, immersing themselves in committee work and issues of local importance, building relationships with their colleagues, and operating as a “workhorse, not a show horse.” By contrast, Warren said during the campaign that she wanted to use her new position as a platform for her ideas. And one of her first actions suggests she will spend her time as Senator much the way she did as chair of the TARP oversight panel and at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: shedding light on the harm caused by unscrupulous financial interests. (Editor's note: Warren's daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi, is a member of the Prospect's governing board).
Last Thursday, Warren teamed with the Democratic ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, to launch an investigation into the Independent Foreclosure Reviews. Almost two years ago, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve ordered the reviews to help settle a probe into illegal mortgage practices that shortchanged homeowners and, in some cases, improperly kicked people out of their homes. Under the order, 14 of the biggest mortgage servicers had to give all borrowers who received a foreclosure notice in 2009 and 2010 the opportunity to have a neutral third party look at their files to see if the servicer had made errors. Borrowers would then be entitled to compensation for the mistakes. Of the 3.8 million eligible borrowers, around 500,000 submitted requests for review.
But the independent reviews turned out to be neither independent nor reviews. As whistleblowers have pointed out, the banks handpicked and paid the salaries of the reviewers, third-party consultants who have increasingly become a substitute for government bank examiners. The data from the borrower files, as well as the guidelines for review, all came from the banks, and in many cases the banks made the determinations of harm themselves, leaving the reviewers to merely check their work. Managers overseeing the consultants overlooked entire categories of borrower harm, even obvious ones like servicers rejecting loan-modification payments from a borrower with a signed agreement, or tallying up impermissible fees. The managers also steered the ground-level reviewers, most of whom were temporary employees with little or no expertise in mortgages or foreclosures, away from reporting significant mistakes. Banks could even appeal whatever errors did get through (borrowers, of course, could not). Meanwhile, the complex rules for scrutinizing the documents extended the time it took to examine each loan file, which was good news for the consultants who raked in well over $1 billion at last count.
The new OCC leadership, which inherited this debacle, put a stop to the reviews and instead said it would compensate homeowners with a cash settlement. The 3.8 million foreclosure victims from 2009 and 2010 would split $3.3 billion, which amounts to less than $1,000 per foreclosure. No effort would be made to use the data gained from the reviews in parceling out the funds; an as-yet-unknown process, determined largely by the servicers, will dole out a fixed amount to borrowers whose loans fit certain general characteristics. Another $5.2 billion would go toward reducing loan balances for borrowers still in their homes. OCC head Thomas Curry claimed that the review process became too costly, diverting money from homeowners to the consulting firms, and that the new settlement would provide the best way to get the most compensation in the hands of foreclosure victims quickly.
Warren’s belief in the power of transparency—which in this case means releasing public data whose collection the government mandated—to improve public policy has been a driving force even before she reached the Senate.
Enter Senator Warren. She and Representative Cummings have asked OCC and the Federal Reserve for all performance reviews the two agencies conducted during the program before nixing it; the amount of money the banks paid their third-party reviewers; and the total number of reviews, along with the percentages of those in which errors were found. “Public confidence in the banking system has been badly undermined by a widespread concern that large financial institutions are not held fully to account when they break the rules—and that consumers are not sufficiently compensated,” Warren and Cummings wrote in their letter to the OCC and the Fed last week. “It is critical that the OCC and the Federal Reserve disclose additional information about the scope of the harms found to establish confidence in the sufficiency and integrity of the settlement.” Warren’s belief in the power of transparency—which in this case means releasing public data whose collection the government mandated—to improve public policy has been a driving force even before she reached the Senate. For example, the CFPB Consumer Response Center—an initiative Warren championed when standing up the agency—makes available data from the organization’s complaint hotline about consumer-credit abuses and is an integral part of the supervision process.
While the information in the Independent Foreclosure Reviews may be flawed, it’s critical to know what was gathered. Too often in post-financial-crisis settlements with Wall Street banks, regulators settle on a remedy without determining or taking into account the level of harm. What’s more, without an accounting of the mortgage-servicer industry’s previous practices, it will be nearly impossible to fix the broken mortgage-servicer industry.
A thorough investigation of the entire failed review process would uncover much about the current system of bank regulation. It would expose the growing use of consultants; show the need for more funding so that regulators instead of consultants can conduct independent reviews; and highlight the need for additional standards and rules against the mortgage servicers, tailored to exactly what abuse they heaped on borrowers through 2009 and 2010. It could also put some much-needed focus on OCC, historically a light-touch bank regulator which has been embarrassed by this mess, to the extent that it’s overhauled its senior leadership. Right now the investigation is in its early stages—Warren is still getting her transition to the Senate in order. But there’s a lot under the surface, particularly the startling information from the whistleblowers, waiting to be uncovered. Combined with a forthcoming Government Accountability Office report on the reviews, which revealed a significant number of errors, policymakers and foreclosure victims could finally get the investigation of this industry that they deserve.
The request for the review data has let regulators and banks know that Warren will not be a silent, go-along-to-get-along Senator. There’s a certain value in just having a threat of congressional oversight, particularly from a high-profile figure who can stir public opinion. Cummings has worked on the foreclosure crisis for years, and House Financial Services Committee ranking Democrat Maxine Waters, who sent her own letter to OCC seeking more information, yesterday asked Republican chair Jeb Hensarling for hearings on the matter. But Warren, by virtue of her large following, can raise attention to the issue, which fits with a key principle of her nascent political career: whether government will bother to stand up when the middle class gets ripped off.
Posted by Carlos Marroquin
By David Dayen
To help settle a probe into illegal mortgage practices, servicers were ordered to review all foreclosures between 2009 and 2010. The senator from Massachusetts thinks the public has a right to know what they found.
Since the start of the new Congress, liberal Democrats have anxiously awaited senior Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren’s initial moves. Celebrity entrants into the Senate—from Hillary Clinton to Al Franken—have tended to take a modest approach, immersing themselves in committee work and issues of local importance, building relationships with their colleagues, and operating as a “workhorse, not a show horse.” By contrast, Warren said during the campaign that she wanted to use her new position as a platform for her ideas. And one of her first actions suggests she will spend her time as Senator much the way she did as chair of the TARP oversight panel and at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: shedding light on the harm caused by unscrupulous financial interests. (Editor's note: Warren's daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi, is a member of the Prospect's governing board).
Last Thursday, Warren teamed with the Democratic ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, to launch an investigation into the Independent Foreclosure Reviews. Almost two years ago, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve ordered the reviews to help settle a probe into illegal mortgage practices that shortchanged homeowners and, in some cases, improperly kicked people out of their homes. Under the order, 14 of the biggest mortgage servicers had to give all borrowers who received a foreclosure notice in 2009 and 2010 the opportunity to have a neutral third party look at their files to see if the servicer had made errors. Borrowers would then be entitled to compensation for the mistakes. Of the 3.8 million eligible borrowers, around 500,000 submitted requests for review.
But the independent reviews turned out to be neither independent nor reviews. As whistleblowers have pointed out, the banks handpicked and paid the salaries of the reviewers, third-party consultants who have increasingly become a substitute for government bank examiners. The data from the borrower files, as well as the guidelines for review, all came from the banks, and in many cases the banks made the determinations of harm themselves, leaving the reviewers to merely check their work. Managers overseeing the consultants overlooked entire categories of borrower harm, even obvious ones like servicers rejecting loan-modification payments from a borrower with a signed agreement, or tallying up impermissible fees. The managers also steered the ground-level reviewers, most of whom were temporary employees with little or no expertise in mortgages or foreclosures, away from reporting significant mistakes. Banks could even appeal whatever errors did get through (borrowers, of course, could not). Meanwhile, the complex rules for scrutinizing the documents extended the time it took to examine each loan file, which was good news for the consultants who raked in well over $1 billion at last count.
The new OCC leadership, which inherited this debacle, put a stop to the reviews and instead said it would compensate homeowners with a cash settlement. The 3.8 million foreclosure victims from 2009 and 2010 would split $3.3 billion, which amounts to less than $1,000 per foreclosure. No effort would be made to use the data gained from the reviews in parceling out the funds; an as-yet-unknown process, determined largely by the servicers, will dole out a fixed amount to borrowers whose loans fit certain general characteristics. Another $5.2 billion would go toward reducing loan balances for borrowers still in their homes. OCC head Thomas Curry claimed that the review process became too costly, diverting money from homeowners to the consulting firms, and that the new settlement would provide the best way to get the most compensation in the hands of foreclosure victims quickly.
Warren’s belief in the power of transparency—which in this case means releasing public data whose collection the government mandated—to improve public policy has been a driving force even before she reached the Senate.
Enter Senator Warren. She and Representative Cummings have asked OCC and the Federal Reserve for all performance reviews the two agencies conducted during the program before nixing it; the amount of money the banks paid their third-party reviewers; and the total number of reviews, along with the percentages of those in which errors were found. “Public confidence in the banking system has been badly undermined by a widespread concern that large financial institutions are not held fully to account when they break the rules—and that consumers are not sufficiently compensated,” Warren and Cummings wrote in their letter to the OCC and the Fed last week. “It is critical that the OCC and the Federal Reserve disclose additional information about the scope of the harms found to establish confidence in the sufficiency and integrity of the settlement.” Warren’s belief in the power of transparency—which in this case means releasing public data whose collection the government mandated—to improve public policy has been a driving force even before she reached the Senate. For example, the CFPB Consumer Response Center—an initiative Warren championed when standing up the agency—makes available data from the organization’s complaint hotline about consumer-credit abuses and is an integral part of the supervision process.
While the information in the Independent Foreclosure Reviews may be flawed, it’s critical to know what was gathered. Too often in post-financial-crisis settlements with Wall Street banks, regulators settle on a remedy without determining or taking into account the level of harm. What’s more, without an accounting of the mortgage-servicer industry’s previous practices, it will be nearly impossible to fix the broken mortgage-servicer industry.
A thorough investigation of the entire failed review process would uncover much about the current system of bank regulation. It would expose the growing use of consultants; show the need for more funding so that regulators instead of consultants can conduct independent reviews; and highlight the need for additional standards and rules against the mortgage servicers, tailored to exactly what abuse they heaped on borrowers through 2009 and 2010. It could also put some much-needed focus on OCC, historically a light-touch bank regulator which has been embarrassed by this mess, to the extent that it’s overhauled its senior leadership. Right now the investigation is in its early stages—Warren is still getting her transition to the Senate in order. But there’s a lot under the surface, particularly the startling information from the whistleblowers, waiting to be uncovered. Combined with a forthcoming Government Accountability Office report on the reviews, which revealed a significant number of errors, policymakers and foreclosure victims could finally get the investigation of this industry that they deserve.
The request for the review data has let regulators and banks know that Warren will not be a silent, go-along-to-get-along Senator. There’s a certain value in just having a threat of congressional oversight, particularly from a high-profile figure who can stir public opinion. Cummings has worked on the foreclosure crisis for years, and House Financial Services Committee ranking Democrat Maxine Waters, who sent her own letter to OCC seeking more information, yesterday asked Republican chair Jeb Hensarling for hearings on the matter. But Warren, by virtue of her large following, can raise attention to the issue, which fits with a key principle of her nascent political career: whether government will bother to stand up when the middle class gets ripped off.
Posted by Carlos Marroquin
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Senate's Warren Seeks Regulator Records on Foreclosure Deal - Bloomberg
By Jesse Hamilton
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Elijah Cummings want bank regulators to produce documents to show what led them to reach settlements this month with 13 mortgage servicers for faulty foreclosures.
“It is critical that the OCC and the Federal Reserve disclose additional information about the scope of the harms found to establish confidence in the sufficiency and integrity of the settlement,” the lawmakers, both Democrats, wrote in a letter dated today to Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Thomas Curry, head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Warren and Cummings asked the regulators to turn over documents outlining how borrowers were harmed by foreclosure missteps of 2009 and 2010, as well as demographic details on the borrowers, who will get compensation from more than $9 billion in settlements with servicers including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) They are also asking for information on the performance and pay of independent consultants hired by the firms under a 2011 accord replaced by this month’s settlement.
Warren was elected in November to the Massachusetts seat once held by the late Edward M. Kennedy after setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a former special adviser to President Barack Obama.
Cummings has served in the House since 1996 and is the top Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Maryland lawmaker, who criticized the agreement before it was announced, said it could allow “banks to skirt what they owe and sweep past abuses under the rug.”
Warren and Cummings asked that the documents be delivered by Feb. 22. Eric Kollig, a Fed spokesman, and Bryan Hubbard, an OCC spokesman, both declined to comment on the correspondence.
Waters Letter
Representative Maxine Waters of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, sent a similar letter to the OCC and Fed that said “many questions remain” about the regulators’ settlement ending the case-by- case review of foreclosure missteps. She requested that documents about the review process be made public and that an independent monitor be appointed for the new settlement.
The bulk of the settlement with 13 of the largest mortgage servicers will go toward mortgage assistance for current borrowers, and the remainder will provide direct cash to borrowers foreclosed on in 2009 and 2010, with as much as $125,000 paid to those hurt the worst.
Among firms ordered in 2011 to have their foreclosures reviewed, three haven’t yet settled with regulators: Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY), IndyMac Bancorp’s successor OneWest Bank FSB and EverBank Financial Corp. (EVER)
Posted by Carlos Marroquin
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Elijah Cummings want bank regulators to produce documents to show what led them to reach settlements this month with 13 mortgage servicers for faulty foreclosures.
“It is critical that the OCC and the Federal Reserve disclose additional information about the scope of the harms found to establish confidence in the sufficiency and integrity of the settlement,” the lawmakers, both Democrats, wrote in a letter dated today to Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Thomas Curry, head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Warren and Cummings asked the regulators to turn over documents outlining how borrowers were harmed by foreclosure missteps of 2009 and 2010, as well as demographic details on the borrowers, who will get compensation from more than $9 billion in settlements with servicers including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) They are also asking for information on the performance and pay of independent consultants hired by the firms under a 2011 accord replaced by this month’s settlement.
Warren was elected in November to the Massachusetts seat once held by the late Edward M. Kennedy after setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a former special adviser to President Barack Obama.
Cummings has served in the House since 1996 and is the top Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Maryland lawmaker, who criticized the agreement before it was announced, said it could allow “banks to skirt what they owe and sweep past abuses under the rug.”
Warren and Cummings asked that the documents be delivered by Feb. 22. Eric Kollig, a Fed spokesman, and Bryan Hubbard, an OCC spokesman, both declined to comment on the correspondence.
Waters Letter
Representative Maxine Waters of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, sent a similar letter to the OCC and Fed that said “many questions remain” about the regulators’ settlement ending the case-by- case review of foreclosure missteps. She requested that documents about the review process be made public and that an independent monitor be appointed for the new settlement.
The bulk of the settlement with 13 of the largest mortgage servicers will go toward mortgage assistance for current borrowers, and the remainder will provide direct cash to borrowers foreclosed on in 2009 and 2010, with as much as $125,000 paid to those hurt the worst.
Among firms ordered in 2011 to have their foreclosures reviewed, three haven’t yet settled with regulators: Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY), IndyMac Bancorp’s successor OneWest Bank FSB and EverBank Financial Corp. (EVER)
Posted by Carlos Marroquin
Monday, January 21, 2013
Single Mom Twice Wrongfully Evicted, Announcement of Federal Class Action Lawsuit Against Bank of America and Other Major Banks, Violating "Holiday Moratorium"
Single Mom Twice Wrongfully Evicted
Announcement of federal class action lawsuit filed against Bank of America and other major banks for wrongfully foreclosing/evicting on families during "Holiday Moratorium" on foreclosures
Los Angeles - B of A's lackeys, the L.A.P.D., wrongfully evicted the Corona family Friday, Jan 18th at around noon. Soledad's teenaged daughter, Victoria, was the only one home at the time and they told her she had to leave immediately. This is the SECOND time the Corona family has been evicted during the so-called "Holiday Moratorium" on foreclosures and evictions announced by major banks. The LAPD claimed they were "trespassing" in their own home. One officer allegedly said there was an arrest warrant for Soledad Corona, although they denied this later that evening.
Soly was in Orange when Victoria called in a panic, saying the L.A.P.D. was at the door to evict them. Soly immediately contacted her lawyer, Lenore Albert, who immediately called the courts and said she needed to file an injunction to stop this unlawful eviction. The courts agreed, but could not move quickly enough to prevent the L.A.P.D.'s illegal eviction action, which was intentionally carried out by B of A late on a Friday, knowing the system would move too slowly to prevent their illegal harassment of the Corona family.
Atty. Albert did manage to file a court action to be heard at the earliest possible time, which would be Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 8:30 a.m., because Monday was a holiday.
"Every holiday season since 2009, Bank of America has told the public through the press that they would not foreclose by selling homes or evicting families during the holidays. And every year, Bank of America has foreclosed on thousands of families by selling homes and evicting families during the holidays," said Albert.
"Bank of America's foreclosure practices continue to hurt families. We are now seen a trend in which banks are involving police departments in evictions and foreclosures, utilizing city resources that should go to fighting crime," says homeowner advocate Carlos Marroquín.
Henry Cisneros: The nation understimated impact of foreclosure crisis
By Susana Baumann
voxxi
A former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros believes the banking sector has not done all they could in the foreclosure crisis
The debate over the real estate bubble and the consequential foreclosure wave that swept the nation has been reinstated as regulators announced an $8.5 billion bank settlement with 10 major banks led by regulators of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Adducing that the review process was too costly—an estimated $1.5 billion has been paid to consultants and third party reviewers—and it was taking too much time—the review has been ongoing for over a year. Regulators decided to stop the investigation and spread $3.3 billion among 3.8 million homeowners. The balance will help with loan modification programs to homeowners still underwater or struggling with payments.
“It is unfortunate that this settlement is about abuses that occurred in the recovery process but it is not part of the long term solution. It was a necessary step but not a great contribution to solve the problem of foreclosures,” Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, told VOXXI.
Cisneros believes the entire nation underestimated the impact of the foreclosure crisis in the overall economic recovery process not only zapping consumer confidence but also leaving homeowners threatened by foreclosures hanging from the banking and financial sector.
The crisis kept prices low in the real estate market, dragging sales and preventing new home builders from competing with those low prices. “The foreclosure was right at the front of the economic recovery and contributed greatly to the slowness and the flatness of the recovery,” Cisneros said. “Although in the last year and a half the Administration has really stepped up and launched a number of different programs, I believe the banking sector has not done all they could.”
Cisneros, like many borrowers’ advocate, sustains that banks could have done more with principal adjustment options, extensions and other approaches in refinancing mortgage loans to help those homeowners who wanted to stay in their homes but just needed some help.
“The process seems to have followed a pattern in which banks were not held accountable enough throughout this whole crisis. The Administration—from Secretary Geithner down—probably felt the turndown was so severe that they couldn’t put the banks over the cliff, but I know some people would disagree with this reason,” Cisneros stated.
Henry Cisneros’ career and impact on Latino community
As former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development—office he held between 1993 and 1997— Henry Cisneros considers that the focus should have been on the housing dimension of the crisis and not on the stimulus. “The core was the housing aspect of the crisis since the onset,” he affirmed.
During his time in office at the federal level—and throughout his life—Cisneros has been known for his tireless battle for fair housing policies and economic improvement for low-income Americans. He extended access to home loans and penalized an increasing number of lenders who discriminated against ethnic or minority borrowers by easing the process to file fair lending complaints.
Cisneros held this office during the first Clinton Administration. He had cross paths with the Clintons at the time he was Mayor of San Antonio and Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas.
“Clinton had invited me to speak at several events regarding public health clinics and strategies when he started to refine his national public health thinking, and we got to know each other,” Cisneros said.
From 1981 to 1989, Cisneros was elected for four terms as the second Hispanic Mayor of San Antonio. His time in office was dedicated to enhance the economics of the city, from reducing poverty to increasing wages and economic momentum.
Being that San Antonio is a largely Latino populated city—55 percent of its inhabitants are of Hispanic origin—Henry Cisneros campaigned among his community extensively, but once he became Mayor he had to make a practical decision. “I had to decide how much time I gave to a national Latino agenda and how much attention to being a good Mayor for all citizens in San Antonio, traditional Texans, African-Americans, Asians and Latinos equally,” he said.
His accomplishments really turned around the—at the time—tenth largest U.S. city, bringing federal and private funding to achieve economic development, revitalize downtown areas, build a 65000-seat stadium and attract companies and technology to create jobs and train skilled human resources.
San Antonio, now the seventh largest city in America, employs one of every six workers in the health care and bioscience industries, an effort Cisneros launched as Mayor. He also sought global investments mainly from Mexico and Japan to develop manufacturing and technology ventures, and extended infrastructure to integrate poor surrounding areas.
During his time, the city attracted two major players from the entertainment industry: the SeaWorld San Antonio, a 250-acre marine mammal park, aquarium and theme park; and Six Flags Fiesta Texas, the famous theme park owned by Six Flags. Both projects increased tourism traffic and enhanced the hospitality industry.
But maybe his main accomplishment was to create collaborative efforts to resolve old racial and ethnic tension in the community.
“I grew up in a city that suffered from many years of discrimination and economic disparity and there was great unfairness in the city. I also grew up at the time the Civil Rights movement was sweeping the country. Dr. King, Julian Bond, Barbara Jordan, Andrew Young and other leaders were my heroes. While I was not at the forefront of the Latinos Civil Rights, I thought we could use institutions of government, business and the city to improve the agenda of voting rights, civil rights and economic opportunities for all,” he said.
“I’m glad to say that San Antonio is a very different place today, works have continued and it is a very progressive city. I’m happy to see it being led by Major Julian Castro,” Cisneros affirmed
Read more: http://www.voxxi.com/henry-cisneros-impact-foreclosure-crisis/#ixzz2IeUQmRm6
Posted by Carlos Marroquin
Thursday, January 17, 2013
New Rules Aimed To Protect Homeowners From Foreclosure
By Les Christie
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Federal officials issued new rules for mortgage servicers Thursday aimed at protecting homeowners facing foreclosure. But consumer groups say the rules don't do enough to help prevent borrowers from unnecessarily losing their homes.
Since the housing crisis began, many mortgage servicers -- which collect payments for the owner of the loan and handle things like loan modifications and foreclosures -- have been ill equipped to handle the flood of delinquent loans, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said.
"In too many cases, it has led to unnecessary foreclosures," said CFPB director Richard Cordray. "Our rules ensure fair treatment for all borrowers and establish strong protections for those struggling to save their homes."
Among the new rules are restrictions that prohibit servicers from foreclosing on borrowers who are seeking loan modifications and rules that require them to explore all alternatives to foreclosure. There are also guidelines for issuing clear, straightforward mortgage statements.
Yet, consumer advocates say the new rules don't go far enough.
"While the establishment of industry-wide standards is important, the failure to require meaningful loan modification protections is a retreat from current safeguards under the soon-to-expire HAMP loan modification program," the consumer rights organization said.
Requiring servicers to lower rates on loans or postpone payments would help prevent qualified borrowers from being unnecessarily foreclosed on, the organization said.
Still, the rules, which take effect in January 2014, address many of the problems borrowers face. Here's a rundown of the new requirements:
Restrictions on foreclosure proceedings while borrower seeks a mortgage modification: Referred to as "dual-tracking," servicers will no longer be able to start foreclosure proceedings on borrowers while they are actively seeking a loan modification or other alternative to foreclosure. To give borrowers time to apply for a modification, servicers cannot file the first foreclosure notice until the borrower falls at least 120 days behind on payments.
No foreclosure sales until alternatives are considered: If a borrower applies for a loan modification at least 37 days before their foreclosure auction is scheduled, the servicer must consider and respond to the request. They also must give the borrower enough time to accept an alternative to foreclosure before proceeding with the sale.
While the 37-day rule provides additional protections to borrowers in judicial foreclosure states, where courts review foreclosure cases, it does little to help those who live in non-judicial states, said Alys Cohen, a staff attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. Many homeowners in non-judicial states, like California and Arizona, won't know the sale date until it's too late since sales in these states are often scheduled with less than 37 days' notice.
"[T]he rules give servicers an opportunity to manipulate the system," said Cohen.
Consumer advocates also say the rules do not allow for appeals of a loan modification review when they are submitted within 90 days of a foreclosure sale. "If the data is wrong, the borrower is just out of luck," said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending.
Consider all foreclosure alternatives: After a borrower has missed two consecutive payments, the servicer must send a written notice with examples of alternatives to foreclosure the borrower can pursue.
In addition, servicers must consider all available foreclosure alternatives as opposed to the ones that are just financially favorable to the servicer. These options may range from deferred payments to loan modifications.
Provide direct access to help: Servicers will be required to provide borrowers with easy access to employees who are dedicated and empowered to help them.
Publish clear mortgage statements: Servicers will have to break down mortgage payments by principal, interest, fees, and escrow (to pay property taxes and insurance premiums) and include the amount and due date of the next payment, recent transactions and alerts about fees.
Offer early warnings on rate hikes: For most adjustable-rate mortgages, servicers must notify borrowers about upcoming interest rate changes that will affect their payments. If the new payment is unaffordable, servicers must provide information about alternatives and counseling.
Avoid overpriced "force-placed" insurance: Mortgage borrowers are nearly always required to insure their homes but if they don't have coverage, their servicers can buy insurance for them and charge the premiums to the borrower. This "force-placed" insurance can be very expensive and the CFPB would require servicers to give advance notice and pricing information before putting clients into this coverage. If servicers buy the insurance but receive evidence that it was not needed, they must terminate it within 15 days and refund the premiums.
Credit payments and correct errors quickly: Servicers must credit a consumer's account on the date a payment arrives. They will also have 7 business days to respond to written requests from borrowers to pay off the balances of their mortgages.
Also, within 30 days, servicers must conduct an investigation and either correct an error or dispute it.
Maintain accurate, accessible documents and information: Servicers must store borrowers' information in a way that allows it to be easily accessible. They must also have policies and procedures in place to ensure that they can provide timely and accurate information to borrowers, investors, and in any foreclosure proceeding, the courts.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Federal officials issued new rules for mortgage servicers Thursday aimed at protecting homeowners facing foreclosure. But consumer groups say the rules don't do enough to help prevent borrowers from unnecessarily losing their homes.
Since the housing crisis began, many mortgage servicers -- which collect payments for the owner of the loan and handle things like loan modifications and foreclosures -- have been ill equipped to handle the flood of delinquent loans, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said.
"In too many cases, it has led to unnecessary foreclosures," said CFPB director Richard Cordray. "Our rules ensure fair treatment for all borrowers and establish strong protections for those struggling to save their homes."
Among the new rules are restrictions that prohibit servicers from foreclosing on borrowers who are seeking loan modifications and rules that require them to explore all alternatives to foreclosure. There are also guidelines for issuing clear, straightforward mortgage statements.
Yet, consumer advocates say the new rules don't go far enough.
"While the establishment of industry-wide standards is important, the failure to require meaningful loan modification protections is a retreat from current safeguards under the soon-to-expire HAMP loan modification program," the consumer rights organization said.
Requiring servicers to lower rates on loans or postpone payments would help prevent qualified borrowers from being unnecessarily foreclosed on, the organization said.
Still, the rules, which take effect in January 2014, address many of the problems borrowers face. Here's a rundown of the new requirements:
Restrictions on foreclosure proceedings while borrower seeks a mortgage modification: Referred to as "dual-tracking," servicers will no longer be able to start foreclosure proceedings on borrowers while they are actively seeking a loan modification or other alternative to foreclosure. To give borrowers time to apply for a modification, servicers cannot file the first foreclosure notice until the borrower falls at least 120 days behind on payments.
No foreclosure sales until alternatives are considered: If a borrower applies for a loan modification at least 37 days before their foreclosure auction is scheduled, the servicer must consider and respond to the request. They also must give the borrower enough time to accept an alternative to foreclosure before proceeding with the sale.
While the 37-day rule provides additional protections to borrowers in judicial foreclosure states, where courts review foreclosure cases, it does little to help those who live in non-judicial states, said Alys Cohen, a staff attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. Many homeowners in non-judicial states, like California and Arizona, won't know the sale date until it's too late since sales in these states are often scheduled with less than 37 days' notice.
"[T]he rules give servicers an opportunity to manipulate the system," said Cohen.
Consumer advocates also say the rules do not allow for appeals of a loan modification review when they are submitted within 90 days of a foreclosure sale. "If the data is wrong, the borrower is just out of luck," said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending.
Consider all foreclosure alternatives: After a borrower has missed two consecutive payments, the servicer must send a written notice with examples of alternatives to foreclosure the borrower can pursue.
In addition, servicers must consider all available foreclosure alternatives as opposed to the ones that are just financially favorable to the servicer. These options may range from deferred payments to loan modifications.
Provide direct access to help: Servicers will be required to provide borrowers with easy access to employees who are dedicated and empowered to help them.
Publish clear mortgage statements: Servicers will have to break down mortgage payments by principal, interest, fees, and escrow (to pay property taxes and insurance premiums) and include the amount and due date of the next payment, recent transactions and alerts about fees.
Offer early warnings on rate hikes: For most adjustable-rate mortgages, servicers must notify borrowers about upcoming interest rate changes that will affect their payments. If the new payment is unaffordable, servicers must provide information about alternatives and counseling.
Avoid overpriced "force-placed" insurance: Mortgage borrowers are nearly always required to insure their homes but if they don't have coverage, their servicers can buy insurance for them and charge the premiums to the borrower. This "force-placed" insurance can be very expensive and the CFPB would require servicers to give advance notice and pricing information before putting clients into this coverage. If servicers buy the insurance but receive evidence that it was not needed, they must terminate it within 15 days and refund the premiums.
Credit payments and correct errors quickly: Servicers must credit a consumer's account on the date a payment arrives. They will also have 7 business days to respond to written requests from borrowers to pay off the balances of their mortgages.
Also, within 30 days, servicers must conduct an investigation and either correct an error or dispute it.
Maintain accurate, accessible documents and information: Servicers must store borrowers' information in a way that allows it to be easily accessible. They must also have policies and procedures in place to ensure that they can provide timely and accurate information to borrowers, investors, and in any foreclosure proceeding, the courts.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Occupy Fights Foreclosures Denounces the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's Handling of Independent Foreclosure Review Program
OCCUPY FIGHTS FORECLOSURES DENOUNCES THE OCC'S HANDLING OF INDEPENDENT FORECLOSURE REVIEW PROGRAM
Occupy Fights Foreclosures demands the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency extend its application deadline for independent foreclosure reviewDecember 31, 2012
LOS ANGELES - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has failed those who have been financially devastated due to wrongful foreclosures by mortgage lenders and servicers. The Independent Foreclosure Review process announced in April, 2011 grew out of an OCC enforcement action against the abusive mortgage lending and foreclosure practices of the 14 largest banks and servicers. In order to be considered for financial compensation following the loss of their home, applicants were to complete a report with details about how the bank handled their foreclosure process.
With the December 31st deadline looming, Occupy Fights Foreclosures argues the OCC did not properly notify the public and advertise the program. Many homeowners had no idea that the review process was available to them even though these homeowners were desperately working with government agencies, law firms, and community advocacy groups to recover some of their losses. Why hadn’t the OCC properly publicized the program to reach people who had lost their homes?
The review process is also inherently discriminatory. The applicant must print out the form from an internet website, which makes access to the review impossible for those who lack the resources for computer access.
Given the OCC’s mishandling of the Independent Foreclosure Review program, Occupy Fights Foreclosures requests that the application deadline be extended and that the OCC address the other problems of access explained above.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Bank of America Breaks Holiday Promise, Occupy Help Single Mom Return to Home for The Holidays, Vows to Fight Back
Occupy LA Activists, Occupy Fights Foreclosures help Single Mom Return to Foreclosed Home for the Holidays and Promise to Fight Wrongful Foreclosure and Eviction by Bank of America.
December 25, 2012
Los Angeles - Bank of America did not specify dates on which it will halt foreclosures, but spokesman Rick Simon said in an email, "it is the bank's policy to avoid foreclosure sales or displacement of homeowners or tenants during and around the Christmas holiday."
On December 23rd, members of Occupy Fights Foreclosures and community supporters moved Soledad Corona along with her daughter back into their foreclosed home. "In early October I reached out to Bank of America regarding the Corona's case and have been given the round-around by Bank of America officials", says Carlos Marroquin, a homeowner activist from Occupy Fights Foreclosures, " I called Bank of America immediately after the eviction and for five days I could not get a respond from the bank. They kept
mis-placing my Letter of Authorization to speak to the bank on behalf of Ms. Corona. On Friday, December 21st, I received I call from John Boyd on behalf of the CEO's office telling me that they promise that they would be in touch with me by the end of business on the same day and that never happen. They totally disregarded the Corona family emergency and had no intentions to give me any answers as to why they broke their promise."
Soledad, a single mother of thirteen years, moved into the Los Angeles neighborhood of Lincoln heights in 2008. In the year 2009, Bank of America granted her a loan modification. After faithfully making her payments, Bank of America reneged their loan modification agreement, withheld her money for a month, and notified her that her home was being foreclosed on. For a month the family was in need of food, and extra money to pay for basic survival needs. After repeatedly speaking with the bank, trying to convince them to let the family continue to make their home payments, The Corona family is now facing eviction.
Bank of America continues to notify the public that they will not evict or foreclose on families during the holidays, but the Corona family is just one of many families that is currently being subjected to Bank of America's fraudulent banking practices.
December 25, 2012
Los Angeles - Bank of America did not specify dates on which it will halt foreclosures, but spokesman Rick Simon said in an email, "it is the bank's policy to avoid foreclosure sales or displacement of homeowners or tenants during and around the Christmas holiday."
On December 23rd, members of Occupy Fights Foreclosures and community supporters moved Soledad Corona along with her daughter back into their foreclosed home. "In early October I reached out to Bank of America regarding the Corona's case and have been given the round-around by Bank of America officials", says Carlos Marroquin, a homeowner activist from Occupy Fights Foreclosures, " I called Bank of America immediately after the eviction and for five days I could not get a respond from the bank. They kept
mis-placing my Letter of Authorization to speak to the bank on behalf of Ms. Corona. On Friday, December 21st, I received I call from John Boyd on behalf of the CEO's office telling me that they promise that they would be in touch with me by the end of business on the same day and that never happen. They totally disregarded the Corona family emergency and had no intentions to give me any answers as to why they broke their promise."
Soledad, a single mother of thirteen years, moved into the Los Angeles neighborhood of Lincoln heights in 2008. In the year 2009, Bank of America granted her a loan modification. After faithfully making her payments, Bank of America reneged their loan modification agreement, withheld her money for a month, and notified her that her home was being foreclosed on. For a month the family was in need of food, and extra money to pay for basic survival needs. After repeatedly speaking with the bank, trying to convince them to let the family continue to make their home payments, The Corona family is now facing eviction.
Bank of America continues to notify the public that they will not evict or foreclose on families during the holidays, but the Corona family is just one of many families that is currently being subjected to Bank of America's fraudulent banking practices.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
OCCUPIERS ESCALATE DIRECT ACTIONS FOR L.A. FAMILIES FACING FORECLOSURE BY FORECLOSURE KING DEUTSCHE BANK
German bank’s refusal to help East L.A. family brings participation by the Occupy Movement to bring attention to bank's foreclosure practices affecting tens of thousands of families in the U.S.A.
November 29, 2012
Los Angeles - After residing in East L.A. for 15 years, the Lucero family faces eviction by LA County Sheriffs following a questionable foreclosure by Deutsche Bank. The Luceros made payments towards a loan modification on time, but Deutsche Bank refuses to honor it and help the family stay in their home. Homeowner Margarita Lucero explains, “I just want to keep my home and I want the bank to accept the payment plan they promised me. I want to keep my family together.”
The Lucero family came to Occupy Fights Foreclosures, a homeowners advocacy group fighting foreclosures, asking for assistance in what she describe as "wrongful foreclosure and eviction". OFF and activists from Occupy LA and Occupy Whittier took action and mobilized to protect the family by occupying the Lucero residence.
"We contacted top Deutsche Bank executives in New York to try to get help but thus far they have been unwilling to help, they claim that they are only the trustees," says Carlos Marroquin. Deutsche Bank didn’t just act as a trustee that — coincidentally, it seems — they are actively involved in pushing the foreclosure process, court proceedings, auctions, sales and trading properties. "Deutsche Bank has referred us to their servicer Carrington Mortgage and refuses to take responsibility for the eviction." The German bank is responsible for tens of thousands of foreclosures and evictions here in the United States and has repeatedly broken U.S. foreclosures laws by short-cutting the process, forging documents, and ignoring U.S. judges' orders. Since Occupy has begun defending the Lucero home more victimized homeowners have come forward seeking help from what they are calling "wrongful foreclosure by Deutsche Bank." The German bank is berated on the internet as “America’s Foreclosure King.”
According to real estate expert Steve Dilbert, “some 85 to 90 percent of all outstanding mortgages in the USA are ultimately controlled by four banks, either as trustees or owners of a trust company. Deutsche Bank is one of the four.” Criticized publicly for his company’s role in the foreclosures, former Deutsche-Bank CEO Josef Ackermann responded: “It’s painful to look at these houses.”
Deutsche Bank as Trustees also played a central role in the profitable boom in high-risk mortgages that were marketed predatorily to people. The Countrywide Financial Corporation, which approved risky mortgages for $97.2 billion from 2005 to 2007, was the biggest provider of these mortgages in the United States. According to the study by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, Deutsche Bank was one of Countrywide’s biggest financiers.
The German bank is currently facing several lawsuits by the U.S. Government and the City of Los Angeles for their participation in fraud and blight conditions in Los Angeles. They are now under fire from Occupy Los Angeles. Occupy is committed to standing with Deutsche Bank's victims and all homeowners fighting foreclosure fraud.
German bank’s refusal to help East L.A. family brings participation by the Occupy Movement to bring attention to bank's foreclosure practices affecting tens of thousands of families in the U.S.A.
November 29, 2012
Los Angeles - After residing in East L.A. for 15 years, the Lucero family faces eviction by LA County Sheriffs following a questionable foreclosure by Deutsche Bank. The Luceros made payments towards a loan modification on time, but Deutsche Bank refuses to honor it and help the family stay in their home. Homeowner Margarita Lucero explains, “I just want to keep my home and I want the bank to accept the payment plan they promised me. I want to keep my family together.”
The Lucero family came to Occupy Fights Foreclosures, a homeowners advocacy group fighting foreclosures, asking for assistance in what she describe as "wrongful foreclosure and eviction". OFF and activists from Occupy LA and Occupy Whittier took action and mobilized to protect the family by occupying the Lucero residence.
"We contacted top Deutsche Bank executives in New York to try to get help but thus far they have been unwilling to help, they claim that they are only the trustees," says Carlos Marroquin. Deutsche Bank didn’t just act as a trustee that — coincidentally, it seems — they are actively involved in pushing the foreclosure process, court proceedings, auctions, sales and trading properties. "Deutsche Bank has referred us to their servicer Carrington Mortgage and refuses to take responsibility for the eviction." The German bank is responsible for tens of thousands of foreclosures and evictions here in the United States and has repeatedly broken U.S. foreclosures laws by short-cutting the process, forging documents, and ignoring U.S. judges' orders. Since Occupy has begun defending the Lucero home more victimized homeowners have come forward seeking help from what they are calling "wrongful foreclosure by Deutsche Bank." The German bank is berated on the internet as “America’s Foreclosure King.”
According to real estate expert Steve Dilbert, “some 85 to 90 percent of all outstanding mortgages in the USA are ultimately controlled by four banks, either as trustees or owners of a trust company. Deutsche Bank is one of the four.” Criticized publicly for his company’s role in the foreclosures, former Deutsche-Bank CEO Josef Ackermann responded: “It’s painful to look at these houses.”
Deutsche Bank as Trustees also played a central role in the profitable boom in high-risk mortgages that were marketed predatorily to people. The Countrywide Financial Corporation, which approved risky mortgages for $97.2 billion from 2005 to 2007, was the biggest provider of these mortgages in the United States. According to the study by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, Deutsche Bank was one of Countrywide’s biggest financiers.
The German bank is currently facing several lawsuits by the U.S. Government and the City of Los Angeles for their participation in fraud and blight conditions in Los Angeles. They are now under fire from Occupy Los Angeles. Occupy is committed to standing with Deutsche Bank's victims and all homeowners fighting foreclosure fraud.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Foreclosure Crisis Hitting Older Americans Hard
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- More than 1.5 million older Americans already have lost their homes, with millions more at risk as the national housing crisis takes its toll on those who are among the worst positioned to weather the storm, a new AARP report says. Older African Americans and Hispanics are the hardest hit.
"The Great Recession has been brutal for many older Americans," said Debra Whitman, AARP's policy chief. "This shows that home ownership doesn't guarantee financial security later in life."
Even working two jobs hasn't been enough to allow Jewel Lewis-Hall, 57, to make her monthly mortgage payments on time. Her husband has made little money since being laid off from his job at a farmers' market, and Lewis-Hall said her salary as a school cook falls short of what she needs to make the payments on her home in Washington.
Lewis-Hall and her husband have been making their payments late for about a year, but panic didn't set in until recently, when the word "foreclosure" showed up in a letter from the bank.
"You're used to living a certain way, but one thing leads to another," Lewis-Hall said. "It's not like I have a new car or anything. I'm driving one from 1991."
According to AARP:
* About 600,000 Americans who are 50 or older are in foreclosure.
* About 625,000 in the same age group are at least three months behind on their mortgages.
* About 3.5 million -- 16 percent of older homeowners -- are underwater, meaning the home value has gone down and homeowners now owe more than their homes are worth.
AARP said that over the past five years, the proportion of loans held by older Americans that are seriously delinquent jumped more than 450 percent.
Homeowners who are younger than 50 have a lower rate of serious delinquency than their older counterparts, and the rate is increasing at a faster pace for older Americans than for younger ones, according to AARP's analysis of more than 17 million mortgages.
Americans who are 50 or older are hard-pressed to recover from the collapse of the housing market that started in 2006 and was compounded by the recession that started in 2007. Eight in 10 of them own homes, but many live on fixed incomes, have little savings or already have burned through much of their retirement savings. They also have fewer working years left to build back what they may have lost.
Also, those who are forced to re-enter the workforce often find they can't command the same salary that they did in the past.
Older minorities are facing foreclosure rates that are almost double those faced by white borrowers of the same age, mirroring a nationwide trend seen in other age groups as well. Among older African Americans, 3.5 percent were in foreclosure at the end of 2011, and the rate was 3.9 percent for Hispanics. Just 1.9 percent of white homeowners were in foreclosure.
The issue has become so dire in U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings' Maryland district that he has assigned one of his 20 staffers to work fulltime to help struggling homeowners, and his office holds regular foreclosure prevention workshops. He said the federal government can do its part by promoting principal reduction and loan modification programs.
"These are people who in many instances have never missed a payment in 20 years," Cummings, a Democrat, said in an interview. "You see grown men crying because of the potential loss of a home."
Among older homeowners, those who are 75 or older are in the worst shape when it comes to foreclosures, the report showed. In 2007, one out of every 300 homeowners 75 or older was in foreclosure. Five years later, about one in 30 face that same fate.
Many of those oldest homeowners may have lost income they were counting on, such as the retirement benefits of a deceased spouse. In the meantime, their mortgage payments have stayed the same. The situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, AARP officials predicted, because of a housing market that is recovering at a snail's pace. "This crisis is far from over," Whitman said. "We need to think about more creative solutions now that we have this data."
WASHINGTON -- More than 1.5 million older Americans already have lost their homes, with millions more at risk as the national housing crisis takes its toll on those who are among the worst positioned to weather the storm, a new AARP report says. Older African Americans and Hispanics are the hardest hit.
"The Great Recession has been brutal for many older Americans," said Debra Whitman, AARP's policy chief. "This shows that home ownership doesn't guarantee financial security later in life."
Even working two jobs hasn't been enough to allow Jewel Lewis-Hall, 57, to make her monthly mortgage payments on time. Her husband has made little money since being laid off from his job at a farmers' market, and Lewis-Hall said her salary as a school cook falls short of what she needs to make the payments on her home in Washington.
Lewis-Hall and her husband have been making their payments late for about a year, but panic didn't set in until recently, when the word "foreclosure" showed up in a letter from the bank.
"You're used to living a certain way, but one thing leads to another," Lewis-Hall said. "It's not like I have a new car or anything. I'm driving one from 1991."
According to AARP:
* About 600,000 Americans who are 50 or older are in foreclosure.
* About 625,000 in the same age group are at least three months behind on their mortgages.
* About 3.5 million -- 16 percent of older homeowners -- are underwater, meaning the home value has gone down and homeowners now owe more than their homes are worth.
AARP said that over the past five years, the proportion of loans held by older Americans that are seriously delinquent jumped more than 450 percent.
Homeowners who are younger than 50 have a lower rate of serious delinquency than their older counterparts, and the rate is increasing at a faster pace for older Americans than for younger ones, according to AARP's analysis of more than 17 million mortgages.
Americans who are 50 or older are hard-pressed to recover from the collapse of the housing market that started in 2006 and was compounded by the recession that started in 2007. Eight in 10 of them own homes, but many live on fixed incomes, have little savings or already have burned through much of their retirement savings. They also have fewer working years left to build back what they may have lost.
Also, those who are forced to re-enter the workforce often find they can't command the same salary that they did in the past.
Older minorities are facing foreclosure rates that are almost double those faced by white borrowers of the same age, mirroring a nationwide trend seen in other age groups as well. Among older African Americans, 3.5 percent were in foreclosure at the end of 2011, and the rate was 3.9 percent for Hispanics. Just 1.9 percent of white homeowners were in foreclosure.
The issue has become so dire in U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings' Maryland district that he has assigned one of his 20 staffers to work fulltime to help struggling homeowners, and his office holds regular foreclosure prevention workshops. He said the federal government can do its part by promoting principal reduction and loan modification programs.
"These are people who in many instances have never missed a payment in 20 years," Cummings, a Democrat, said in an interview. "You see grown men crying because of the potential loss of a home."
Among older homeowners, those who are 75 or older are in the worst shape when it comes to foreclosures, the report showed. In 2007, one out of every 300 homeowners 75 or older was in foreclosure. Five years later, about one in 30 face that same fate.
Many of those oldest homeowners may have lost income they were counting on, such as the retirement benefits of a deceased spouse. In the meantime, their mortgage payments have stayed the same. The situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, AARP officials predicted, because of a housing market that is recovering at a snail's pace. "This crisis is far from over," Whitman said. "We need to think about more creative solutions now that we have this data."
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