Yesterday the House of Representatives passed the "Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, S896 sending the bill to President Obama for signature. President Obama is expected to sign the bill.
Average Joe American got screwed because Congress ripped out the teeth of the bill. Essentially without the threat of a cramdown in bankruptcy lenders and loan servicing companies have nothing to fear if they refuse to give a customer a loan modification.
The weak incentives contained in the bill, as I have previously stated, are the functional equivalent of offering a 13 year old a quarter to go clean up a 30 acre cow pasture!
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stated, "I am disappointed that the Senate failed to include crucial mortgage bankruptcy provisions that would have prevented more foreclosures, but this legislation is critical to strengthening our economy by stabilizing the housing market,”
Well Nancy it just doesn't go far enough does it?!?
The bill also offers a safe harbor to Loan Servicing companies who engage in loan modifications. So what if these companies are protected from investor lawsuits for giving a loan modification. This just means that if a servicer offers a loan modification, none of the investors will hire that service in the future to service loans! So a lot of good that does anyone.
I am hoping that Average Joe American is going to wake up and start reading the fine print. He/She didnt read the fine print when they signed those predatory loans. If the don't read the fine print now on these bills they are going continue to be lulled into complacency thinking that President Obama and the Democrats are looking out for us because the "Helping Families Save Their Homes Act" will be signed into law. The reality and the fine print show us that Obama's plan is like a toothless pit pull placed in the hen house to protect the hens from the fox. GOOD LUCK!
I so thoroughly disgusted!
