Watching their bank accounts drain, American family's can't shake the feeling of impending doom. But that doesn't stop them from fighting to keep their property, which has been deemed as officially underwater.
Since the end of 2006, Homeowner's have pleaded their cases to their mortgage servicer's with hopes of keeping their homes out of foreclosure. Each time they called the bank, they spoke to a different representative. They were placed on hold. Their calls were transferred to several different departments. Each time They recited to yet another employee all of the reasons why they should be allowed to modify their mortgage loan, or lower their monthly payment to a level that's sustainable in the short run. Each time they explained it simply didn't make any sense to kick them out of the home they have lived in for years. The homeowners would make payments. They just needed time to regain their financial footing.
That fight, now going on for 4 years, has been, and continues to be, the most difficult homeowners have ever waged. They say it's taking a toll on their health. They no longer sleep well and have perpetual kinks in their necks.
"It's stress, it's day-to-day living with not knowing whether or not you're going to be living in your house. Where are you going to go?"
Many families refinanced their homes and used the money to modernize their historic residences and grow their businesses. Families, who have always been resourceful, juggling several jobs at one time, say when they took out the loan, they never saw the bust coming.
"That's not why you work all your life," they say. "They will never see the very modest lifestyle that they had four years ago, ever. Families have no health insurance anymore. They don't have any IRAs, nothing."
Millions and millions of Americans are in this situation. Foreclosure filings nationally have soared above 3,400,000 for four consecutive years, according to company's that chart repossessed homes. These company's report that in November owners of 347,420 properties were subject to such filings, including default notices or warnings the home was slated to be seized or auctioned, marking a 3 percent increase over the previous month. Arizona, Florida and Nevada have been hit the hardest; during the last quarter in Nevada, we found that one of every 29 homes received a foreclosure notice.
The T.V. doesn't reflect such a drastic climb, but certainly no one is immune to the issue of declining home values, bad debt and increasing bank repossessions. According to most Realtors, foreclosures almost doubled between 2007 and 2010, jumping from 3,400,000 in 07' to 5,600,000 in 10'.
As the flurry of foreclosures continues, mortgage servicers are having a hard time keeping up. In fact, employees of some of the nation's largest banks are coming forward asserting that institutions, ill equipped to handle the workload, are taking short cuts. Specifically, employees of JP Morgan Chase & Co., GMAC and Bank of America allege the institutions hired "robo-signers" who received little training and were charged with signing off on thousands of foreclosure documents monthly. The whistleblowers say they had neither the time nor the expertise to investigate the validity of the legal actions. In some cases, the former employees allege, foreclosure documents were falsified to cover for lost paperwork.
Those claims prompted GMAC and JP Morgan Chase & Co. in late September to announce that they were suspending foreclosure proceedings in 23 states. Bank of America, halted foreclosures in all 50 states. However, little more than a week later they were right back at it, committing fraud and destroying the American dream.
When the allegations went public, a flurry of outrage ensued. U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan said the mortgage servicer practices have been "shameful." The federal government started investigating allegations of criminal wrongdoing as attorneys general in 50 states also jointly look into the legality of servicer actions. However they both make money from the scams that go on in the banking industry, so the investigations were primarily devised for television and not a reality.
They say it's early on in the investigation and they have little to report. But the sheer size of the investigation, they say, indicates a significant level of concern.
"At times getting anyone on the same page is like herding cats, this is where all 50 states have said they need to dig in and need to find out what's going on. For most people, the most important asset you have is your home. And the notion that somebody could lose their home without state law being followed is real concerning."
Servicer's like Bank of America, resumed repossessing property in 23 states little more than a week after it initially halted the proceedings. The bank is reviewing its foreclosure procedures in 27 other states, pending further review. Families remain unsure about how their fight will end. But they are sure that, from their perspective, the mortgage industry and the governments actions are inexcusable.
"Probably five million people in this country are going to lose their homes by the end of this year, is there really any justification in that? What are they going to do with all of these homes?"
Since homeowners started trying to negotiate with their banks, they have accumulated piles and piles and boxes full of form letters from their mortgage servicer's along with meticulous notes taken during conversations with bank representatives located in cities all across the country. Each time they talk to a bank representative, they record the employees name and identification number, along with the time and date they called. They also note the duration and gist of the conversation on paper. To date, little to nothing has been done to help Americans in any way shape or form. The government has decided that the American people do not deserve to be treated like Americans........So for now all hope for our country is lost.....
