From CNBC:Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are suspending foreclosures during the holiday season.Call me a softy, but I agree with this. A little extra kindness during the Christmas season never hurt anyone. Besides, how can you buy gifts from Amazon.com if you don't know where you're going to be living when the package arrives.
The two companies say they will halt foreclosure sales between Nov. 26 and Jan. 9, while they evaluate whether borrowers qualify for a new loan modification program.
I encourage other mortgage lenders to do this as well.
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Is there EVER a good time to get evicted though? Especially if we just now delay it until the coldest part of winter?
ReplyDeleteThis sucks. Again my tax dollars are supporting the fake wealth "home-owner class"
ReplyDeleteBah, Humbug! Bush is simply delaying the foreclosures to dump them in Obama's lap.
ReplyDeleteFrom Joe the Mortgage Attorney
ReplyDeleteWould you prefer your tax dollars at work to evict more people from the homes they live in? I guess that may be preferable. Let's throw all them out on the street, add more supply to the homes already for sale, further drive down real estate values, and wreak more havoc on the economy.
The foreclosure suspension only applies to owner-occupied homes, not second homes or investment properties (although tenants may be able to remain in a 2-4 unit property as that makes it more appealing to a future buyer).
Of course, this won't have that great of an impact nationwide. Suspensions need to be adopted by the Wall Street firms and their investors who got us into this mess.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac control about 60% of all mortgages, but only have 20% of the delinquencies (Fannie has 12+% and Freddie only has 7%). Another interesting fact is that Fannie has a much higher delinquency rate (about 1.5%) than Freddie (about 1%) and Fannie's delinquency rate is growing faster than Freddie’s rate. See the graph on p. 11 of the FHFA's second quarter mortgage metrics report. 10/22/2008 FHFA Second Quarter Mortgage Metrics Report Released
I wonder just how much of Freddie Mac's problems are caused by the mess everyone finds themselves in as opposed to poor decisions on their part. Freddie doesn't seem to be suffering as bad as Fannie and not nearly as bad as Wall Street.
The Wall Street Securitization Market controls about 20% of all mortgages, but is suffering 60% of the delinquencies! Everyone b*tches about Freddie & Fannie being the problem, but the numbers show the culprits are/were Bear Stearns, EMC, Lehman Brothers, and all those other subprime lenders, their investors and the rating agencies who rated this subprime CDO securitizations as investment grade.
Joe,
ReplyDelete(1) I agree with you that Freddie and Fannie played a relatively small part, and all of the kicking and screaming about those two was either used as a smoke screen or as a way to score points against the opposition (why let the truth get in the way of a good story?).
(2) Yep, kick 'em out now. Maybe I'll be able to buy MY family a home for Christmas.
Q: Let's throw all them out on the street, add more supply to the homes already for sale, further drive down real estate values ...
ReplyDeleteA: Yes
Q: Yep, kick 'em out now.
A: Yes