Help for Homeowners

Our government is really trying.  What they are trying to do is beyond me at this point in time, but they are trying.

Take, for instance,  HAFA and HAMP.  No one can claim ignorance to these programs for no matter who you are, where you live, or what you do to earn your living everyone of us knows someone who is facing foreclosure.  At the very least, we have seen signs in our neighborhood advertising short sales or offering free big screen televisions with the purchase of the house.

Worse yet, we have all noticed the houses which suddenly sprout overgrown lawns and have window coverings that never budge.

Yes, HAFA and HAMP have been put into place to help the struggling homeowners.  Yet, let us consider where the government bail outs went.  Most banks are ditching FDIC insurance which means your money is gone if they go belly up, yet they continue to pay bonuses from TARP.

Most recently, we have seen whistle blowers.  That rare employee with a guilty  conscience who is simply not comfortable with the lack of ethics displayed by these organizations is shedding light on why more control  over these programs where the banks are concerned is necessary.

On April 5, 2010, the world of mortgages and real estate will take another drastic turn.  All other options will have to be examined prior to foreclosure.    Here is where we say “Houston…we have a problem”.

To date mortgage modification programs are not working for the majority of those that truly need help.  The banks have found a way around it.  Borrowers are required to go through a trial period, ensuring that the modified payments can be made in full and in a timely manner in order to qualify for the Mortgage Relief Act program.  A struggling homeowner goes into the bank requesting modification.  The modification is permitted.  The loan is paid in full and on time through out the duration of the trial period.  Three payments are received by the bank.  Although all conditions have been met, the homeowner then receives notification that they are not qualified for the program and foreclosure begins.  The bank has collected money, squeezing the payments out of the homeowner by giving them false hope then intentionally denies the applicant and forecloses on the property.

The news we have seen lately is discouraging.  Stringent regulations need to be placed to control the banking industry and stop the highway robbery.  We cannot simply blame sub-prime lenders, and trust that the Big Banks are going to step in and cure everything.  They obviously will not. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  As the days progress, I am certain that we will see all of the disturbing practices of the banking industry come to light.

Short Sales and Loan Modification are viable options when they are executed with knowledge and experience.  Contracting experienced and knowledgeable processors to work with you to successfully execute your transactions is a very wise option.  Checking into ratings, complaints filed and past history of a company are very important when making a decision on who to partner with.

Do you really want to send a message out?

America has, up until now, taken plastic and classified it as progress.  Think about this.  You are adding 22% interest to everything you buy with a credit card.  Each time you buy a $3.45 gallon of milk , you are adding 76 cents to that if you use a credit card after the big banks have jacked your rate to 22%.   If that does not stop you nothing will.

Do you remember the days where you carried a dime in your pocket so that you could call home while you were out with friends?  A time where plastic cards with endless funding did not exist?  I’ve been reminiscing and it is a time we need to bring back so that we send a message out to big business that rewarding those who squandered our money is not acceptable.

Each time you use your debit card as a credit card the bank makes a profit of at least $7.00 a transaction.  Regulations have been placed to “stop abusive practice”.  We’ll fix this right?  WRONG.  The fees to your merchants will be raised by $1.00 per transaction.  To absorb the increase, grocery, gasoline, fast food, and any other establishments will raise prices by $1.10 per transaction.  Who is paying the piper?  You are.

Getting the message out will not be easy.  Action and sacrifice will be necessary.    We will have to return to a time where values and restraint were commonplace and common sense was considered part of an education.  We will save money, we will save our merchants money.  We will stand up and make a statement, united rather than divided.

Can you imagine if, for one week, everyone paid for everything in cash?  If we could spend 7 days living within our means, not using debit or credit cards, the message would be loud and clear.  We will not reward bad behavior.

So…for the week of February 7th through February 14th, 2010 let us stop complaining and take action.  Go the bank, cash a check for the amount you will spend in that week.  Go home and take all your credit and debit cards out of your wallet.  Stick to your budget.  The impact will undoubtedly send the right message.

New Entry On The Endangered Species List…Ethics.

In the wee hours of the morning, somewhere in America the peaceful sleep of any given citizen is rudely interrupted by the pounding bass of a car whizzing by, or if you are truly unlucky stuck at a red light outside one’s home. 

Long gone are the days of holding a door for someone more advanced in age and hearing a polite thank you, now the act of courtesy draws a worrisome leer and thoughts of an ulterior motive.

Visions of the American Dream of success and independence once meant diligent work practices, long hours and an endless desire to learn, improve upon and polish.  Small businesses flourished and when you walked into the local vegetable store you were greeted by a clerk that was not conversing on a cell phone to a friend as you patiently waited for service. The owner greeted you and often tossed an apple to the children you had in tow. 

In my quest for an experienced and talented beautician last year, I went to a salon that was recommended to me by a co-worker.  During my color and cut, the beautician was interrupted twenty times with calls from friends and family, and she took each call as I sat and waited at various stages of a service I was paying for.  My time held no value.  Needless to say, I never returned to that establishment. 

“Customer Care” now means a sophisticated phone system which directs you to a foreign country where the labor rates are cheap, and often, due to the language barrier, the customers receive no care at all.  What they experience is an ever increasing level of frustration as they are asked to repeat the same sentiment over and over again as the employee on the other end uses a translation system to decipher what they are saying.

The dependence of business and society on the internet has opened a whole new sector of corporate thieves who feel they are entitled to gain the trust of companies and of private citizens, and then deliberately and methodically steal trade secrets, hack into databases and personal information without a second thought.  Some steal money, others steal services.  No matter what the commodity, my greatest concern is the fact that these hackers have no sense of guilt.  They lay their heads on comfortable pillows at night and close their eyes without a thought to the crimes they have committed or the trusts they have violated.Perhaps it is the new parenting, or perhaps the increasing need to keep up with the Joneses has reached such a distorted importance that we have come to no regard for the work of others.  No matter the cause, this new sense of entitlement has come at a much higher cost than that which we can define in financial terms. 

As for me, I have decided I will do all I can to preserve the ethics I was lucky enough to learn as a child.