How real is the mortgage foreclosure problem in America? How did it come about? What are some possible solutions? First of all, the problem is so big that almost everyone knows someone who lost their house because of a foreclosure, and this is new. It didn’t used to be that way. Listening to the stories of foreclosure evictions provides an eyewitness viewpoint of how it happened. This is important because it provides a background against which to decide solutions.
The overhang of foreclosed homes for sale is pummeling home prices and laying waste to entire neighborhoods. In the process, consumer spending has suffered mightily and deepened the recession as Americans have seen the value of their most important assets, their homes, are
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“ In simple terms, a bank lends money to someone who wants to buy a house. In return, the house buyer signs a paper called mortgage which says they will pay the bank back and that if they don’t, they will forfeit their house to the bank. So who are the unwise home buyers, who, having signed that powerful piece of paper, miss enough payments that the bank actually does come in and throw them out and take back their home? I can answer that question two ways. First, statistics show it’s happening right where I live in Lima, Ohio, and Allen County. The LIma News, Dec 12, 209, gives these statistics. Foreclosure rates are now running 1.56% for October, which is just slightly higher than one year ago (1.56%) but less than it was earlier this year. In actual numbers, there were 895 foreclosures, which contrasts with 800 in 2008, but in 2005 there were only 464. This is slightly better than the national numbers and it might not sound like a lot, but it is a nearly 200% increase since 2005.
That's why we need a proposing sweeping action. First and foremost, the government should make that same 4.5% mortgage rate, the lowest in decades, available to all American homeowners through refinancing. Banks and other lenders would write the loans and then sell them to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the secondary-market giants that were
The government's attempt to stem the tide of foreclosures and arrest the incredible fall in home prices have been, in a word, pathetic. One proposal suggested was for banks to offer low 4% mortgages -- a step in the right direction. But in extending support to buyers of homes, it completely ignores the problems of millions of families that already have mortgages. As a result, it does little to halt the surge in foreclosures. With more home owners likely to default this year, the situation is far from recovery in spite of a wall street surge since March of this year. The new rates, and lower monthly payments, would be especially helpful for homeowners with negative equity (they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth). Such underwater borrowers, prime candidates for
It is evident that the housing deficit is just a layer of the many problems we are suffering from during the hard times in our economy. Foreclosure is indeed a horrific word that is haunting homeowners across the US. Because of the situation in the current economy, millions of Americans have been plagued by foreclosing on their homes and are left to find new location for themselves and their families to live.
There are many interesting proposals to help homeowners who are in the process of foreclosure. Just recently, before the election, Senator John McCain proposed to the Treasury to spend $300 billion to purchase troubled mortgages at face value and then the “Federal Housing Administration would issue a new, federally guaranteed 30-year fixed-rate loan, based on the property's present value, at a "manageable" interest rate” (McKinnon, 2008). Under McCain's plan, the government would pay for the loans and take the whole loss rather than putting the responsibility on the lenders. His plan carries large benefits for the homeowners, but it will decrease
Since this paper only touches upon the basics of this plan, it will only explain three priority groups (keeping in mind that various subgroups can be created for a broader variety of situations). The highest priority group (Group A) must meet the requirements that follow. Homes must have been bought before January 1st, 2009, and the loans must have been financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Borrowers must be current on their payments, and must not have missed a payment for one year before requesting the refinance. The group with the second highest priority (Group B) could have purchased their home either before or after January 1st, 2009. However, if the loan was taken out after the date, residents must wait one year (with no missed payments) to apply. Those who qualify for Group B must not have any delinquencies yet, but they can have missed two payments at the most. Therefore, while they do not have to be current on their payments, if they exceed missing two payments, resulting in a delinquency, they must be eligible for Group C. This lower priority group must have a delinquency, before or after the bank starts the process of foreclosure. This group would need to be behind on their payments, missing at least three. While all of these groups are eligible for a refinance, Group A will be able to refinance for the greatest volume of customers at the highest loan
Foreclosure in America has been a rising and prominent problem recently, and has destroyed many Americans hopes and dreams. Over 2.3 million homes were foreclosed in 2008, and an estimated four million homes will be foreclosed by the end of this year. Despite the efforts of many banks and lending companies, over half of homes will foreclose that have received their help. I believe that we have only started in the right direction in solving the foreclosure crisis. Giving money and lowering mortgage rates will help, but I believe we should find out why Americans are in this situation in the first place. We are being too stereotypical when we think the only reason someone is foreclosing is because of irresponsible payments or buying a home
For the last several years, the one issue that has been bringing the United States into a state of trouble that it has not been seen since the great depression has been the monstrous Foreclosure problem. Thousands of people have lost their houses. Thousands of people have faced the dangers of debt and chaos. Thousands of people lives have been ruined because of the mistakes that Americans have done in this nation. In order to solve the problem, one must take a look at how it started and how this depression began. Around eight-nine years ago, the market in housing caused many people to chase after it. This caused a mistake of creating a domino affect that has hurt banks from lending out the high amount of money to people and finding out
The insolvency seen in the Housing Market manifested in the large number of stagnant foreclosures caused a dramatic decline in housing prices, which resulted in many homeowners owing more money on their houses than they are worth. Market-level insolvency is caused by capital flight in a specific market in response to a scare during a decrease in solvency. During the scope of this recession, the initial, progressive decrease in solvency was caused by a negative Net Capital Outflow in conjunction with the cash-vacuum produced by the US Budget Deficit, and the scare was caused primarily by the failure of several significantly-sized corporations and a rapid increase in foreclosures caused by the loss of a large number of jobs.
The United States’ foreclosure and housing market problems have been well-documented in recent years. This issue has only been heightened by the 2009 economic downturn. Can the sky-rocketing foreclosure market truly be blamed on the recession, however? Can the issue be pinned down on the masses of people who have lost their occupations? Surely many of the cases can be traced back to these harsh conditions, but many more, most likely, can be attributed to something else. Foreclosures are not a new phenomenon and have been a part of American society for years. So, in order to determine a plan for how best to reduce the number of American families losing their homes, it seems best to look backwards rather than simply at the present.
Brooklyn, NY – December 30, 2009 Foreclosures continue to rise drastically across the United States due to the recession, and have effected, and continue to affect thousands of families and individuals every day. One aspect we must take into consideration is that most people are not informed of what foreclosure means, or the process, even those who are homeowners. I believe that one step to preventing foreclosure is to educate first-time homebuyers. In addition, first-time homebuyer programs should not only assist potential buyers with financially preparing them to buy a home, but to keep the home once
2009 was a record breaking year for foreclosures in the United States. The perfect storm of high unemployment, tightening credit, decreasing real estate values and cataclysmic stock market crash resulted in millions of homeowners defaulting on their mortgages. What are the solutions to this problem? Some would argue that the government should intervene and help homeowners. Those with a more “free market” or laissez faire approach would contend that the government should let it play out and the problem will eventually resolve itself. But with the faces of evicted families on every newscast, and Wall Street investors and banks facing collapse, the scenario is one that even the most hardened members
The United States economy has been in trouble for the past couple of years. The foreclosure crisis is a condition that began due to the inability of homeowners to pay their mortgages. Foreclosure is a legal proceeding whereby a lender obtains a legal termination of a debtor’s right to redemption. The foreclosure rates have been increasing for a considerable period and certain steps have been put into place to solve the problem. While the government, financial institutions and the general public are highly aware of the crisis, the steps taken to combat the problem are still not sufficient as the foreclosure rates are still increasing.
Solutions to alleviate the impacts of the foreclosure crisis are absolutely central to the health of our financial systems and the country’s economic stability. The foreclosure crisis is nowhere near an end as mortgages with “teaser rates” are expected to default in catastrophic numbers. The goal of foreclosure solutions must be to keep people in their homes with affordable monthly payments, while still leaving cash in their pockets to contribute to our heavily relied upon consumer based economy. Solutions do not lie in forgiving mortgage loans and billion dollar bank handouts, as this only sets a bad precedent for contract law and regulation standards by condoning financially reckless behavior. We must work with people directly and mortgage modifications must be dealt with on an individual basis.
The first suggestion to solving the problem of foreclosures would be to lower the mortgage
With our economy in a downslide and increasing numbers of foreclosures worsening our economic problems, it is obvious that there needs to be some intervention in order to prevent more foreclosures. Home ownership has always been a key portion of the American economy and an integral part of the American dream. We cannot allow the current crisis to let more people lose their homes and become disenchanted about home buying in the future. Not only will the defaults on mortgages further destabilize the American economy now, but they will also cause problems in the years to come as less people decide to venture into home ownership again.
Posing the problem of solving the foreclosure crisis first begs the question – “is there really a foreclosure crisis?”