Posts Tagged ‘distressed house’

The country is in the grip of foreclosure crisis – the worst in 16 years. The Federal Reserve and other allied banking regulators have taken the unprecedented step of appealing to the mortgage lenders not to rush on with proceedings. The man in the street has been surprised by the move – the likes of which they have never heard of hitherto. The authorities can only make appeals as the securitization transactions are contractual and anything contradictory to it cannot be enforced. It is not a good sign as it exposes the hard fact that except for appealing nothing can be done to rein in financial bodies playing havoc with loans. The government is giving priority to helping citizens keep their home fires burning in their own houses. Those who have provide services of securitized mortgages are asked to reach out compassionately to distressed house owners.

The strident appeal has come straight from President Bush and also from Federal Reserve chairperson, Ben Bernanke. They assured of standing beside those who had been trapped into teaser loans. Bush spoke of a plan to permit government housing administration to try to help besieged borrowers keep home fires burning. It is not just a mere coincidence that the joint statement is made a day ahead of a hearing of sub-prime collapse before US House Financial Services Committee.

Foreclosure figures are alarming. These point to worse days ahead. Nearly 1.3 million sub-prime mortgages is about to reset to higher rates this year. In the following year another 1.2 million will follow suit. It is the combination of high interest rate and low property value that has caught house owners unawares. Late payments and or debts rose to more than 14% during the first quarter of 2007 – making it the highest in four years. In July this year the number of foreclosures across the country doubled from what it was last July.

Sub-prime mortgage agents themselves are in trouble and many have been forced to down shutters as credit supply from investors has begun to dry up. Many jumbo lenders are desperately trying to contact borrowers for their own interests. For the lender foreclosure procedures are time and money consuming. Idle property is dead weight. They want money to trickle in. Generous options about refinancing and modifying rates are being made with Wall Street averse to real estate business.

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