"Faith groups fighting banks on foreclosures" by Bloomberg News | November 2, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO - For almost a year, Luis Flores has been lobbying mortgage lender IndyMac Federal Bank FSB to cut his house payments. They have doubled since he refinanced his home loan in 2005 and he can't afford them, Flores says.
"Every time I call them they say they can't help," said Flores, 31, a graphic designer and bartender in Contra Costa County, Calif., where one in every 146 homes is in foreclosure. "They tell you the solution is that they take Visa or MasterCard."
Hey, even they get a bailout! Where's yours, Amurkn?
Now Flores has a new ally: the Antioch, Calif., Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization, one of a growing number of religious groups pushing lenders to renegotiate troubled loans so owners can stay in their homes.
So it is in GOD'S HANDS now?
Some in Congress have called for measures to slow the foreclosure process and force banks to renegotiate mortgage terms with borrowers, and states such as California and North Carolina have passed their own laws.
I THOUGHT that was what the BAILOUT BILL DID!! At least, that is what the PAPERS and POLITICIANS said it was!!! Don't tell me they LIED AGAIN!!!
But more homeowners are turning to groups such as the Contra Costa organization for help in the early stages of mortgage problems, before they result in foreclosures. An affiliated group called the PICO National Network, based in Oakland, Calif., says it is working with hundreds of families in Contra Costa County and plans to help as many as a million homeowners nationwide.
PICO, short for People Improving Their Communities Through Organizing, kicked off a national tour last week in Flores's hometown of Antioch, where clergy and community leaders met with representatives from Bank of America Corp. and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Other faith-based groups like the Gold Cross of America in Deltona, Fla., are offering assistance to homeowners as they negotiate with banks.
WhereTF is the god-damned government?
US foreclosure filings surged 71 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, to the highest on record, according to an Oct. 23 report from RealtyTrac. Flores refinanced his mortgage through IndyMac, which was seized by the FDIC in July. Two months after his loan was issued near the end of 2005, it adjusted from 1.5 percent interest to about 9 percent, he said.
That lifted his monthly payment to $3,700 from $1,700 and covered only the interest. He said his home is worth $255,000 today and he owes about $480,000.
Almost makes you want to torch the place. Let the bank clean it up.
He's told the bank in e-mails and phone calls that he can pay $2,300 to $2,500 a month, he said. "I want a payment that I can afford, and I want to feel like I'm making payments toward the house," said Flores. --more--"
What's that attached to your neck, sucking away your life blood, Luis?
Oh, it's a BANKER!!!!
