Loan Modification

Congressional Oversight Panel: Still Failing

By Karen Oakes, Southern Oregon Mortgage Law Attorney

The December report of the Congressional Oversight Panel presents a finding that the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) overall assisted in preventing a bigger crisis, but it created created more challenges and encouraged risk-taking.    Earlier reports mentioned the abyssmal failure of the foreclosure prevention/mortgage modification program and the government’s awareness of this failure. The panel has made recommendations to attempt to fix the issues.   However, in the December report, the following remains a key failure:  

The foreclosure crisis continues to grow. More than two million families have lost their homes to foreclosure since the start of this crisis, and countless more have lost theirhomes in short-sales or have turned their keys over to the lender. Foreclosure starts over the next five years are projected to range from 8 to 13 million, but more than a year after the TARP was passed, it appears that the TARP?s foreclosure mitigation programs have not yet achieved the scope, scale, and permanence necessary to address the crisis. 

Executive Summary, Elizabeth Warren Introduces December Report

The growth of the crisis is no surprise to consumer attorneys; those working in the trenches see our clients’ frustrations grow daily.  The government needs to act decisively and quickly to end this crisis by forcing action from the mortgage companies with serious repercussions for those companies who continue to fail to provide permanent modifications.

Related posts:

1. Watchdog Panel Says Few Getting Mortgage Help
2. Propping The Door Open: Treasury Orders That Trial Modifications Won’t Expire
3. Children Harmed in the Subprime Mortgage Crisis

Full post as published by Mortgage Law Network on March 01, 2010 (boomark / email).