Reply #24: From the transcript [View All]

[Toucano]

HINOJOSA: Has the government done enough to protect homeowners—at this point in terms of foreclosures, or not?

WARREN: We have not developed a robust program to get ahead of the foreclosure problem. Part of the problem is that the government showpiece program is really directed toward the problem that existed six months ago, which was all about sub-primes and escalating payment rates. Now, the foreclosure problem has spread, the contagion. And more families with—who are unemployed has made the problem even bigger.

HINOJOSA: And they don't get that kind of help?

WARREN: And they don't get the help. They—they're not eligible for the program.

<snip>

HINOJOSA: So, taxpayers, essentially have paid out a trillion, with a T, dollars to help in bailouts for Wall Street, for AIG, or auto companies. But in essence, the help for families facing foreclosure, stuck, going nowhere?

WARREN: Well, it—I don't wanna say that. It's—there is a program. And the families who get help, god bless, I mean—it helps somebody. And every family that gets helped, I'm glad that the case. Good for the family—actually, good for the investor, and ultimately, good for the community they live in. Too little, too late. We gotta do better than that.

HINOJOSA: But the Obama administration supposedly was saying, "Look, we have the priorities straight. We are going to help the American family." So, what are we to take away from that?

WARREN: Too little, too late. We've got—if—if we wanna get ahead of this problem, we've got to do more. And—and look—I wanna be clear, there are multiple ways we can address this problem. One, is we can put more money into it. We certainly put money in at the top. We've put a lot less money into the home mortgage foreclosure process. But the other part, is we can talk about the investors in these mortgages, who can be forced to absorb some of their losses. You know, let's remember, a mortgage foreclosure, on average, costs the investors about $130 thousand dollars. So, every time we get somebody who gets to stay in their house because they've worked out some arrangement, the investors have not suffered a big hit they otherwise would've suffered. So, bringing those two together ought to happen, even without lots of government dollars in between. Right now, too many of those investors are sitting on the sidelines, saying, "I'm not gonna work with families in foreclosure. I'm gonna wait for the government to come and bail me out because that's really what they want to see."

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/546/transcript.html



There isn't any legislation mentioned, but Rep. Elijah Cummings from Baltimore is interviewed in the piece. I called the office yesterday and mentioned the PBS interview and asked that he please try to do something. He is not my representative though.

http://www.house.gov/cummings/contact.shtml