Soaring home payment delinquency

[dkf]

While some of the 2.2 million loans in foreclosure can still be saved, many are too far gone, they say. Some 37% have not made a payment in more than two years, while another 34% have not made a payment in 12 to 23 months, according to Lender Processing Services.

"Loans enter into foreclosure, but never come out," said Thomas Lawler, founder of Lawler Economic & Housing Consulting. "If this keeps going on, you have a continual overhang that never goes away."

Delaying foreclosure increases the percentage of homeowners who'll likely never catch up, Lawler said. In 2009, only 6% of delinquent borrowers were more than two years behind. And it means vacant properties still in limbo could fall even further into disrepair, hurting the value of the surrounding housing market.

Lawler is not the first to warn about the consequences of slowing the foreclosure process. Since the housing crisis began, several experts cautioned that foreclosure prevention efforts may only prolong the pain.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/31/real_estate/housing_market_foreclosures/index.htm

[exboyfil]

1. Unethical but if I was significantly upside down on my

mortgage, I would be tempted to let the foreclosure bandwagon roll. Do everything I could to delay eviction while not paying a dime on my mortgage. You probably could get 2-3 years of rent free living in the interim (assume non-recourse state).

[geckosfeet]

2. Yes. It's terrible to see people all snug and cozy in home than out on the street.

Chances are some of these are loans that people have just walked away from. But I have no problem letting people stay in their homes until their foreclosure is "court approved". I mean, this makes it sound like a crime that the banks can't just toss people out of their homes for late payments.

How to rescue the housing market: Foreclosures!

Delaying foreclosure increases the percentage of homeowners who'll likely never catch up, Lawler said. In 2009, only 6% of delinquent borrowers were more than two years behind. And it means vacant properties still in limbo could fall even further into disrepair, hurting the value of the surrounding housing market.

Lawler is not the first to warn about the consequences of slowing the foreclosure process. Since the housing crisis began, several experts cautioned that foreclosure prevention efforts may only prolong the pain.

Accelerating foreclosures is tricky, however, especially since it is largely the purview of the states. But the administration could work with state officials to speed the process, especially on vacant homes, he said.

The push would come at a time when many mortgage servicers have slowed foreclosure efforts as they resolve shoddy paperwork practices. Foreclosure filings in July dropped to their lowest level since November 2007, due to processing delays and foreclosure prevention measures, according to RealtyTrac.

How to rescue the housing market: Foreclosures!

So I have a great big heart FUCK YOU for cnn money, mr.Lawler and the banks.

[Riley18]

4. Ditto:) I thought I would be alone in thinking that way.

[Riley18]

3. So now the spin is that the foreclosure process should be

swifter not that the banks were supposed to use the TARP tax money to modify unaffordable mortgages. Funny thing is that I have heard the word "entitlement" so many more times than I have heard about the taxpayer bank bailout from the politicians. The banks are keeping most of the stolen foreclosed homes and renting them out because there are not enough people left with the money to actually buy the houses. Too bad the banks were not forced to do the right thing and modify the mortgages so that the actual owners could stay in their homes. That would have helped the economy much more than allowing the banks to double dip as they used the bailout money to get on firmer ground and then did not modify the bad mortgages they should not have written in the first place.

[closeupready]

5. That's what happens when you commercialize one of life's basics, i.e., shelter.

It's almost like these guys are arguing in favor of the textbook definition of fascism, where the interests of industries are put at the forefront of government policy, and civil rights are table scraps thrown to the peasants. Frankly, I find this current of thought to be frightening and just scary.