The American dream is in serious jeopardy today in the United States. No one imagined two years ago that this could happen where hundreds of thousands of homeowners are in fear of foreclosure on their homes, their castles, their dreams. Some had hope that the bailout money to the banks and the emergency measures put into place by the Obama administration would somehow save them, however they have helped too few and the slow economy is pushing even more home owners over the edge of no return. What is to be done to save them?
If anything is to be done it needs to be simple and decisive and immediate. The banks have had too many rules, too much read tape, and been painfully slow in responding to this crisis. Good honest hardworking people who have never missed a payment but have had their income decreased by 40% or more due to economic conditions beyond their control cannot hold out any longer. And they wonder why should they continue to struggle with the banks who do not respond? Let the financial world collapse if it insists on breaking the back of the working man.
The value of their homes, their investment in the future, has gone down to a point that it will be many years before the appraised value reaches what they owe on the property they purchased. They cannot sell their home, the market has stalled, and what will the bank do with property in small town America where sales have always been slow and are now at a standstill? Americans wonder if the plan is to sell us out to investors overseas. Will the landowners in America be the Chinese, the Japanese, or the Arabs? Who has the money in the global economy today? Can’t we keep America for the Americans?
There is a simple answer to fix this situation before it gets any worse. Just drop the interest rate for those in need to 3% or 4%. No refinance, no red tape, no months of paperwork delay. Force the banks to allow Americans to keep their homes and their dreams. The banks must be forced to accept these low rates because they will not give up $10 in interest willingly. They say they are working with people, they pretend they are using the bailout money to help the working class but do we know anyone who has actually been helped? Have we seen one family actually qualify for the current programs available? The answer sadly is no.
There should be a middleman or clearinghouse not associated with the bank who interviews and makes a determination regarding families that need immediate modification of their loans. As things now stand, homeowners cannot reach their banks advisors and when they do, the answer is always “next month we will have some information for you.” Why not provide jobs for the thousands of real estate professionals who are out of work and have the skills to provide counseling, monitoring, and maybe even mentoring in the financial real estate arena?
If there are mistakes made in the process, that perchance the lenders have been too lenient and helpful to homeowners...
