Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Produce the note

Here's a clip where ABC News identifies a process call " produce the note" where people can delay their foreclosure procedures. (thanks reader Mark)

Gary at rightrunner also has a rundown.

A few thoughts I'd like to offer on the piece and the foreclosure process in general.

In the first case, ABC News shows a woman who can't even afford her utilities. Exactly how long would this woman be allowed to live in a rental unit before the landlord evicted her? Is it the bank's fault she can't even afford utilities? How long should someone be allowed to live in a dwelling when they can't even afford utilities?

The second case might even be worse. A woman paid $39,000 for her home but after subsequent refinances owed over $140,000 ON THE HOUSE. When was she going to alter her lifestyle to get her living expenses in line with her income?

I think a few things need to be pointed out in the foreclosure process.

1) Banks are about as eager to foreclose on an owner as I am to schedule my first colonoscopy. The market on foreclosed properties is horrible. Most banks will do almost anything to keep someone in a home. There's almost no upside for a bank to take over an abandoned house.

2) Before being foreclosed on in this environment, you have to not pay anything on your mortgage for well over a year. How long should someone be able to live anywhere without paying one red cent? I knew of a situation where a guy lived in a house for almost two and a half years before the sheriff actually put his crap on the lawn. He lived in the place almost a year after the foreclosure began before he had to leave. That was before this whole foreclosure mess began.

Should someone be allowed to live rent free for two years before you can kick them out?

I have no problem with a "produce the note" legal proceeding. After all, it is a legal proceeding and a bank should have to produce documents at that proceeding.

But I'm still waiting to watch just one of these bleeding heart pieces where I have some kind of sympathy for the people involved. Way too many of them could have been avoided if the borrower involved would have managed their finances appropriately.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. I can't believe they present a woman who can't pay even her utilities as a sympathy case. I would evict her if she was renting.

And what about her comments that went unchallenged? The people that gave her the load were the "crooks living in million dollar houses". Scary stuff.

In Flordia after five years the statute of limitations is up and if they can delay the foreclosure long enough they can get off scott free with their house fully owned.