Mortgage settlement to bring $800 million to Georgia (Atlanta, Washington: foreclosure, loans)

[LynnHarris]

I am sure this settlement will change the way banks foreclose and also lend money.


Mortgage settlement to bring $800 million to Georgia

ATLANTA — U.S. states, including Georgia, reached a landmark $25 billion deal Thursday with the nation's biggest mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses that occurred after the housing bubble burst...

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/mortgage-settlement-could-bring-800-million-ga/nHYnc/

[gtcorndog]

If the government didn't get involved in trying to encourage everyone to own a home and incentivize banks to loan money to people who didn't deserve it would we be in this situation?

Color me unimpressed with this settlement.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

If the government didn't get involved in trying to encourage everyone to own a home and incentivize banks to loan money to people who didn't deserve it would we be in this situation?

Color me unimpressed with this settlement.

Yes, we would.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/op...e-big-lie.html

Daily Kos: The Big Lie About The Financial Crisis: Phony Factoid Of The Day

What caused the financial crisis? The Big Lie goes viral - The Washington Post

[Caleb Longstreet]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

If the government didn't get involved in trying to encourage everyone to own a home and incentivize banks to loan money to people who didn't deserve it would we be in this situation?

Color me unimpressed with this settlement.

Amen...

[crazynip]

This is bull****, if your loan was sold to freddie or fanny, you are disqualified...

[bryantm3]

the housing crisis has a lot of culprits. the federal government created the opportunity for something like this to happen when the federal reserve dropped interest rates to unnaturally low levels, the federal government dropped taxes to unnaturally low levels, and funded programs to get people in houses who couldn't afford them. they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

but it is also the fault of the banks for taking advantage of a good situation for them by deceiving people into getting adjustable rate mortgages, homes they couldn't afford, etc., and then having no mercy in their foreclosure process. it was also their fault for chopping up bits and parts of mortgages, some of which were good and some of which were bad, then selling the mince meat to wall street investors looking to make a quick buck.

and, it is the fault of the federal government for not keeping up with these new crooked banking practices and regulating them.

and finally it's the fault of the state of georgia, after the fact, for making it so easy for banks to foreclose on homes and take advantage of customers. in most states you have to take someone to court to foreclose on their home. in georgia, they can pretty much just take your home even if you miss one payment.

it's not any one party that is responsible, it's a web of people and organizations not doing their job properly and preventing the free market from working the way it should.

[gtcorndog]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Yes, we would.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/op...e-big-lie.html

Daily Kos: The Big Lie About The Financial Crisis: Phony Factoid Of The Day

What caused the financial crisis? The Big Lie goes viral - The Washington Post

So, the government making 'affordable housing' the mission of Fannie and Freddie back in 1992 and the Community Reinvestment Act requiring banks to demonstrate that they were making mortgage loans to underserved communities did not significantly contribute to the 15 year run-up to this bubble?

Was it the only cause, no, but these were the single biggest factors that modified lending behaviors and got the ball rolling. These changes shaped the behavior of the mortgage industry and even individual buyers alike.

Peter Wallison: Wall Street's Gullible Occupiers - WSJ.com

[tigers84]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

So, the government making 'affordable housing' the mission of Fannie and Freddie back in 1992 and the Community Reinvestment Act requiring banks to demonstrate that they were making mortgage loans to underserved communities did not significantly contribute to the 15 year run-up to this bubble?

Was it the only cause, no, but these were the single biggest factors that modified lending behaviors and got the ball rolling. These changes shaped the behavior of the mortgage industry and even individual buyers alike.

Peter Wallison: Wall Street's Gullible Occupiers - WSJ.com

Absolutely, 100% correct.

[tigers84]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

it's not any one party that is responsible, it's a web of people and organizations not doing their job properly and preventing the free market from working the way it should.

The bold part makes no sense. The free market has been stifled by govt intervention. Their insistence that people who cant make their payments should be "forgiven" because, well, they were too stupid and naieve to know what they were doing, is laughable. Boo freakin hoo.

The free market would take the houses as soon as they went into default and sell them to the highest bidder. That is the free market. We have nothing like that in the housing market today.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by tigers84

The bold part makes no sense. The free market has been stifled by govt intervention. Their insistence that people who cant make their payments should be "forgiven" because, well, they were too stupid and naieve to know what they were doing, is laughable. Boo freakin hoo.

The free market would take the houses as soon as they went into default and sell them to the highest bidder. That is the free market. We have nothing like that in the housing market today.

If the government didn't intervene in the free market from time to time, just about everything in this country would be a subsidiary of Standard Oil or US Steel.

Some might thing such a lack of competition would be a good thing, but I'm not convinced.