More Foreclosure Fun!

Today the Washington Post has an article that I find interesting. The article discusses th eMaking Home Affordable program, i.e., the "massive financial incentives to do loan modifications" program. In sum, it's working as well as a screen door on a submarine:

So far, more than 650,000 borrowers have been enrolled into the initial, or "trial," phase of the program and have seen their payments lowered by an average of $640 a month, or 40 percent. But a recent survey of large mortgage servicers published by the Treasury Department found that that more than 25 percent of borrowers in the program were not current on their trial payments.

The failure rate is no surprise. There's a very good reason why most of these mortgage borrowers are behind - they either cannot afford any payment, or they are so financially irresponsible that it doesn't matter what their budget it - they are going to screw it up.

As a bankruptcy attorney, I see new potential clients daily who are substantially behind on their mortgages; it is not uncommon for me to meet folks who are 6 to 10 months behind in their mortgages, with nothing to show for it. Where, oh where, did that $6,000 to $20,000 go? The answer, sadly, is that the money is up in smoke.

As a bankruptcy attorney, I enjoy my job - I can do a lot for people, saving homes and absolving folks of sometimes ludicrous amounts of debt - but at some point folks need to think for themselves.

While I am on an anti-debtor rant, I'll throw in two more for fun:

Defective Paperwork Strips Mortgage Holder of Foreclosure Rights!

Judge Cancel's $525,000 mortgage as sanctions!

At least there may be some relief in foreclosure defense.