Bank of America executive: 'Considerable number' will lose their homes

[bobbyw24]

Bank fields 125,000 daily requests for mortgage help and plans more options.
By Stella M. Hopkins
shopkins@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Tuesday, Apr. 13, 2010


Bank of America's top mortgage executive, testifying today before Congress, will release sobering details of home-loan delinquencies, including that "hundreds of thousands of customers" haven't made a payment in more than a year.

Barbara Desoer, president of the home loans unit, will update the Charlotte bank's progress in mortgage modifications. She will offer suggestions for improving the federal modification effort and explain programs the bank is developing, including more help for unemployed and poor borrowers.

She also will stress the need for options for people who simply can no longer afford their homes.

Desoer, who reports to Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, will testify before the House Financial Services Committee, which is looking at the effectiveness of the Home Affordable Modification Program, called HAMP.

That's the centerpiece of the nation's $75 billion foreclosure-prevention effort, which has been plagued by poor service and has struggled to help millions who have been out of work for a long time.

The hearing comes as the U.S. housing market and job growth remain weak. Foreclosures continue to bleed the economy, further depressing home values and leading to more foreclosures.

Perhaps one of the most telling signs: The bank is fielding more than 125,000 calls a day from people seeking mortgage help.

Bank of America expects a "considerable number" of customers to lose their homes in the next two years because of to unemployment and the large number of homes now worth less than the balance on their mortgages, known as being "underwater."

Nationwide, some 11 million homeowners fall into this group.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...id-before.html

[UWDude]

And there are 9 million empty homes right now in America.
Amazing.

[devil21]

Anybody know if RP participated in this hearing today? It was his FinServ Committee.

[Romulus]

How can one go for a year w/o making a payment and still be in their house?

[AuH20]

How can one go for a year w/o making a payment and still be in their house?

Do you realize how expensive and destructive the foreclosure process is for these banks?

(1) they have to readjust their manipulated balance sheet by eating the substantial loss associated with the rapid depreciation of the home
(2) processing and legal fees associated with the taking over the property
(3) eventual maintenance and monthly property tax payments on the foreclosed home.

They're so screwed. It's easier to leave the squatters in the home.

[GunnyFreedom]

How can one go for a year w/o making a payment and still be in their house?

c'mon man, they had to get something for their Obama vote....