Lenders and Banks ignoring the responsible Homeowners.

Need help from your bank before you're forced to default? Good luck with that. Conventional wisdom may tell homeowners who can see financial trouble approaching to reach out for help as soon as possible. But most borrowers trying to follow that advice are finding they can't get their bankers to discuss the options — including loan modifications — until they've missed payments.
"It is extremely difficult for any consumer who is not delinquent to even find someone to talk with at their lender," says Michele Johnson. "The consumer who is really being proactive and trying to do the right thing faces challenges that are unexpected."
A harsh reality Marvin Webb, pastor of the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Richmond, Calif., called his bank nearly two months ago to say that although his credit is good and he's current in his payments, he can see financial trouble coming. "They said they were looking for a loan they could put me in, something good. But they never got back to me," Webb says.
He called back recently. "I told them what they told me, and they still didn't have anything to say. You know, they take your number and (say) 'We'll call you back.'"

Logic suggests banks should help struggling homeowners early, renegotiating loans to avoid even-more-costly foreclosure. Ben Windust, Wells Fargo senior vice president for customer and default operations, says, "We can always work with any borrower who is having any kind of financial difficulty," even before a loan is in default. But those who work with homeowners say that, mostly, that's not happening.

"One of the really unfortunate contradictions of this crisis is that it's only when people have ruined their credit that they can get even a response from their bank," says Adam Kruggel, director of the Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization. Part of the problem is banks are overwhelmed by the flood of people who cannot make payments. And that leaves plenty of struggling but still-current borrowers "hanging on and sometimes they are making enormous sacrifices; in some cases they are draining their entire life savings" to keep up their mortgage payments, he says.

Sean Woods was one of them. At this time last year, he was a mortgage broker in Goodyear, Ariz., an expensive suburb of Phoenix. He was earning about $12,000 a month, he says, so payments of roughly $4,500 a month on two loans for his family's home in a golf-course community seemed manageable.
Then, in February, Woods received what turned out to be his last mortgage commission payment. Record home prices in the Phoenix area had encouraged overbuilding, so prices were falling and sales were slowing. "I saw the writing on the wall," he says.
In late spring, he called Washington Mutual to say that although he was current in his payments, he was struggling. He was running through savings and using credit-card cash advances to make his home payments.
He asked to talk to the bank's loss-mitigation department. Typically, when you punch your loan number into the bank's phone system, you are routed to the bank's customer service or collection department, depending on whether your payments are current or overdue.
A collections officer's job is to recoup past-due payments and set up repayment plans allowing a homeowner to make full, regular payments plus a portion of the delinquency in order to catch up. But negotiating a lower interest rate or reduction in the loan principal is usually beyond the authority of the collection department, says Azucena Valladolid, chief operating officer at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Nevada and Utah.

Woods says he told his bank, "I'm making the payments, but it won't be long before trouble will be upon me, before I start missing payments."
Loss mitigation basically told me, 'This loan is performing. You haven't missed a payment.' Basically (they said), 'Call us when you start missing payments.'"

In July his check bounced and his mortgage went into default. He got financial counseling and the bank offered a tentative modification offer.By then, though, he'd begun to question the value of a bank modification. What was the sense in committing to a plan without an income to support it? Shouldn't he just focus on getting work?
The big picture Like the troubled loans they are meant to fix, modification plans can include complex loan features: interest-only periods that reset in a few years, gradually increasing payments, or complicated formulas for sharing appreciation or equity. Some simply stretch the loan over 40 years reducing the payment amounts but increasing the total loan cost.

Woods, sadder but wiser, is keeping his options open. "I'm one of those homeowners that's troubled but also accepts the responsibility for signing these documents and getting into this situation myself," he says.

Today, his $597,500 home is worth about $435,000. "I paid over $100,000 in just payments for this home in the last two years and my principal payment may have went down $5,000. At some point, either you concede to be insane or you wise up and say it's better to walk away from this thing than continue to put money down a black hole."

Banks are making relatively few modifications. In the third quarter of 2008, only about 40,000 loans were modified — a small proportion of the millions of loans said to be in trouble. And 58% of loans modified this year were back in default within eight months, according to the Office of Comptroller of the Currency.

Rod Dubitsky, a banking industry analyst at Credit Suisse, says there's no consistent program or standard to help people who are struggling financially but who are still current on their mortgages. He says the government should analyze data from banks on modification agreements to see which modification plans are really working, then create a national program with uniform standards.
"The sad thing," Dubitsky says, "is that the message a lot of struggling 'currents' are getting is, 'Come back to us when you're delinquent.' I've heard it said that some servicers will coach the borrower to become delinquent (in order to get help)."

An unexpected rescue That's the advice friends were giving Barbara Quinn of Asheville, N.C., after she got little help when she called Ocwen, the company collecting payments on her home mortgage. She says she reached out to the servicer before her interest rate reset and added $300 to her house payment but "got bounced around from one person to another and really didn't get to talk to anyone who could talk with me."
Friends were advising her to stop making payments in order to get the bank's attention. She couldn't stomach that idea. "I was saying, 'I don't want to be in default on my mortgage,'" she says. "I'm not the kind of person to miss a payment."
Also, it scared her. What if the strategy didn't work? "Then you're out on a limb," she figured. "I was wondering, at 75 years old, what am I going to do? Live in the street?".

Take action and be proactive. If you run into a wall, call your Congress member and senators. (Find contact information here; enter your ZIP code next to "Find Your Officials" at the upper right corner of the page.) Also, grassroots activist groups work through the PICO National Network to press local, state and federal officials to take homeowners' needs into account in addressing the mortgage crisis.

The economy sank because some people over-borrowed for houses they couldn't afford, and financial institutions over-borrowed for investments they badly misjudged. Lawmakers solution is to borrow $800 billion that it cannot afford. How will adding $800 billion to the national debt (which will also raise interest rates) solve a recession created by imprudent borrowing? And who will bail out the American taxpayer when the bill comes due?

Are you tracing Corporate America Bailout?

No. Then just look at this link here and check for yourselves how corporate America will be Bailout and not Middle Class Americans, The people who running the economy, the peple who's always be blaming for, the people who's really suffering, The people who's paying taxes, If a business can't survive without taxpayer money they deserve to fail but Hundreds of banks and a handful of insurers and automakers have applied for funds from the Treasury Department as part of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Treasury Department has transferred capital to the majority of these companies as Taxpayers expenses.

Where's accountability and responsability? Are we there yet?

If you owned the bank or Mortgage company money do you think they'd give you a break to pay an overdue bill or would they ask you to live the house and file for bankruptcy?
We need to Understand there is no such a hope, a help, a bail out for American Taxpayers, Citizens, workers, middle class americans. The sense of Hopelessness are at the tip of iceberg for Power, political purposes and Money. That's ashamed.

The Forgotten Homeowners still on the Limbo.

Blame it on the" new economy". You know things are bad when the government devises a bailout bill that ignores the plight of homeowners facing foreclosure, and then the country's biggest mortgage lender announces a massive mortgage modification program. Countrywide Financial, which was recently acquired by Bank of America and is regarded by many to be the corporate poster child for predatory lending, announced a settlement that would provide loan relief for 400,000 borrowers, virtually equaling what the federal government's own modification program is supposed to accomplish.
In what should be regarded as a model for how mortgage lenders should be compelled to fixed the mortgage crisis, Countrywide,

a]long with the direct relief,...will waive late fees of $79 million and prepayment penalties of $56 million and suspend foreclosures on delinquent borrowers with the riskiest loans.
A foreclosure relief fund will be created with $150 million from Countrywide to help borrowers who are four months or more behind on their payments or whose homes have already been foreclosed on. The company will also provide $70 million to help troubled borrowers relocate to rental housing. In all, Countrywide is setting aside $8.7 billion to help borrowers.
...Under the terms of the settlement, Countrywide will reduce principal balances in some cases and cut interest rates in others. Rates could decline to 2.5 percent, depending upon a borrower’s ability to pay, and remain at that level for five years. Then the rate will adjust to prevailing interest rates charged by Fannie Mae on its fixed-rate mortgages.

What's significant about this program is that it reveals the culpability of lenders in the foreclosure crisis, as well as the responsibility they should assume in helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. Although Countrywide does not admit to any wrongdoing - standard practice in these types of agreements - investigations into Countrywide's practices revealed massive acts of underwriting and sales abuse, thus demonstrating how many lenders either manipulated or did not fully disclose the terms of their mortgages.

The California foreclosure bill which targeted the ever-increasing problem of vacant foreclosed homes faced a narrow defeat last Wednesday. According to Don Perata, the sponsor of this bill, its objective was to make sure that people stayed in their own homes. However, the Republicans in the Senate argued that the bill would be an unfair burden on banks as well as on mortgage companies.
A Republican Dave Cox, said that, the lenders would be scared away from California by the bill as they could face a fine of $1,000 daily if they failed to maintain vacant properties, and also give a notice of four months before there is a 10 percent or more increase in mortgage payments. The foreclosure rate in California is among the top five and the state, in fact, has the highest volume of foreclosure. Perata goes on to say that, often three or four houses going waste in a neighborhood is a common sight. This problem has been the topic of hot debate in economic circles for many months now, and California is one of the top states suffering from foreclosures in the country.
According to George Runner, who is a Republican hailing from Lancaster, South California, the law should try to pin down home owners who claimed larger loans by lying about their income, as well as on unethical lenders who trap people into taking loans they cannot possibly afford. Perata had submitted the measure in the form of urgency legislation and to be passed, it required a two thirds majority in its favor. However, it failed as there were 14 votes opposing it, whereas only 26 votes were in favor of the measure. Perata admitted that the high foreclosure rate in California was also partly due to fraud, speculation as well as non-viable financial planning.
In California alone 300,000 loans wait to be reset. Last week, the State Assembly introduced parallel legislation which declared that people wanting to buy houses should be able to afford insurance, mortgage and property taxes. The rules governing mortgage brokers and agents dealing in real estate in California were made stricter in tune with the lending guidelines of the federal government. Foreclosed houses have been burgled and stripped of electrical appliances, copper wiring and pipes, all of which can be sold as scrap. It is truly a sad sight to see empty neighborhoods with foreclosed homes

Another tax evasion fraud scheme. Charged with two counts of filing false tax returns.
Three Tax-Related Charges Added to Charges Arising From a $32 Million
Computer Equipment Leasing Scheme


Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury indicted Alan B. Fabian, age 43, of Cockeysville, Maryland, today for two counts of filing false tax returns and one count of making false statements in connection with a tax return, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Fabian previously had been indicted on federal charges for mail fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice arising out of a scheme to defraud a computer equipment leasing company, financial institutions and a government consulting company of $32 million.

Today’s superseding indictment alleges that on April 15, 2003 Fabian, a certified public accountant, filed a false individual federal tax return for the tax year 2002 indicating that he and his spouse had total income of $475,827 when in fact, he knew that he had unreported additional income of at least $500,000 obtained from his participation in the equipment leasing scheme that is the subject of the pending indictment. He also allegedly indicated that $46,425 in federal taxes had been withheld on his behalf in 2002, when in fact he knew that only $14,654.68 in federal taxes had been withheld that year.

Similarly, the superseding indictment alleges that on October 15, 2004 Fabian filed a false individual federal tax return for the tax year 2003 indicating that he and his spouse had total income of $573,893 when in fact, he knew that he had unreported additional income of at least $1 million obtained from his participation in the fraudulent computer equipment leasing scheme. He also allegedly indicated that $46,000 in federal taxes had been withheld on his behalf in 2003, when in fact he knew that only $13,969.80 had been withheld that year.

Today’s indictment also alleges that on December 27, 2005 Fabian filed an individual federal tax return for the tax year 2004 which indicated that $504,000 in federal taxes had been withheld on his behalf in 2004, when in fact he knew that only $28,985 in federal taxes had been withheld that year.

Allegations included in the earlier indictment and repeated in the superseding indictment returned today charge that from March 2001 to July 2004, Fabian caused Strategic Partners International LLC and later, Strategic Partners International, Inc., companies that he formed (collectively, SPI), to enter into sale-leaseback transactions to purportedly purchase $32 million in computer hardware and software, when in fact SPI either never purchased such equipment or purchased substantially less expensive equipment. As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that Fabian caused his employer to make approximately $800,000 in rent payments to the leasing company and funding sources on purported leases entered into by SPI. Fabian is alleged to have diverted substantial amounts of cash provided to SPI by the leasing company for his personal benefit, including at least $500,000 to purchase real estate in North Carolina, $600,000 to pay for private jet travel and $3.9 million to form and operate the Centre for Management and Technology (CMAT), a not-for-profit entity located in Baltimore.

The indictment also repeats allegations that on August 31, 2004, two of the funding sources filed a petition forcing SPI, Inc. involuntarily into bankruptcy. From June 2004 to at least January 2007, Fabian engaged in a scheme to defraud the bankruptcy court and creditors of SPI in order to keep the proceeds of his mail fraud scheme out of reach of SPI’s creditors by creating false documents and giving false testimony. Fabian is alleged to have perjured himself in the course of two depositions in the SPI, Inc. bankruptcy case.

Finally, the indictment repeats charges that Fabian obstructed justice by: falsely testifying before the bankruptcy court in December, 2006 about transfers of funds he made from SPI to purchase real estate in North Carolina; filing false financial statements with the bankruptcy court on three occasions in 2004 and 2005; and influencing a business associate to provide false information to a forensic accountant retained by the bankruptcy trustee.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of $32 million in substitute assets, including eight properties in North Carolina and a property in Hunt Valley, Maryland; cash; a Silverton yacht; three vehicles; and Fabian’s interest in several companies.

Fabian faces a maximum sentence of three years on each of two counts of filing false tax returns and five years for making false statements. Fabian faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of the nine counts of mail fraud; 10 years in prison for each of the nine counts of money laundering and one count of obstruction of justice; and five years in prison for each of the two counts of bankruptcy fraud and two counts of perjury.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys Tonya Kelly Kowitz and Jonathan Biran, who are prosecuting the case