Just $840 million of the $29 BILLION set aside for foreclosure assistance has been spent… Next week, House Republicans led by House Financial Services Chair Spencer Bachus of Alabama, will move to eliminate the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The Obama Administration idea was set up to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. The program instead suffered from poor implementation, lousy staffing by banks attempting to implement the program, lengthy and confusing paperwork and lengthy wait times for loan modifications. Many Democrats have joined the GOP in criticism of the Home Affordable Modification Program. The question is: Are the House Republicans targeting the elimination of HAMP going to put something in its place? The video of Maxine Waters on Nightline at top displayed the problems of applying for foreclosure assistance on the banks’ end.
On Thursday, Rep. Maxine Waters put out a statement regarding the proposed elimination. “Republicans who support this proposal to end government-supported foreclosure prevention programs are turning their backs on their constituents and their communities who not only have been devastated by the foreclosure crisis, but who have directly benefited from government assistance.
“Since 2006, over 3 million homes have been foreclosed upon, and some estimates put future foreclosures as high as 11 million. Communities have been devastated, many homeowners have been put out on the street, and the banks and servicers continue to act with shocking arrogance, disregard for the rule of law, and willful feet-dragging at the problems they created
“I have consistently said for months now that the HAMP program has failed to help some homeowners. But unlike my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who would replace it with nothing, I have pushed for stronger solutions like mandatory loss mitigation and principal reductions and have demanded that our regulators hold servicers accountable.
