House votes against letting judges alter mortgages

[Roland99]

Source: MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A controversial amendment to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages so homeowners can avoid foreclosure was rejected by lawmakers as they consider sweeping bank reform legislation under consideration by the full House. The controversial "cram-down" measure would have enabled bankruptcy courts to reset mortgage terms, extend repayment periods, reduce interest rates and fees and adjust the principal balance of mortgages so homeowners can avoid foreclosures. The House approved a similar measure in March, but the Senate rejected it

Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/house-votes-against-letting-judges-alter-mortgages-2009-12-11

[Ian David]

1. Do we have a rollcall list on that yet? n/t

[harun]

9. I will be writing to my rep if he voted against this.

Don't have a roll call yet though.

[atreides1]

35. Why?

It's not like anyone who voted against this is going to be held accountable! Any incumbents will still get funding from the DNC, and the people of their district will still vote for them.

And it's not like the media will trumpet their names on the evening news.

Face it folks, the system is rotten and there's very little that the people can do about it.

Enjoy the ride, because that's about all we're going to get out of it.

[librechik]

2. Is there any way our representatives could help the people less?

for god's sake don't tell them if there is.

[harun]

8. They are helping the rich people

[Laelth]

3. Is the Democratic Party even remotely liberal and "democratic" any more?

Seriously. To what party can a liberal like me comfortably belong?

:shrug:

:dem:

-Laelth

[FiveGoodMen]

4. No.

Sorry, but that's the answer.

[villager]

5. Not really, no.

all they are is slightly more affable -- and I emphasis "slightly" -- corporate tools

[dgibby]

16. Check out this group.

http://pdamerica.org/

[AllyCat]

38. Just saw one of their bumper stickers today and thought "I want one"

Now I know where it came from. Joined, signed the petition, and will try to order the neighborhood kit when I'm home from work.

[WriteDown]

6. Probably a good idea...

Doubt judges know enough about mortgage servicing to make these decisions. Considering that the majority of mortgages are currently subserviced, you'd run into many situations where judges would lower interest rates below what the pass thru rate was and servicers would end up taking a loss each month. Or if the service agreement includes a clause where no UPB can be altered and then a judge alters it, then the servicer would be in violation with the investor and forced to buy the debt. It would be nightmarish.

[harun]

11. Judges already can do this in bankruptcy court, works fine there.

They just can't do it with mortgages. They should definitely be able to do it with mortgages as well.

[WriteDown]

12. Mortgages are a different animal being that they are secured

debt. Makes them very different.

[AllyCat]

17. And the security is where someone LIVES. It is their HOME.

They have kids to house and pets. They have NO WHERE ELSE TO FRICKIN' GO!!! That is what makes this different. Maybe you feel judges are just too dumb to know how to do this, but they do know something about fairness and what people's lives are like.

This is a horrible move again by our horrible Congress. I am seriously beginning to think it was better with the Cons. At least the Dems fought a little bit more.

[WriteDown]

20. So let's ban foreclosures....

Why should anyone EVER have to lose their home. Let's setup a agency where you can apply for a house and you will be issued one based on need based criteria. No one should ever face the prospect of losing their home.

Judges know about fairness? You may want to check the Kelo vs. New London decision for some background on that.

[Laelth]

18. Most automobile loans are secured debt--secured by the vehicle.

Cram-down is allowed on those in a Chapter 13. Same thing, in my opinion.

:dem:

-Laelth

[WriteDown]

24. A MUCH smaller debt and are we talking about 13's here?

Also, a home is likely to increase in value over 30 unlike a car. Unless you're really smart with your auto buying. I knew I should've bought that 70 Nova!

[leveymg]

14. It already is a real nightmare for people losing their homes

If a little of the worry gets spread to the mortgage banking industry, that would be a good thing. Then, they wouldn't game the system to fail with their own backsides covered with CDS and other hedges.

[WriteDown]

15. Please cite the CDS, hedge, or default swap...

that covers mortgage foreclosures.

[leveymg]

19. CMOs. The second that cramdowns are allowed, they won't be available OTC

As things stand today, with so much TARP money and foreclosured notes available at a factored rate, you have to be an idiot to lose money in that industry.

[WriteDown]

22. CMO's seriously?

So tell us which one's have been doing well and where we should invest.

[Po_d Mainiac]

21. depends if the originator of the loan held the paper or bundled it off

http://derivativedribble.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/credit-default-swaps-and-mortgage-backed-securities/

[mbperrin]

23. Apparently those writing mortgages don't know much, or the dumb

fucks wouldn't have made the process so complex that in many cases, the original paperwork is lost.

I'm of a mind that if they can't produce the original signed notarized documents, there is no debt, and the owner should be given a clear title immediately and without recourse. Give the mortgage fuckers 60 days to find it (that's all they give homeowners to clear out, so that must be reasonable, right?), and if they can't, they lose all claims forever.

Simplify, simplify.

[WriteDown]

25. So copies will not do?

Considering I file my taxes with e-signatures then maybe I owe or don't owe the IRS a lot of money. I also lost my birth certificate years ago and had to get a copy. Guess I wasn't born :). If you're leasing agreements were destroyed in a fire and all you had were copies, would you wipe out any lease obligations?

[mbperrin]

26. Any evidence that all of the documents were destroyed in a fire?

e-signatures ARE originals.

Your certified copy is indeed from the ORIGINAL, which exists, and so do you.

Incompetence ought not to be rewarded. I sold my brother a utility trailer for $100 a month a few years back and had no trouble keeping track of the original agreement.

Maybe I oughta be a mortgage prick!

[WriteDown]

29. I lost my pink slip to my car a couple of years back

(old car and I'm an idiot). I was lucky to be able to get a new one, but its a pain. They percentage of valid mortgage documents that can't be obtained is miniscule. Generally, there is a chain of title as well which is a whole other issue.

[DJ13]

32. Cram downs of mortgage debt has been legal for decades

The only difference is that only property not listed as the residence (vacation homes, investment property, commercial) can be modified by bankruptcy judges.

The well off have had this protection all along.

[alstephenson]

33. Yep. You are so right.

[winyanstaz]

7. Treason in the House.

[Newsjock]

10. K&R

Not because this action by the House is a good thing, because this action by the House is a disgusting thing. Congress' contempt for average Americans is becoming so blatant and in-your-face that it really cannot continue much longer before something has to give.

[jgraz]

13. Holy shit, they're not even trying to hide it anymore.

When the FUCK are we marching on these motherfuckers?

[TacticalPeek]

27. Durbin was right about the bankers owning the Senate.

With the House, it's only a controlling interest.

[Lance_Boyle]

28. that is poor reporting and an incorrect definition of cramdown

Bankruptcy courts can already do all of those things EXCEPT cramdown principal. And there is ZERO reason why anyone should ever be able to cramdown principal on a mortgage or any other debt.

[WriteDown]

30. Thank you.

Ch 13 allows for cramdowns. Not sure why there is so much confusion.

[DJ13]

31. They're not even pretending to be on our side anymore

The entire lot of them are useless.

[lovuian]

34. Our government has turned AGAINST its PEOPLE

The House is evil too

this is EVIL

[midnight]

36. We need this kind of legislation and we need it now..

[dixiegrrrrl]

37. Pretty telling. I hope enough people really hear the message.

Our government's ACTIONS tell us who owns them.

[and-justice-for-all]

39. Thats revolting....fucking pricks!