Beware Obama's Mortgage Bait and Switch

As the Foreclosure catastrophe continues with no real help in sight it's time to examine the Government Plan to "save" Homes. Last year, as Obama ran for the Presidency, he indicated that if elected, he would save people from having their homes foreclosed. People believed him.

People who were already behind in their mortgage payments believed that Obama would save them. Many of the citizenry were already being foreclosed on and didn't have any resources to fall back on but they believed him. These people didn't have the ability to pay their mortgages in the first place. Many were on Public Assistance or terribly underemployed and under normal circumstances should never been allowed to buy a home.

It would have been kinder to put these people in decent rental housing that they might be able to afford and get them out of Section 8 Hell Holes that the Government created over the last 40 years of the Great Society. Funny how things worked out. You actually had to have a good credit rating and money to get refinanced. Obama crushed the dreams of his most ardent supporters and they didn't see it coming.

Yesterday, on the Rush Limbaugh show, Two callers recounted their experiences in trying to use the Government Plan through the Government website to refinance their homes. Both were referred to Law Firms and told they needed upfront money to determine whether or not they could qualify for a refinance. One man didn't have the $2,700 to send to the Lawyers so he passed on the deal.

The second man was asked to send in his Mortgage information to the Lawyer to see if he could be helped. A few days later, he received a letter stating he could be helped but he needed to send in half of the $2,000 fee so they could negotiate with their mortgage holder. The man sent in the $1,000. A few days later he was informed that he didn't qualify and the $1,000 was not refundable.

These may have been scams. This is from the makinghomeaffordable.gov website:

Beware of Foreclosure Rescue Scams - Help Is Free!

• There is never a fee to get assistance or information about Making Home Affordable from your lender or a HUD-approved housing counselor.
• Beware of any person or organization that asks you to pay a fee in exchange for housing counseling services or modification of a delinquent loan. Do not pay – walk away!
• Beware of anyone who says they can “save” your home if you sign or transfer over the deed to your house. Do not sign over the deed to your property to any organization or individual unless you are working directly with your mortgage company to forgive your debt.
• Never submit your mortgage payments to anyone other than your mortgage company without their approval.

The Obama Administration has launched a coordinated effort across federal and state government and the private sector to target mortgage loan modification fraud and foreclosure rescue scams that threaten to hurt American homeowners and prevent them from getting the help they need during these challenging times.

I typed in makinghomeaffordable.gov and makinghomesaffordable.gov and was taken to the same Government website. These individuals may have been scammed.

The other thing is you have to have a specific type of loan to qualify in the first place. Question #2 on the eligibility section of the application is:

2. Do you have a loan owned or guaranteed by
Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac?

If you don't, you're out of luck. This program states it may only help 7-9 million mortgage holders of the 20 million said to be in foreclosure. Promises made have not been promises kept with this Administration. Commonsense tells us that the Government can't save everyone. People in these desperate situations needed something to believe in and Obama gave it to them with empty words. It has become apparent that whatever Obama says should be taken with a grain of salt. Maybe with several million grains of salt.