Countrywide hoodwinked my brother in-law into buying an investment property.... a month before he was to close, my brother in-law realized he could not afford the house and asked to get out of the sale. Well... the Countrywide broker was elusive.. failed to return his calls and then threatened my brother in-law with a lawsuite if he did not close. Forward three years and my brother in-law is drained financially... he tried to get Countrywide to refinance, but they have not helped him... now he has stopped paying the mortgage and is looking to "short sell" the property. In the end, he will probably still owe over 100K on the property, which will surely damage his credit! What kind of company forces someone to buy something they admitted they could not afford... just so they could make their numbers? This is extremely underhanded!

What Lenders and unempathetic people don't realize is that foreclosures do not happen to just "deadbeats" or irresponsible people.  The housing market has impacted sellers trying to get out of a bad situation, like divorce, death, or loss of a job.  I have researched, begged and spoken to countless people at my Lending Company and they will not accept partial payment or deferments.

It is not just the "adjustable rated" mortgages that is being hit hard.  Hard working, responsible people who have exhausted all  options has been affected by this crisis.

Good going Mr.Wells.  Why don't people stop and consider what they can afford before they agree to 600.00 plus mortgage payments.  We just purchased another home 2 years ago, everyone was trying to shove 100,000.00 plus homes in our face, but we told them where we wanted our payments and then made them show us homes in that range.  You can't make a silk purse out of a sous ear.  Get the picture, don't try to outdo the Jones, life is to short to be in debt all the time and have to worry where the next meal is coming from,ownup to your mistakes and try to make the best of things.  But most of all,"READ WHAT YOU SIGN," afterall your not a kid anymore

Dreamsmom

Chris,

What mortgage subprime lender do you work for? people are losing there houses because of these practices and you know what 75% of the USA industry rely on US homeowners to support our economy, when they lose everything the wheels stops working and there a big trickle down effect which hurts 90% of the population, so instead of slamming somebody who was fleeced by a mortgage broker who say exactly what the home owner wants to here take a step back and look at the big picture. These mortgage companies went out of there way to get people to signe 1-5 year Arms gambling on the fact that home prices would continue to increase and you know what? they didn't. Everybody is to blame so lets all work together to fix the issue instead of pointing fingers. A foreclosed property will lose the mortgage comapany roughly 50% of the mortgage by the time the fees are all paid and the price they get on the house "IF" they can sell it. I for one think that mortgage companies should refinance at current market value or they'll keep losing there shirts this is just the beginning not the hump.

The problem is that people had to have a “bigger and better” house that they could only afford with low money down and a low adjustable interest rate that they could “flip” and make a ton of money off of like they do on TV.   What most people should have done was purchase a home that they could afford, with payments that were at a fixed level, and if their income were to rise they could move up to a bigger and better home.  

I have looked at several foreclosed homes that have been destroyed by the former owner, who knowingly entered into a contract and should be held legally responsible for the debt they incurred.  Don’t want to pay the debt, don’t take out the loan… those of us that continue to make our house payments even as we lose equity shouldn’t have to take on the debt of others either through government bail outs or higher prices in the future.  Take responsibility for your decisions…

My some of you are smug! When you buy a home, who gives you time at closing to read all the paperwork? We had copies of the paperwork sent to our home & at closing there was a ton of it left with lots of small print. We were very unpopular when we ask to read what we were signing. However first time buyers & those that are not experienced with loans can easily be duped & believe me there are plenty of fast talkiers out there. so those of you that say You have to accept ALL the blame need to back up & remember not everyone is older, wiser & know all the schemes. Get some legal help & get your life back. Some of these companies knew what they were doing was wrong & did it anyway. The compensation to the executives was large & over bloated, just like the executives of the gas companies are feeding us the bull S___ now.  

The banks and lending companies should not have been able to offer these types of loans anyway. There has to be some level of regulation. But, it's inherent that there are uneducated people out there willing to take out a loan of this sort without requard of how the payments increase drastically wthin a certain time period. Whether the house was purchased as a primary home or an investment, the borrower is ultimately responsable for the consequenses. The banks and lending companies should be fined heavily and the borrowers shouldn't be bailed out with taxpayers dollars. Hard working, responsible people/taxpayers shouldn't be the source to end this mess.

I have 2 Countrywide mortgages, both normal 30 year fixed at normal rates and I have no problems making my payments.  However, when the whole mortgage mess started to unravel last year, they tried some tricks on me;

1.  They sent me a notice that my reserves were insufficient and wanted double the amount- this came with a bunch of cryptic figures- after slogging through the numbers, it turned out they were trying to charge me for double taxes and insurance- an obvious scam to increase revenue.  A call to their customer service center got an instant apology for the " accounting error".  I wonder how many people just paid up without question.

2. After the double reserve payment thing was resolved, the next month my payment coupon showed little asterisks next to the taxes and insurance.  Using my magnifying glasses to read the fine print, it stated that these asterisked items were the " responsibility of the mortgagee".  Another call to the customer service line and another apology for the " error".  

Its clear to me that they are tapping the reserve accounts to keep afloat.  I now check with the county and my insurance agent when those payments are due to be sure they are being paid.  I pity some poor homeowner who thinks they are paying his taxes and insurance and finds they have not, and then gets stuck with the bills if they file bankruptcy.

Mad Lender, you are absolutely correct.  I work for a small community bank in the conservative Midwest.  Those expecting a bailout should stop dreaming and start dealing with the reality that they made a mistake agreeing to the terms of their loan.  The best thing they can do is to become better educated on the exact terms of their loan and start putting themselves in the position to payoff the mortgage.  People will lose large sums of money, there is no doubt about.  Sorry to say, but that is the price you pay for not reading and understanding what you are signing.

People who don't pay their debts are deadbeats - period!