May 29, 2011
I’m writing because I've been seriously affected by the economic collapse of 2008, and I want my government to fix this broken mess.
The greed of mortgage brokers and lenders was largely responsible for the economic collapse, and I am still paying the price. I had perfect credit and a darling condo in Chicago that I started to have trouble affording after I lost my job and got divorced. My credit card debt went up and up as I struggled to start a new career and keep my condo rented or sell it for a decent price.
Finally I thought I was going to get relief when Congress passed the Making Home Affordable program. But in fact I just got deeper into distress. Almost a year after I first applied for modification, Wells Fargo finally gave me a trial modification. It was supposed to be made permanent if I paid it on time, which I did. But Wells Fargo declined to make it permanent and then put me into foreclosure because I could not make up the back difference. Wells Fargo ruined my credit and exaggerated my default, sticking me with a $2K legal bill for their frivolous foreclosure lawsuit. This is how Wells Fargo is repaying the taxpayer for bailing it out of financial trouble. Outrageous! Greedy finance companies should be stopped from implementing government programs like HAMP in a predatory manner.
Wall Street greed and outrageous pay practices were a major cause of the collapse. One way to change the incentives so they don’t collapse our economy again would be to delay the bonuses for three, five or more years. That way, we’ll know if the loans they made in year one remain good. In the bad days, bankers paid themselves on the volume of loans (mortgages) they generated, not on their quality.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Katherine Metres
Chicago, IL