The Associated Press reports …
Facing a lawsuit over deceptive mortgage practices, a Bank of America Corp. subsidiary has agreed to modify tens of thousands of loans to keep people in 11 states from losing their homes, the Illinois attorney general’s office said Sunday.
Borrowers stuck with Countrywide Financial mortgages that they can’t afford could see their interest rates reduced or have the loan principal cut. Some might qualify for having to pay nothing but interest for a decade. Even people who can’t afford to keep their homes with such changes will be able to get help moving to a new home.
“This is going to provide a tremendous amount of relief,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Her office and officials from California negotiated the settlement. Nine other states have also joined the settlement, and other states could sign on, said Deborah Hagan, chief of Madigan’s Consumer Protection Division.
If all 50 states were to join, the settlement could provide $8.7 billion in relief to 400,000 borrowers, Hagan said. In California alone, the settlement will offer $3.5 billion in relief.
To read more, CLICK HERE!
To see the attorney general’s announcement, CLICK HERE.
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To bad all the other crocked banks don’t follow this plan.
How about the hundreds of thousands of homeowns that drove by starbucks in favor of paying their mortgage or didn’t go on vacations so they could pay their homeloans, not to mentions those that drive 10 years old cars because they knew they couldn’t afford the mortgage and a new car? How about everyone with a mortgage paid up having their interest rate lowered by 1%. Do something for those that acted responible when all around them lost the head, with a little bit of relief as we’re expected to bail out the liars, cheats, greedy, embezzlers, defrauders, and the stupid. Maybe just then we wouldn’t be so sp*ssed off at being raped. After all we didn’t contribute to this problem, we’re just expected to pay for it.
Abacrombee1…you said my friend.
Do people who pay their bills on time get a break?
I guess it pays to commit fraud.
Dina. I think the answer to your question is a RESOUNDING NO.
And yes fraud does pay well that’s why the honest are broke.
I’m a lot smarter than most people. No glory to me; luck of the genetic deal.
I don’t expect to be paid money because I was smart enough not to be caught by one of those Countrywide phone calls — I got two or three of them a day for months like everyone else, trying to get me to change mortgages.
I did all I could think of to warn others that it was a legally permitted evil vampire on the phone trying to charm them out of everything they owned.
I’m fed and protected by people who — on average — aren’t likely quite as “smart” as me and might fall for the crap the Countrywide and others like them were selling. I couldn’t run the fire engine, handle the police work, pave the streets, keep the trains working, clean the carpets, or do a million other things other people do every day to keep the world around me working.
The people scammed by Countrywide et al were mostly not clever enough to beat the very slick crap merchants out there.
They protect me every day. I owe them the same.
Good for the attorneys general. I hope this is enough to hold the line.
Else there are a whole lot of mortgages that were set to double their cost in the next twelve months.
Nobody wants a lot more people ruined by this.
Yes, find those who cheated and lied and punish them.
But remember, someone out there is always smarter than you or me, and may not have a soul or a heart. We need protection just the same way from the really clever vampire scammers.
Abacrombee1 “THANK YOU, THANK YOU” for speaking up for rest of the other responsible people like us who did not jump into the real estate hype, who didn’t take out all the equity money from their homes for vacations, new cars, bling-blings!! Why do we (the responsible people) have to bail out those people who spent all of their money?? I think those people along with the banks should take up the $700 BILLION DOLLAR BILL!!!!!!!!! NOT US!
Dina:
People pay their bills on time do not get a break.
People who saved and spent money within their means do not get a break.
People who rent and did not buy a home because they knew they could not afford it do not even get acknowledgment.
People who saved, rent and are hoping to finally buy a home they can afford are not only being ignored but are being challenged by our own government, as they are doing everything they can to hold RE inflated prices up.
Republicans want to help out irresponsible lenders and Dems want to help out irresponsible borrowers.
Welcome to America where the responsible middle class are being ignored… once again.
No McCain, No Obama … screw you both.
So, I had an ARM through Countrywide about 4 years ago that I switched to a fixed rate loan 2 years ago with another bank. I have never been behind in my payments but my interest rate is 6.75% which is much higher than is was with the ARM. I wonder if I will see any relief with the results of this lawsuit or if I am just stuck. It really doesn’t pay to be responsible.
The poor “victims” of these loans are getting free hand outs while the responsible people who saved and worked hard are stuck sitting on the sidelines bailing them out…
:( 
I think they’re going to find that most of the bad loans are on investment properties.
Right on, sharpster, you hit the nail on the head.
Sharpster, I completely agree with you on your statement below:
“Republicans want to help out irresponsible lenders and Dems want to help out irresponsible borrowers…”
I saw on CNN yesterday.. Do you know that the 2 highest senators receiving donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the fall out were both Democratics? Obama is the 2nd highest receiver of donations from them!!
Time to consider someone like Chuck Baldwin of AIP for president. This nonsense has been going on since the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913.
Maybe if these people would try to read the loan docs before they sign them then they wouldnt be victims of “deceptive loan practices”
I’m sure alot of them did read the loan docs and understand what could happen.. but the greed toke over them… in hoping that the real estate market goes up for them to make money.. they toke the risk!
what will end up happening is all the prudent homeowners will be so mad at the bailout of the irresponsible homeowners that the prudent homeowners will just walk away.. So what will be left? People in homes who can’t afford them and a new wave of prime foreclosures.. I would say 60 to 80 percent of the country is more on the prudent side and the lack of acknowledgment will be the down fall of america.
Dina is exactly right…i never thought of it like that…that is exactly how it happened…Republicans want to help out irresponsible lenders and Dems want to help out irresponsible borrowers. Still Vote Girl! Keep Hope!
What if everyone went to the polls this Nov. and wrote in their own name? The message sent is that everyone feels they can do a better job then the good-old boys and girls presently up on the hill and in the White House. What if everyone stopped making their house payments, who would get bailouts then? What banks would be left to foreclose? Why do the “poor” old borrowers who started out with S–t credit to start with end up smelling like a rose on this deal? Life isn’t always fair, but it sure isn’t right either…..No bailout or rewriting loan terms unless it starts at the top with the responsible borrowers….As someone said on this blog, let’s lower everyone’s payment 1% across the board (if you’ve kept your payments on time). Reward the good. If the lenders are not willing to do that, then everyone should boycott making payments. It’s time we, as consumers take control of what’s happening to us.