The Foreclosure ‘Tsunami’
26 March 2007 9:41 am by Taylor Marsh
The Foreclosure \’Tsunami\’
Bonddad: It\’s important
to note that we\’re still in an economic expansion, albeit a slower one. That
means if we hit a recession, we\’re in for some scarier numbers.
Hello, Democrats, you out there?
People better start talking about this, because it\’s what the Democratic president
in \’09 will inherit. The possibility of the \”r\” word, is real.
Over 500,000 mortgages, or 1.19 percent of all loans, were in foreclosure
at the end of the fourth quarter 2006, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association
which reported over 43 million loans in total outstanding at the end of last
year.A main focus has been \”subprime\” loans, or mortgages marketed to
people with poor credit histories, now seeing the worst problems.Jennie Haliburton, a 77-year-old widow, told a congressional hearing chaired
by Dodd on Thursday that she took out an ARM loan with Countrywide Financial
Corporation, one of the US\’ biggest mortgage lenders, without realizing her
monthly repayments would leap from an initial 700 dollars to 1,100 dollars.Federal banking regulators have also told Congress they are worried about
rising foreclosures, especially in the subprime sector.Mortgage executives promised Congress they would tighten up their standards,
but cautioned against tighter regulation.Top Federal Reserve officials have tried to soothe fears about the housing
downturn and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a surprise
3.9 percent rise in February existing home sales Friday.But, as the sum of delinquent mortgage loans has swelled to around 150 billion
dollars\’ worth, some like Democratic senator Robert Menendez (news, bio, voting
record) believe the country could be on the cusp of a foreclosure \”tsunami.\”Pessimists seeking evidence of a gathering storm do not have to look far.
… ..American
dream becomes nightmare as millions face foreclosure
