U.S. House Members Deliver Foreclosure Help to Constituents

Several members of the U.S. House have been calling lenders on behalf of constituents who need foreclosure help.

It has been observed that some bankers are not taking calls from distressed homeowners, but if they realize it is a member of the U.S. Congress calling them, they take the calls.

Distressed borrowers’ negotiations with banks could have been a bit easier if the proposed bankruptcy reform was approved by Congress, but because the Senate rejected it, loan modification remains a voluntary effort on the part of banks.

This is one reason why several congressmen have been finding other ways to help distressed homeowners in their districts.

Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland has called 19 banks to send their representatives to participate in a foreclosure help session to be held at Morgan State University for struggling Baltimore homeowners.

Cummings has informed distressed borrowers to attend the foreclosure prevention fair with their mortgage documents such as tax returns, pay slips, monthly budgets and default notices or foreclosure notices from their lenders.

While Maryland is not battered by foreclosures as hard as California, which had 96,560 foreclosure filings in April, Maryland is 17th in foreclosure rate nationwide and had 3,613 filings in April, based on RealtyTrac data. Baltimore alone had 390 filings in April.

In March, Cummings appointed a staffer to focus on providing foreclosure help to homeowners in his district. According to Cummings’ spokesperson, the office of the congressman has already helped 18 families and is processing 120 more cases.

Representative Maxine Waters of Los Angeles is another U.S. House member working to provide foreclosure help to her constituents. She said she has experienced calling banks and being passed from department to department as she listened to music.

She also related that she has talked directly with the CEOs of Wells Fargo and Bank of America on behalf of at least two struggling homeowners and has succeeded in working out loan modifications for them.

Representatives Waters and Cummings are among legislators and advocates who wanted banks to take the responsibility of helping solve the foreclosure crisis.

But Republican Senators and some Democrats took the cudgels for the banking industry when they rejected a bankruptcy reform proposal that could have forced banks to work out loan modifications.

Now even wealthier communities need foreclosure help. As more people lose their jobs, more people who took out prime loans are defaulting, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Some banks however have reportedly increased their loan modification efforts. JPMorgan Chase said it has hired 950 loan counselors and will hire more to focus on providing foreclosure help. It has also designated a special hot line for staffers of U.S. House members working out loan modifications.

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• More Homes Are Getting Foreclosed in Long Island