Sue Your Way Out of Foreclosure?
A number of cities and states have taken to filing suits against major mortgage companies like WAMU (Washington Mutual), Countrywide, etc. It’s unclear what the benefit will be to homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure.
The San Diego city attorney announced his suit against Countrywide (know owned by Bank of America) in front of an abandoned home, standing alongside the gentleman who previously owned it (he was unable to stop the foreclosure). I’m not sure how it helped him, allowing himself to be used by a publicity hound… perhaps a free lunch?
I’m trying to figure out what’s to be gained here. The “issues” that they’re raising are old ones, and those trains left the station long ago.
It seems suspicious to me that they just learned of these things for which they’re now filing suit. Cynics would say that this is their way of retaliating for lost tax revenue, with falling house prices and neighborhoods scattered with vacant homes, lost to foreclosure.
What I do know is this… it’s not helping today’s homeowners who are looking for foreclosure relief. In fact, the last major suit that a consortium of attorneys general filed against a mortgage company didn’t go so well for the homeowners. While the attorneys hailed it as a “great success,” homeowners who were hammered by this mortgage company got checks for $400-800.
Not much consolation when you’ve lost your home to foreclosure.
If you’re in crisis, behind on your payments, and in the early stages of foreclosure, please don’t be fooled into thinking that these lawsuits will do anything at all for you.
Best to get yourself some solid information, and possibly some foreclosure help.
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August 14th, 2008 at 2:07 am
[...] at an all-time high, falling real estate prices, and any half-wit with a law degree already filing suit, did they really need another reason to stop buying [...]