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Loading ...Foreclosures are a serious problem that the government must prioritize. On a national scale, over 4 million homeowners are a month delayed in their mortgage payments, with an unprecedented half a million homeowners in the pre-foreclosure stage. This is according to last June’s figures as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The Associated Press says that an average of 2,700 Americans have lost their homes from July to September. The statistics show a marked increase of 1,200 homeowners if compared to the same period last year.
In North Carolina, just one of the many states affected by repossession woes, the number of distressed homes has increased 30 percent in October from just last month’s statistics. RealtyTrac, Inc. reports that this translates to one out of 1254 threatened homes.
Many have just been victims of the downward shift in the economy, but there are also those who just took on more debt than they could handle. Lenders and borrowers have been relying on real estate negotiations to find their way around the problem. However, it is high time that strong measures be taken by the government to respond to the foreclosure crisis.
There have been several proposals floated around in Washington, including a government guarantee for renegotiated mortgages by lenders and borrowers. However, the administration’s plan to help troubled homeowners is limited to lowering the monthly payments of a few hundred thousand homeowners. The aid will not trickle down to the millions of people who need help the most – those who took out unaffordable subprime loans.
With property value going down, it is clear that the housing crisis affects all homeowners. Not only must funds go towards suffering mortgage companies. The root of the problem is the sheer number of unaffordable home loans. The government should focus on this if it wants to solve the foreclosure problem.
