Lawmakers Help Save Homes From Bank Forclosure List
June 17th, 2009 by 
Joseph Smith
Some lawmakers are intensifying their efforts to help their constituents save their properties from being placed on Bank Forclosure List. Distressed homeowners whose lenders would not take their telephone calls have the option to call a member of Congress for help.
Hundreds of calls from distressed constituent/homeowners were fielded by the staff of Senator Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss press secretary Ashley Nelson said that most of the calls received were from homeowners who are having difficulty making their monthly mortgage payments.
However, she explained that privacy issues and legal restrictions limit the amount of help that Chambliss can give directly to troubled homeowners to save their properties from Bank Foreclosure List.
But they were able to refer homeowners to available federal resources and sometimes, make inquiries on their behalf to federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Nelson said.
The office of Representative Jim Marshall has also received calls from homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments. However, most lenders do not mind what members of Congress may suggest and so they end up referring distressed homeowners to HUD.
Meanwhile, lawmakers, especially those whose districts have many homes on Bank Foreclosure List, have taken unprecedented actions to help their constituents remain in their properties, including calling the lenders themselves to negotiate on behalf of homeowners.
Representative Maxine Waters said that she herself called lenders to seek reduced payments for her troubled constituents. She described the process as frustrating, being put on hold for hours and her calls being transferred to various departments.
She recalled one case in which she talked and appealed directly to chief executive officers of Wells Fargo and the Bank of America.
She added that the process is especially frustrating to homeowners who are a few months behind in their loan payments. She claimed that homeowners who are far behind their mortgage may get a chance to be helped by specialists to modify their loans.
On the other hand, Representative Elijah Cummings was able to convince 19 banks to establish shops at the Morgan State University to help deal with homeowners who are struggling to pay their loans.
He called on people to attend his anti-foreclosure fair which aims to convince the Obama Administration that federal funds is necessary to directly help homeowners save their properties from being placed on Bank Foreclosure List.
