With the midterm elections over, I am left to wonder: how will the new Congress help struggling Americans who face losing their home. Will there be better and more streamlined mortgage modification programs? Will there be a shift in the economic climate that will promote jobs growth? Will Congress again take up the debate of amending the bankruptcy code to allow owners of single family residences to modify their loans in chapter 13?
I am not optimistic.
Many have read media reports that decry HAMP (the Obama Administration’s purported “response” to the foreclosure crisis) and proclaim it is as lipstick on a pig. After two years have watching clients struggle in this program and few coming up with anything meaningful, I want to go on record as saying this:
HAMP is not only lipstick on a pig, but it’s continued existence only puts more light on the political impotence and the bankruptcy of leadership on both Beacon Hill and Capital Hill.
After taking many months learning and understanding HAMP and how it works (and in many cases doesn’t), and after sitting through (and tweeting through) the President’s State of the Union Speech, I am admittedly still mulling it all over. Some tout the speech as the longest in President Obama’s career. Others are debating the propriety of the Nation’s Chief Executive chastising the Supreme Court in the House Chamber. Yet despite its length, its controversies and its platitudes, the word “foreclosure” was not used once. And that should be incredibly disheartening for any homeowner concerned about losing their home. As an insolvency professional who works with homeowners in financial crisis, it was for me. (more…)