Lawsuit to block foreclosures in Minnesota dismissed

A federal judge in Minneapolis has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of homeowners in the Twin Cities that charged loan service companies are improperly implementing the federal government's loan modification program.

[IrishMN]

I certainly hope this is appealed.

Judge Montgomery was appointed by Bushco and Friends. She still is in debt to Bushco for giving her this plush job with a big buck paycheck.

Obviously, this is how she repays the debt to Bushco. She steps on all the people who through no fault of their own have mortgages they can no longer afford. Rather than give a helping hand to the poor, she is going to throw them all out on the streets and allow Big Finance to take over the homes that are rightfully owned by the people living in them.

We need Mr. Obama to step in and settle this the right way. Give people a chance!

[Incredible70]

You can't pay, you go away. Simple as that. Now, go rent an apartment...apparently the landlords are suffering.

[Incredible70]

IrishMN wrote:

I certainly hope this is appealed.
Judge Montgomery was appointed by Bushco and Friends. She still is in debt to Bushco for giving her this plush job with a big buck paycheck.
Obviously, this is how she repays the debt to Bushco. She steps on all the people who through no fault of their own have mortgages they can no longer afford. Rather than give a helping hand to the poor, she is going to throw them all out on the streets and allow Big Finance to take over the homes that are rightfully owned by the people living in them.
We need Mr. Obama to step in and settle this the right way. Give people a chance!

HAHAHAHAHAAHHA!! Priceless...

[The Big Bopper]

You don't pay... you can't stay. Sad, but true.

[Pat from Blaine]

Imagine this scenario IRISHMN,

You buy a home for somebidy and sell it back to them as a CD. They miss a paymen tor two. What do you do? Do you continue to support them or do you sell home to some else that will make payments.

This scenario of asking a judge to stop these legal actions as what is killing this country.

IrishMN you are so wrong on many matters and this is one more piece of evidence that you need to stay on your medication andmove into a home so people like you can stay away from normal people.

[croatian1]

IrishMN wrote:

I certainly hope this is appealed.
Judge Montgomery was appointed by Bushco and Friends. She still is in debt to Bushco for giving her this plush job with a big buck paycheck.
Obviously, this is how she repays the debt to Bushco. She steps on all the people who through no fault of their own have mortgages they can no longer afford. Rather than give a helping hand to the poor, she is going to throw them all out on the streets and allow Big Finance to take over the homes that are rightfully owned by the people living in them.
We need Mr. Obama to step in and settle this the right way. Give people a chance!

You are joking, right? Through no fault of their own------now that is funny!! They knew they did not qualify for these loans but signed on the dotted line anyway...I have a 30 year mortgage that I have never been late on, I have never refinanced, because I have been at 6% since hubby and I took out this loan. We have 9 years to go and it will be ours free and clear. We were 26 years old when we bought a house, and young, but we sought counsel of family before we went into it, so we knew exactly what we were signing.

Now, why should we help the poor who could not afford these homes to begin with, when honest people like myself get no breaks what so ever?? Oh, that's right Obama was going to let them all stay in their homes for free. Give me a break.......If you do not understand what you are signing, then that means you should not be buying a home to begin with.

[Skaska]

Nice to see people fighting for their rights.
I hope they decide to sue again for their right to know why they didn't qualify for loan modification. The lenders should be required to reveal that. If these loan products were cars, they would have been recalled along time ago. Lenders still aren't acting in good faith and modifying this immoral loans, and it is the tax payers that are going to have to give more in taxes when more people are out on the street. Many of us are just a job loss, or illness away from losing our homes.** I hope everyone who is in foreclosure refuses and resists leaving their homes. If they board up your home, break the lock and go squat in it. Don't make it easy for the banks to rip off the homeowners.

It is too bad the leemings for corporations will respond. Guess they feel lucky that they won't have devistating illness in their family or lose their jobs. I hope they all get cursed with 10 years of bad luck and lose their jobs, their homes, and their health

[Sam]

How is this not the fault of the homeowners? You signed on the dotted line agreeing that you would pay back the money you borrowed. If you chose an ARM to get a lower rate because so you could "buy more house" you also took on the risk that your rate could go up. My husband and I bought a house a few years ago and chose a safer 30 fixed loan at 6.5% even though our first realtor and his mortgage guy tried to convince us to go with an ARM. His argument - you can get more house now and on average first time homeowners are only in there first house 3-5 years. If you go with a 5 or 7 year ARM you'll be moving up to a new house before the rates change, you'll probably be making more money at that time and could afford a larger payment, otherwise you can refinance when it comes due for a fix rate. What if we were not planning to move? What if our financial situation changed for the worse, not the better? What if the rates were higher in 5-7 years? I was not willing to take that risk. We changed realtors, found a modest house we felt we could afford and went with a 30 fixed. Earlier this year we were able to refinance for a new 30 fixed at 5.0% and 2 months later my husband lost his job. We are still making our payments in full, on time every month, without any government programs helping us out or modifying our terms. Because of the choices we made with our home purchase I am not afraid of going into foreclosure even losing one income.

We signed a contract agreeing to pay the bank back for the money we borrowed. If our situation changes again and we find we are not able to continue repaying this debt it will be on us to figure out a solution - reduce monthly expenses, sell the house and move into something we can afford, rent out a spare room, take on an additional job. Whatever it takes. It is not the responsibility of the government to bail me out because of poor choices I made.

And for those who expect government bailouts because they can no longer afford their homes, I hope you lose your homes. You made the poor decisions and now must live with the consequences.

[Beaver Cleaver]

IrishMN wrote:

I certainly hope this is appealed.
Judge Montgomery was appointed by Bushco and Friends. She still is in debt to Bushco for giving her this plush job with a big buck paycheck.
Obviously, this is how she repays the debt to Bushco. She steps on all the people who through no fault of their own have mortgages they can no longer afford. Rather than give a helping hand to the poor, she is going to throw them all out on the streets and allow Big Finance to take over the homes that are rightfully owned by the people living in them.
We need Mr. Obama to step in and settle this the right way. Give people a chance!

Dumba$$.

[what]

what about the hardworking person that lost their job because the economuy is in the crapper and can't afford the house paymt but could have before when they were working... duh...

croatian1 wrote:

<quoted text>
You are joking, right? Through no fault of their own------now that is funny!! They knew they did not qualify for these loans but signed on the dotted line anyway...I have a 30 year mortgage that I have never been late on, I have never refinanced, because I have been at 6% since hubby and I took out this loan. We have 9 years to go and it will be ours free and clear. We were 26 years old when we bought a house, and young, but we sought counsel of family before we went into it, so we knew exactly what we were signing.
Now, why should we help the poor who could not afford these homes to begin with, when honest people like myself get no breaks what so ever?? Oh, that's right Obama was going to let them all stay in their homes for free. Give me a break.......If you do not understand what you are signing, then that means you should not be buying a home to begin with.

[nundarecallitstu pidity]

IrishMN, I feel so bad when I read your intelligent, sane posts and then see the ugly, stupid replies from the flying monkey armies of the right. There is no point in trying to have a discussion with these clowns. Wait until they lose a job, get a major illness, lose their house, and then maybe they'll be willing to talk sense. As for that judge, I wish Eric Holder would take his job seriously and start purging the justice system of these political hacks.

[nundarecallitstu pidity]

you can't say 'monkeys' on this board?

[nundarecallitstu pidity]

how bout flying monkees armies

[Arnie]

How does throwing people out of their house help anyone? More foreclosures will just continue to lower property values. Do you really want vacant houses in your neighborhood?
Of course, many people bought houses that were too big/expensive. Their realtors told them they could afford it. One job loss and they aren't able to make their payments. Many of the lenders had no backbone and just gave loans to anyone who asked for them. That was a poor lending practice and we have had to bail out many banks because of it. But foreclosing on them will not help. The hypocrisy of the 'family values' people...Minnesota nice is a myth.

[Arnie]

nundarecallitstupidity wrote:

IrishMN, I feel so bad when I read your intelligent, sane posts and then see the ugly, stupid replies from the flying **** armies of the right. There is no point in trying to have a discussion with these clowns. Wait until they lose a job, get a major illness, lose their house, and then maybe they'll be willing to talk sense. As for that judge, I wish Eric Holder would take his job seriously and start purging the justice system of these political hacks.

I agree. Arguing with idiots is a waste of time. They are so preoccupied about punishing people and throwing them out of their homes. As if that will help anyone.

[TiVo Girl]

The blame lies with several parties. First, the sellers, be they developers/builders or regular people that greedily asked for far more than the houses were worth. Secondly, the Realtors that didn't bother to explain that "qualify for" does NOT equal "can afford". Third, the mortgage companies for offering these sub-prime mortgages to people with less than stellar credit. Finally, the home buyers that didn't do their homework before signing on the bottom line.

However, there are those that bought homes within their means with conventional loans, and through no fault of their own were laid off from their jobs. Let's not forget that nearly 20% of the population is unemployed (counting those no longer able to collect unemployment, those that have given up looking for a job, and those that have had to settle for part-time work on top of the 10.2% that are still receiving unemployment benefits). The above people I mention in the first paragraph I don't have too much sympathy for, although they were probably misled, but the second group should receive our compassion, if nothing else.

We bought our house with the expectation that we would live out our lives here and that hubby had job security, but lo and behold, his job was off-shored. We are one of the extremely rare families that save money like fiends in the event of a rainy day, so we were able to continue our house payments while he looked for another job. Other people cannot or will not do that for whatever reason, or have exhausted those funds as well. After all, we're told you should have only 3 months' salary set aside in savings for emergencies, but it's taking people far longer than a year to find jobs.

It's not all about freeloaders. There are honest, hard-working people that were unfortunate enough to be victims of circumstance and the poor economy in dire straits as well.

[Arnie]

Incredible70 wrote:

<quoted text>
So what is the answer? Just let them live there for free? How about a nice even $500 a month, instead of the $1690 payment? After all, it isn't their fault for signing the loan papers, right?

Not sure what the answer is... but if the bank forecloses and resells the house, they are going to get a much smaller loan payment because the house value has decreased. A solution I've heard and might be fair would be to offer refinancing for the house at it's current value to the person who is living in the house. Then the bank will get some money and the person who is living in the house might be able to afford it. If they can't afford the new rate, then foreclosure should happen. That's a far from perfect solution, but I'm not sure what else might work? Any ideas? I agree, they did sign the loan papers. And they are obligated to pay it. I understand what you are saying. I signed a mortgage agreement and paid for it like I agreed to do. But there are so many people on the brink, it would destroy the real estate market yet again if another flood of foreclosures were to happen. Why would a bank make a loan to someone who had no prayer to pay it back is what I'm trying to figure out. Other than just plain greed.
If we let all these new potential foreclosures to hit the market, the values will decrease even further. Then the bank would have to sell for even less than what they would get today.
Thanks for asking.

[Arnie]

TiVo Girl wrote:

The blame lies with several parties. First, the sellers, be they developers/builders or regular people that greedily asked for far more than the houses were worth. Secondly, the Realtors that didn't bother to explain that "qualify for" does NOT equal "can afford". Third, the mortgage companies for offering these sub-prime mortgages to people with less than stellar credit. Finally, the home buyers that didn't do their homework before signing on the bottom line.
However, there are those that bought homes within their means with conventional loans, and through no fault of their own were laid off from their jobs. Let's not forget that nearly 20% of the population is unemployed (counting those no longer able to collect unemployment, those that have given up looking for a job, and those that have had to settle for part-time work on top of the 10.2% that are still receiving unemployment benefits). The above people I mention in the first paragraph I don't have too much sympathy for, although they were probably misled, but the second group should receive our compassion, if nothing else.
We bought our house with the expectation that we would live out our lives here and that hubby had job security, but lo and behold, his job was off-shored. We are one of the extremely rare families that save money like fiends in the event of a rainy day, so we were able to continue our house payments while he looked for another job. Other people cannot or will not do that for whatever reason, or have exhausted those funds as well. After all, we're told you should have only 3 months' salary set aside in savings for emergencies, but it's taking people far longer than a year to find jobs.
It's not all about freeloaders. There are honest, hard-working people that were unfortunate enough to be victims of circumstance and the poor economy in dire straits as well.

You said it better than my attempt. Thanks.

[40 something]

Arnie wrote:

<quoted text>
I agree. Arguing with idiots is a waste of time. They are so preoccupied about punishing people and throwing them out of their homes. As if that will help anyone.

It would be their home if only they paid for it as they had agreed to. Idiot.

[Incredible70]

TiVo Girl wrote:

The blame lies with several parties. First, the sellers, be they developers/builders or regular people that greedily asked for far more than the houses were worth. Secondly, the Realtors that didn't bother to explain that "qualify for" does NOT equal "can afford". Third, the mortgage companies for offering these sub-prime mortgages to people with less than stellar credit. Finally, the home buyers that didn't do their homework before signing on the bottom line.
However, there are those that bought homes within their means with conventional loans, and through no fault of their own were laid off from their jobs. Let's not forget that nearly 20% of the population is unemployed (counting those no longer able to collect unemployment, those that have given up looking for a job, and those that have had to settle for part-time work on top of the 10.2% that are still receiving unemployment benefits). The above people I mention in the first paragraph I don't have too much sympathy for, although they were probably misled, but the second group should receive our compassion, if nothing else.
We bought our house with the expectation that we would live out our lives here and that hubby had job security, but lo and behold, his job was off-shored. We are one of the extremely rare families that save money like fiends in the event of a rainy day, so we were able to continue our house payments while he looked for another job. Other people cannot or will not do that for whatever reason, or have exhausted those funds as well. After all, we're told you should have only 3 months' salary set aside in savings for emergencies, but it's taking people far longer than a year to find jobs.
It's not all about freeloaders. There are honest, hard-working people that were unfortunate enough to be victims of circumstance and the poor economy in dire straits as well.

Let me rephrase part of your post...see if I got it right:

"We bought a house we could afford, and we saved money for a rainy day. My husband lost his job and we had to use our savings to make our house payments until he found another job. When he got a new job, we put that money back in savings. And I'm happy to pay higher taxes, interest rates, and other fees to bail out other people who are not responsible, like us."

Am I correct? Is that really what you are saying?

Now, let's address your first paragraph...feel free to correct me where I'm wrong:

1) Sellers charged too much - umm...sellers charged what people would pay. That is how the price for everything is set. Do you think that TV has exactly $500 worth of materials in it? How about that car...exactly $24,532 in expenses to make it? People pay what they FEEL something is worth. If I try to sell my house for $200k, and no one feels it is worth that, it won't sell.

2) Realtors encouraged people to buy more than they could afford - again...ummm...yeah. Realtors are salespeople. They make more if you buy a house that costs more. Are you saying they should just show you houses they 'think' you can afford, and stop you if you try to buy one that they 'feel' is too expensive? Should a car dealer only show you cars that they 'feel' you can afford, or it is your job to choose one that meets your needs AND is affordible?

3) Mortgage lenders wrote bad loans - Mortgage lenders wrote loans to the rules provided by the money sources. The money sources lowered their requirements for a number of reasons, including the government telling them they wanted more people to own houses, not renting.

4) Home buyers didn't read what they were signing - Finally! A point I can agree with.

This problem lies squarely in the lap of the buyers...no one else! Homeowners like you (good credit, reasonable payment based on fixed-rate loans, rainy-day savings) don't need to get their loans modified. It really isn't rocket science.