A cry to help save homes in Maryland

As foreclosure cases continue to mount unabated, Maryland nonprofit groups, elected officials and the courts are joining forces to urge attorneys to help residents in danger of losing their homes.

[Rob]

Judge Bell's motives may be pure, but his efforts, unfortunately will only serve to increase inflation and to punish the next generation of homebuyer. It is a sad reality that the recent spike in home values needs to be corected. When people treat homes as investments (rather than the essential living space that they are) market forces follow, and market forces bring corections where irrational exuberance has existed. The correction in a housing market is a decrease in the value of homes, when tends to lead to foreclosures when people bought more home than they could afford with an eye towards refinancing in a few years. This correction is inevitable. MD lawyers volunteering their time to forestall this process only increase the transaction costs for the bank, which will ultimately result in less equity for the borrower and higher interest rates overall (banks will recoup their costs one way or another). Even worse, to the extent that such pro bono efforts are successful, these well-intentioned lawyers will have preserved an artificially high real estate market and created a barrier to entry for the next generation of first time home buyers. Sure there will be a good feeling to helping the individual avoid foreclosure; nobody wants to see someone else thrown on the street. At the same time, the societal costs of this immediate gratification are great, and we should remember that those who are in need of assistance are the ones who bought more house than they could afford.

[Steven Lessner]

Yea let's help people who rush in and buy a house.Since people don;t believe in lawyers or real estate agents when they go to settlement in case questions arise in signing for the biggest purchase of their lives.It must be nice to just sign away without knowing what they are signing for and then get help.I think i will stop paying my mortgage and ask for help.

[Bill]

The other part of the problem is many of these same people who want to be bailed out had NO business buying a home and would have never been approved for a loan if it were not for certain people and special interest groups pushing the issue. These are the same people who are always looking for handouts and don't deserve it!

[John]

Bell is essentially encouraging lawyers to devote pro bono time to interfering with existing contracts. That should be a scandal. In Maryland, it's not.

[economist]

As the article states: "Civil Justice says it also intends to show attorneys that there are opportunities to make money through court-awarded fees." Nothing like getting a payoff for a good deed!

Renters, people who pay their mortgages, and taxpayers in general will sadly end up footing the bill for these bailout (oops, the word is now "rescue") plans in one way or another.

[RAVNMANIAC]

I do support in trying to help people who really need help because they were treated wrong or lied too by mortgage companies. What I don't agree supporting is folks who made bad decisions and me the tax payer and the person who continues to pay my mortgage. What is the government going to do for al the folks who continue to struggle but pay our mortgage?

[RAVNMANIAC]

One more thing I would finally like to say. Mr. Bell I feel you are a crook just like every other politician we have in office...... good day

[Mike]

Anyone with a mind to could have seen this coming since 1977...the year that the Community Reinvestment Act was first brought up. You simply cannot change the way lenders gauge risk and not expect to see problems.

[Jeff]

Well he's at it, add The BUSH to the list, preferably in an indictment of war crimes.....and willful destruction of the USA!

[Jeff]

Second thought, can we have him arrested at the G-8 Summit in Japan???

[vlb]

God Bless Judge Bell for his insightfulness!

[Darwin rules]

it is really starting to pay to be stupid - and boy will the taxpayers shell out the bucks, because there are a LOT of stupid people in Maryland (especially the Baltimorons)

[Mike]

Let them fall into foreclosure - these people could not afford to be in them in the first place

[OMG]

what a state! is there no f'ing accountability in a liberal's mind? "fast talked into taking loans"...omg..gotta love the damages comment too. F'ing lawyers, F'ing libs. cant wait to retire and get the F out.

[Jim W]

I wonder how it is that public officials in Maryland can recognize the mortgage mess for what it is and take remedial and legal actions, whilst federal financial regulators stand mute and impotent on the sidelines and Congress seeks to craft rescue packages that provide more benefit to the financial institutions that caused the crisis than to the consumers who have been forced from their homes?