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If we are to believe the Mortgage Bankers Association, we are out of the quagmire and moving to higher ground in the housing market.  In this same publication the next day, one article referring to the MBA's analysis of the statistics indicates that delinquencies are falling and “Absent a significant economic reversal, the delinquency picture should continue to improve during 2011.” and another article referring to LPS' analysis of the data indicates that, "both the delinquency rate and foreclosure inventory rate edged up" in January, 2011.  It is this kind of blatant lies that got Mozillo indicted and possibly facing crushing monetary penalties and jail time.  They just don't learn to tell the truth even while their cronies are being fined, sued and locked up.

We, in society behave based on our values. At the highest level we treat each other with care for our neighbor's needs and live by a code of ethics.  Then some of us live in mutual respect for the neighbor even if we don't give care for them - at least there is respeict for the neighbor's autonomy.  The next level is law abiding - some people are out for themselves but behave in a law abiding manner.  This is the line that separates society and criminals.  Lately, it has come to liaght that the lenders live below the criminal line and rise up to the line when called to by the courts. They can claim to call it "misinterpretations" but lets call it what it is - Criminal!

If Countrywide's Mozillo is being dragged into court for his alleged crimes, countless ranks of his perpetrated the crimes in the offices and homes of millions of members of society.  We thought we were dealing in good faith with other like-minded, trustworthy members of society who guard our money and had our best interest in mind above any self-interest. Now it comes to light that we were lied to and just used as tools to pump money into the bank accounts of everyone in the chain from the loan application to Mozillo. The secondary market & the SEC are pursuing damages but what can we, members of society, who are suffering damages in the streets do to seek compensation?

I had the opportunity to interview with a former vice-president of a bank for the job of representing him and his family to short sale his house.  He was wealthy and getting wealthier, so the decision was definitely "strategic" and not based on a hardship.  He indicated during the interview that his wife had a friend in real estate and was really just using my expertise to decide on pricing for his short sale strategy, so realizing that I wasn't going to get the job, I asked him for his personal take on how we would get out of the housing problem we were in.  His answer was one syllable - "Greed".  I said, "Pardon me, but I didn't mean what got us into this problem, but how you think we can get out of the problem.” He clarified his comment – “Greed got us into this mess and Greed will get us out”. You see, there is only one value in the minds of the executives at the banks – “Greed”!

People considering a short sale need to understand the mindset of the people working for the banks, lenders and servicers. They are in business to collect on a debt - no matter how criminal the process was to put the borrower into that loan - their job today is to collect on that debt.  They don’t care if you are dying of cancer and need the money for chemotherapy – pay them first.  They don’t care if you drain your retirement account or charge up your credit cards to put food on the table – write them that check. If the collection people don’t collect, they are pushed out and replaced with someone who will learn the scripts to collect mortgage payments.

As a real estate agent, I cannot advise people on whether to stop paying on a home loan, but if you or someone you know decides that it is best to stop paying on the home loan and is wrestling with their morals and values over paying or not paying on a bad loan, please share this article with them. We need to understand who we are dealing with and that they do not share our values of mutual respect but are focused on one value - Greed.