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White House Not Backing Foreclosure Moratorium

Says legit foreclosures need to go through

By the Associated Press

Posted Oct 10, 2010 1:46 PM CDT

(AP) – The wave of botched foreclosures is a "serious problem," David Axelrod told CBS today, but shutting the process down entirely isn't likely the solution because "there are in fact valid foreclosures that probably should go forward." "Our hope is this moves rapidly and that this gets unwound very, very quickly," President Obama's senior adviser said.

Axelrod found an unlikely ally in Rep. Eric Cantor, who outright rejected a moratorium: "You're going to shut down the housing industry. People have to take responsibility for themselves." The issue is gaining legs as politicians head to the Nov. 2 elections: Harry Reid, however, in a re-election dogfight in battered Nevada, has recently asked five lenders to halt foreclosures in his state. Top Florida Dem Debbie Wasserman also got behind a moratorium, reports the AP.

House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor of Va. addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference, Monday, March 22, 2010.
House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor of Va. addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference, Monday, March 22, 2010.   (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod talks about midterm elections on Face The Nation in Washington Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010.
White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod talks about midterm elections on "Face The Nation" in Washington Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010.   (AP Photo/CBS, Chris Usher)
Harry Reid is not exactly coasting to re-election in foreclosure-plagued Nevada.
Harry Reid is not exactly coasting to re-election in foreclosure-plagued Nevada.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
In this Sept, 14, 2010 photo, a house in Homestead, Fla. sits empty, for sale as a foreclosure home in a neighborhood where half of the houses were empty and up for foreclosure. A flurry of developments the past few weeks have sketched an alarming scenario: that major U.S....
In this Sept, 14, 2010 photo, a house in Homestead, Fla. sits empty, for sale as a foreclosure home in a neighborhood where half of the houses were empty and up for foreclosure. A flurry of developments...   (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)
In this Sept. 14, 2010 photograph, dual locks are on the front door of empty house in Homestead, Fla., to prevent entry into the foreclosed home.
In this Sept. 14, 2010 photograph, dual locks are on the front door of empty house in Homestead, Fla., to prevent entry into the foreclosed home.   (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 14 comments
Yourself
Oct 10, 2010 9:14 PM CDT
i don't back the moratorium either, all it's doing is extending the length of the pain it's causing to the housing industry. If someone is looking to buy a house, thinking that a neighbourhood is doing well cause it's got a low rate of foreclosures, but they're been dupped into that believe cause they're really just on hold, then that person is getting the SHIT END OF THE DEAL! Imagine the shock they'll have in 6-12-18-24 months when those foreclosures do come back or start over or continue... we'll just be in a situation of more of the same. I can't blame people for not wanting to buy a house in this market, the banks are just NOT trust worthy..
fancygapva
Oct 10, 2010 9:05 PM CDT
The banks weren't worried about the loans getting paid back because they were going to turn them over to the financial sector to bundle into mortgage backed securities (which caused the melt down). Nobody really knows who the mortgage holders are on many of these loans. If the credit worthiness of the borrower was not checked then the bank defaulted on its responsibility. Once it got to the Financial sector and all kinds of loans were bundled together it was difficult (still IS difficult) to determine who owns what part of each loan because shares in the bundled loans were sold, so some investors own fractional parts of loans. Beyond that, for the Obama administration to not back the moratorium is just making him look Republican Lite. I'm just about to entirely lose my belief that he can help the country. Will I vote for Democrats? Yes, but I won't be real happy about it. Yes. But
whizzjef
Oct 10, 2010 8:04 PM CDT
Just put the banking industry in a simple term: Let's say you have 100K at hand. Your cousins and friends total of 10 borrowed money from you to buy, pay rent and pay for food before their paychecks arrived. Say, each of them borrowed 10K and pay interest each month.Assuming this is the way the loan worked each month. The condition here is stable and you make money mostly on interest. Assumed that none of them could pay you back the next month onward because all of them are laid off. You ended up to either confiscate some of their properties like cars, Tv, etc. But in a tough economic times nobody wanted this stuffs you have. You wanted the state to bail you out so you lend money to these people. And you got your 100K back and their properties. This is the problem with the Bailout. People who lose their properties are still unemployed. The bank and its shareholders got their money back and keep those defaulted properties. They are not lending the money. Would you lend money to your cousins and friends who are unemployed and broke?

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Politics • Money • US

 
Bank of America • moratorium • housing crisis • David Axelrod • Obama administration • foreclosures

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