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  1. #1
    Senior Member AirborneSapper7's Avatar
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    Desperate homeowners line up for mortgage modification marat

    At least 1,000 people arrived before the doors opened.

    Desperate homeowners line up for mortgage modification marathon


    Homeowners line up in the rain before dawn today outside the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach in hopes of saving their homes. The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America is making its second whirlwind stop in West Palm Beach to try and save the homes of struggling borrowers.

    By Kimberly Miller
    Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
    Updated: 9:17 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27, 2010
    Posted: 6:52 a.m. Friday, Aug. 27, 2010

    WEST PALM BEACH Â*- The Palm Beach County Convention Center filled again Friday with tales of mortgage woe.

    Before dawn, with a plump white moon overhead, a line of desperate homeÂ*owners trailed around the outside of the building. They slept in beach chairs or on blankets on the ground, refugees from a bad economy, bad loans, or bad decisions.

    They stayed even as the rain poured down on them.

    Because for most of the people in the queue, the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America is the end of the line. The last chance to save their homes.

    The nonprofit will be here through Tuesday helping people get lower monthly payments through loan modifications.

    At least 1,000 people arrived before the doors opened.

    "If the banks won't come to you, you go to them," said Detroit resident Brian Kelley, 44, as he blinked rainwater from his eyes.

    Kelley, a Ford Motor Co. employee whose salary has been cut nearly in half, flew into Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, got a ride to the Tri-Rail station, and took the train into West Palm Beach.

    He had a cooler with sandwiches and water, anticipating a long day.

    "Desperate times take desperate measures," Kelley said.

    He's not the only desperate one.

    More than 50,000 people are expected to attend the five-day, around-the-clock event, said Bruce Marks, the CEO of the Boston-based NACA. Considering many people come in pairs, that could mean as many as 25,000 home loans will be worked on by the army of NACA counselors, who wear yellow T-shirts bearing the NACA slogan: "Loan Sharks Beware."

    During the group's visit to West Palm Beach in February, NACA reviewed 24,000 loans, modifying, at least temporarily, 16,097.

    NACA brings hundreds of bank representatives to its "Save the Dream Tour" events. Borrowers first meet with a NACA counselor to settle on an affordable mortgage payment, typically something that is 31 percent or less than their gross salary.

    They are threaded through waiting stations, filling in rows of seats like a line for a roller coaster.

    Finally, the borrower speaks face-to-face with the bank representative.

    The typical successful result is a new fixed interest rate as low as 2 percent. Some people also receive principal reductions on their loans.

    Marks said he doesn't use the federal Making Home Affordable program, which allows lenders to extend a loan to 40 years and award a modification with a five-year expiration date.

    Instead, he said he negotiates deals with banks that work with him because "it makes good business sense."

    "We get the job done, and we get it done in one shot," said Marks, whose group has received $41.5 million in federal aid from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program.

    NACA also gets a $500 payment for every permanent modification that results in three successful mortgage payments, Marks said.

    Marks has harsh words for banks, such as Chase, that refuse his advances.

    In a cavernous convention center ballroom, hundreds of people sat Friday waiting to see a counselor. Marks had the microphone.

    "We are suing Chase," Marks said to uproarious applause from the crowd. "We want to make Chase the example of don't mess with NACA and don't mess with homeowners."

    Chase, which has two permanent customer service centers in Palm Beach County, is conducting a similar loan modification event in Orlando this week.

    By 10:30 Friday morning, new arrivals to the NACA event were being directed to park at CityPlace, because the 1,100-spot convention center lot was full.

    "I would encourage everyone to be patient because NACA is really doing a great job," said West Palm Beach resident Jean Kercius, 38, who was pulled to a podium in the center of the convention center floor to announce his successful loan modification.

    Kercius, who recently lost his job as a nursing assistant, got a fixed 2 percent interest rate and a principal reduction that cut his monthly payment from $1,333 to $716.

    "I am overwhelmed and overjoyed," he said.

    But not everyone finds financial salvation with NACA.

    Dennis Jacobs, 65, came from San Diego for the event and to visit his parents in Boca Raton.

    A dentist, Jacobs sold his practice a few years ago, and is having trouble paying his mortgage. He's not late on his payments, however, which makes him a lower priority. He didn't get a loan modification, but didn't leave angry either.

    "I think it's very helpful for people to see how all folks are affected by the real estate crash and downturn in the economy," he said.

    Seven hours after he arrived, Detroit resident Brian Kelley also left empty-handed.

    He blamed a breakdown in communication between the owner of his loan and his servicer for the failure.

    "I'm not disappointed," Kelley said. "It was very educational. I got a lot out of it.

    "The fight goes on."

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  2. #2
    Senior Member swatchick's Avatar
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    I think many of those people lived beyond their means and used the equity in their homes to do so. My former bank mortgage specialist told me all kinds of stories of how people were using the equity in their homes to live large. I recall one where the person increased their mortgage to buy their daughter a Mercedes for graduating high school, the husband a Lexus and the wife a BMW. People like that I definitely do not feel sorry for. I am living in a condo and bought around the time of the boom. My condo is worth less than my mortgage yet with one income I can pay my mortgage, maintenance, condo assessment, plus all my bills. It is called budgeting and living within your means.
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  3. #3
    ANGELLOVER7777's Avatar
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    Swatchick, you hit the nail on the head, and it all boils down to greed.

    I also believe in living within my means, which means everything I have and use is payed for within 10 years of making the deal including my home, my Harley, trucks cars and boats, and my horse and dog had to be put on diets as they were starting to waddle. All mostly paid for with cash, except the house.
    It can be done in this day and age, I've lived through 3 major recessions and several crashes, and your money is still out there, you just have to be smarter than the illegals and the idiots that want to hire them.
    LW

  4. #4
    Senior Member swatchick's Avatar
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    Angellover7777 I agree. This whole bogus real estate boom or Enron boom as I call it was all due to greed. You had companies that had investors buy pre buy condos so the builder could get financing from the banks. That in turn created the false demand that resulted in price increases. Many people bought when prices started skyrocketing as they were afraid they would never be able to buy. Then with banks being allowed to give loans with little or no money down that made it even worse. Then add the Doanld Trumps and others flogging how you can become rich buying real estate with little or no money down and people using the equity in their homes to do so. People using their home equity to live beyond their means. Then mortgage brokers who offered mortgages that started with low rates like a $750,000 mortgage for $600.00 for example and then ballooned to several thousand a month which often times were sold to immigrants be legal or illegal. What we have now is the end result.
    I would still like to see numbers on how many foreclosures were investment properties, people walking away from homes as their mortgage is more than the property is worth and how many were unfortunate people who lost their jobs and could no longer afford to pay the mortgage.
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  5. #5
    Senior Member SicNTiredInSoCal's Avatar
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    Marks has harsh words for banks, such as Chase, that refuse his advances.

    In a cavernous convention center ballroom, hundreds of people sat Friday waiting to see a counselor. Marks had the microphone.

    "We are suing Chase," Marks said to uproarious applause from the crowd. "We want to make Chase the example of don't mess with NACA and don't mess with homeowners."
    I can't stand Chase bank! I got sucked into them when they bought out WaMu. They keep charging me this bogus "under the limit fee" on one of my accts for being under the $300 limit. I'd put the money back in to make it slightly above $300 and they'd charge the fee again at the end of the month. Several calls and lots of my time later, I still don't trust that they have solved the issue. The only reason I keep them around is because I can't find another bank (besides B of A and I will NOT do business with them again) who offers free business checking.

    Chase is an evil globalist bank that is ran by the elites in power.
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  6. #6
    Senior Member SicNTiredInSoCal's Avatar
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    On another note, we recently put an offer in on a house that is a short sale. I feel bad for the people, but our agent tells us if it was not us buying it someone else would. When I see what they used the house to buy I can see what they are in their current predicament.
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