The NAR (National Association of Realtors) held their first summit in Washington DC for the purposes of sharing ideas, advocating for certain legislation that will help the housing situation and help the news media get "additional insight". Sounds like they would like to have a hand in spinning the "news".
Here is a summary of some of the more notable items coming out of this summit, which include the current president of the NAR, Charles McMillan, Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Pat Buchanan, Harold Ford Jr (D-Tenn) and others.
There are currently twenty (20) million homes under water....from being behind on mortgage payments to foreclosure. This is 1 in 5 homes in the US. The "reforeclosure" rate is over 50%. Reforeclosures occur when there is refinancing allowed on a property so as to avoid foreclosure.
This problem has been aggravated by stricter requirements on small mortgage banks. The larger banks, such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America have raised the net worth requirements of these smaller mortgage bank/brokers. This makes it extremely difficult for the smaller entities to obtain capital, and lend money. This is a classic "Catch 22" situation.
The smaller financial institutions who had traditionally provided mortgages for home owners, have seen their net worth diminish through foreclosures and the declining value in the homes they have financed. With the increase in capital requirements from the larger banks, these smaller entities are unable to help their clients who are behind in their payments because they are unable to obtain more cash to help with refinancing.
Bank of America and Wells Fargo have received TARP money. Should we as taxpayers provide money to bail out these institutions, who then institute regulations that not only don't provide assistance to us, but have the potential to cause even more homeowners to face foreclosure? What do you think?
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