Foreclosure Connections Blog Articles And Foreclosure Information

• The corporation does good work
• But, what about the bigger picture?

As even the most enthusiastic hacks yawn over the latest chapter of the American foreclosure puppet show, and give up guessing who is really pulling the strings up there, one bright light in the corner of the stage reminds us that there are still people who care about the victims of the mess. Drum roll please – enter the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA). I have mentioned the organization several times in the months since HAMP wandered in and took center stage position. I decided to find out more about it the other day.

The not-for-profit Corporation began as a minor department of a small Boston trade union more years back than it cares to admit on its website. It has been in the forefront of the fight for the rights of decent Americans to enjoy the American Dream ever since. More recently, though, it has had its hands deep in the mortgage slime as it bangs heads and lobbies for a fundamental change to the way that ordinary Americans pay for their homes.

A few years ago, NACA shifted up a gear and started to make itself felt in the boardroom of American hardcore banking. And the result? It signed all the major lenders up to a program that envisaged them modifying unaffordable mortgage loans to affordable levels. Not being content with that, the once minor department of a Boston trade union started holding road shows in major cities across America, at which troubled borrowers first got their ducks in a row courtesy of a NACA facilitator, and then walked across the room to where a person representing their lender waited to begin mediation discussions. These days the popular events run 24/7 for up to eight straight days.

Bruce Marks, who doubles as Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America godfather when not busy with other worthwhile pursuits, estimates that his organization will be advising almost 60,000 Washington underwater borrowers in the course of their latest round of consultations. He expects close to 80% of them to achieve some form of modification – 10% are likely to get reductions in principal amount, while the balance of the 80% can look forward to fixed interest rates as low as 2% to 3%.

The question that I would like to pose to the participating banks is why do you need NACA when the federal bailout program already provides for mortgage conferences and mortgage modifications? The other equally burning one is why do Americans have to get themselves into trouble before they qualify for such low interest rates?

Have we ended up penalizing households for making sacrifices so that they can honor their mortgage commitments? Visit www.foreclosureconnections.com for answers to these and other burning questions.

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