ECONOMY - Big Bank Robber Barons

"Bank Chief Rejects Idea of Reducing Home Loans" by NELSON D. SCHWARTZ, New York Times 3/8/2011

Excerpt

Showing resistance for the first time against government pressure to write off tens of billions worth of mortgage debt, Bank of America executives said on Tuesday that the idea was unworkable and warned that it would be unfair to borrowers who had managed to stay current on their loans.

“There’s a core problem that if you start to help certain people and don’t help other people, it’s going to be very hard to explain the difference,” said Brian T. Moynihan, the chief executive of Bank of America. “Our duty is to have a fair modification process.”

All 50 state attorneys general, as well as a host of federal agencies, are pushing for a settlement over investigations into foreclosure abuses by major mortgage servicers that could cost the industry $20 billion or more. Much of that money would be earmarked to reduce principal owed by homeowners facing foreclosure.

But picking just who to help is among the thorniest questions facing government regulators, as well as the banks themselves. Even the most outspoken attorney general on the issue, Tom Miller of Iowa, acknowledged on Monday that too generous a program might encourage homeowners to walk away from properties where the value of the loan exceeded how much the underlying property was worth.

Indeed, industry experts estimate that nearly a trillion dollars worth of mortgage debt is “underwater,” a result of house prices having fallen since the original loans were made. Federal officials hope a settlement with the servicers will help individual borrowers and provide a cushion for the weak housing market.

Officials of Bank of America, the nation’s biggest mortgage servicer, argue that any effort to help troubled borrowers should not penalize borrowers who are underwater but have managed to make their monthly payments.

How typical of big-money fat-cats. Spinning this issue as "hurting" borrowers. It's about keeping banker's pockets stuffed with money!

I have a simple suggestion, refinance ALL "underwater" loans to the ACTUAL value of the property. By "all" I mean even those loans to borrowers who have managed to stay current.

OPPS, sorry. I forgot that banks do not care about borrowers nor respect them. Banks just want to rape borrowers for every dime they have.