Archive for 2008
Up until October 2004, my husband had steady employment as an aeronautical Engineer In early 2004 we refinanced with Beneficial Finance, a division of HSBC. Days after refinancing my husband was forced into early retirement. This also happened after hubby’s 401K plan through his employer lost 3/4 of its value. We lived carefully on a 401K plan that was on life support but in December 2007 we filed for a hardship case with Household Finance.
One out of every five Americans no owes more on their home than it is worth, according to research involving JPMorgan Chase’s decision to temporarily halt foreclosures. While that certainly is good news for many, it is not good news for investors and banks. “Prime mortgages, especially where there are pay-option ARMs involved, (are) becoming a broader issue,” said Charles Scharf, head of retail financial services at JPMorgan.
We receive reports for our consumer advocacy and watchdog website Household – HSBC Watch. What we are hearing form homeowners does not correspond with what we are seeing in the news. The discrepancy prompted us to investigate. What we found is disturbing. The news seems to speak to investors and the stock market. Articles that claim foreclosures are down are sometimes false. Help from HOPE NOW may be misleading. Here is what we found:
We receive reader input almost every day. Last summer we wrote about mortgage lenders and servicers that call customers, often before the due date. Many of those lenders are gone, erased from the financial landscape altogether. Nobody will miss them. But it seems Saxon Mortgage has joined this group. Calling customers well before the payment is due, Saxon seems to anger their customers. This lender bears considerable scrutiny. Panic by Saxon does not constitute an emergency for the home owner.