Massachusetts Politicos Foreclose on Foreclosure
Banks never like it when legislators curb their ability to make business decisions independent of federal and state governments, and H.B. 4323 does just that.
Yet banks won't find too many shoulders to cry or complain on among Americans, and probably have themselves to blame. Many lenders dragged their feet as millions of homeowner applied for loan modifications, and the vast majority of those applicants were rejected, thus setting the stage for a surge of home foreclosures.
If this practice made sense for banks -- able to close the books on what they view as bad debt -- it wasn't healthy for the housing market and the economy, sending more U.S. homes into foreclosure and devaluing home prices in neighborhoods and communities as a result, not even to mention pushing families out into the streets.
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The move by Massachusetts at least places the onus on banks to make a strong financial case before they foreclose on a homeowner. It's a bit of relief for struggling Bay State homeowners, and a slap in the face for banks that may have been too quick on the trigger in foreclosing on homes, and too slow -- or maybe just too narrow-minded -- to understand the implications to the U.S. economy.
More on foreclosures:
Foreclosures rise in first half of 2012
Are short sales good for the U.S. economy?
--By Brian O'Connell