On the surface, it is easy to look at the real estate foreclosure crisis and blame everything on the banks. While there is no denying that these financial institutions have been a large part of the problem, there are other sides of the story.
For example, those who have foreclosed on their property have to take some responsibility. Maybe these people shouldn’t have been granted a mortgage for their home, however, it doesn’t give them the right to “take the easy way out.”
While the real estate market is still looking to recover across many regions in the United States, it is important to note that things are looking up. This is good news for an industry that has faced a lot of uncertainty over the past few years.
With this in mind, politics are beginning to play a bigger part when it comes to the real estate market, and foreclosures in particular.
There is no doubt that nobody wants to face another housing crisis. That being said, having “too many cooks in the kitchen” is never a good idea.
The question to answer is this: can politicians have a positive impact on the industry, while helping decrease foreclosures, or will too much meddling bring more harm than good? For a better idea of the political influence and what lawmakers are hoping to accomplish, we don’t have to look any further than recent developments in multiple states throughout the country.
To get started, let’s take a closer look at this MLive.com article.
No matter where you live, it is safe to say that the title of this article doesn’t give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. And if you live in the state of Michigan, it may be downright scary.
Here is an excerpt from the piece, giving an idea of what is going on in Michigan:
“The Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee on Thursday approved a four-bill package, introduced one day earlier by a group of Republican lawmakers, that would extend a pre-foreclosure negotiation period allowing residents to seek loan modifications but shorten a post-foreclosure redemption window allowing them to retain or short sell their homes.”
As you can see, this is a win-lose situation. On one side of things, the bill package would give those facing pre-foreclosure more time to seek a loan modification. This could potentially work in the favor of these people, giving them the time they need to change their loan as a means of staying in their home.
Unfortunately, there is a downside to the bill. It would short the amount of time the homeowner has to retain or short sell their home.
Michigan is not the only state that is dealing with the intermingling of real estate foreclosures and politics.
Let’s go all the way out to the west coast with this article from KATU. Here is an excerpt explaining where things are headed in this state:
“The Oregon House has voted to extend a requirement that some mortgage lenders meet with struggling borrowers and a professional mediator before initiating foreclosure proceedings.”
This is a more positive agreement than the one being worked on in Michigan. With this vote, it is the hopes of the state that mediation will make it easier for borrowers to keep their home as opposed to letting it slip into foreclosure.
Placing the blame for the housing crisis on one group is easy to do. Of course, it is also unfair.
Moving forward, everybody needs to work together, lenders and politicians included, to avoid a similar situation in the future.