PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Tell Congress To Take Swift Action in Stopping Foreclosures
  1. Signatures
    383 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. The President of the United States (+ 4 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • The President of the United States
      • The U.S. Senate
      • The U.S. House of Representatives
      • Chairperson - FDIC (Sheila Bair)
      • Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)
  2. Created By
    Prerna Lal
    Washington, DC
About this Petition Petition Letter

Having trouble modifying your home loan?

You are not the only one.

Due to "Shared Loss Agreements" with FDIC, private banks are less likely to modify home loans because they stand to make profits from foreclosing. Take Indymac as an example. It used to be an independent bank till it filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and was bailed out by FDIC.  Later, IndyMac was bought and transformed into One West Bank by a private equity firm called Dune Capital Management, a group that includes billionaire George Soros and Michael Dell, who agreed to buy the failed bank for $13.9 billion. The bank's assets at the beginning of this year (2009) totaled $23.5 billion so they made some billions immediately at the time of purchase.

Then, they struck a 20/80 loss share deal with FDIC. Soros, Dell and Co. agreed to pick up 20% of the loss whereas FDIC would pick up 80%. IndyMac would end up owning the property after foreclosure, making a sweet profit from the sale of the house. Many other banks have similar agreements with FDIC, so in effect, these banks are profiting on taxpayer dollars. People are becoming homeless on your dollars.

Loan modification programs are unregulated scams. When we call the lenders for help with our mortgage, they tell us there is nothing they can do till we miss a payment. So we go ahead and miss payments and then the warning letters arrive. We file and refile income/expense reports, negotiate for a good package but keep getting rejected. The process drags on for months, costing us productive time, money, energy, sleep and deteriorating health. They keep losing files, misappropriating funds, crashing their systems, changing their numbers, and rolling out ‘new packages' that they later reject when you apply for them. A year later, they tell us there is nothing they can do but ‘foreclose' the house. How many stories fit into this narrative?

The system needs checks and balances, as well as transparency. Urge Congress to stop foreclosures, launch an investigation into the unfair lending and loan modification practices now and create clear transparent guidelines to help homeowners with their loans.

See OneWestBankFail for more actions and updates.

Recent Signatures

Help Strugging HomeOwners Stop Foreclosure Now

Greetings,

As your constituent, I strongly advocate that the Federal Government create immediate, transparent and more equitable regulations for the banking industry regarding loan modifications and pending foreclosures, particularly in regards to HAMP and 2MP. Tens of thousands of homeowners across this nation have spent hundreds of hours dealing with mortgage services who have little incentive to actually help us achieve permanent loan modifications. While in the process of obtaining a modification, many homeowners have been lied to, misled, foreclosed upon or threatened with foreclosure.

Take OneWest Bank (formerly known as IndyMac Bank) as an example of running a "loan modification scam" due to a Shared Loss Agreement with FDIC. Thousands of homeowners have now reported trying to work with OneWest for loan modifications only to be slapped with a foreclosure. Under the Shared Loss Agreement, OneWest Bank only faces 20% of the loss from foreclosure while FDIC covers 80% and thus, IndyMac gets to keep the foreclosed home and sell it for profit. With this profit motive and no checks and balances, why would any bank want to work with home owners to modify their homes? Many of the banks are also refusing to modify loans due to the Shared Loss Agreement in place with the FDIC.

We propose there be

1. An immediate stop to all foreclosures

2. An investigation into the lending and loan modification practices of banks such as OneWest, along with shared loss agreements and forensic audits

3. Clear and enforceable guidelines regarding the time between the initial request for a modification and the achievement of a permanent modification, and that there be no reward to the bank for a trial modification.

The American Dream has now become the American Nightmare courtesy of the banking industry, which is taking a cavalier approach to the stress, heartache and despair caused by the current lack of oversight, transparency and enforcement of loan modifications. It is of the utmost importance that action be taken to correct this travesty in order to preserve home ownership for the thousands of Americans that are and will continue to be struggling in these struggling economic times.

I urge your swift and immediate action on this matter.

[Your name]

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