Mortgage Lenders Just Want To Collect

Funny thing about the Bush Administration's "Hope Now" alliance, they're not actually helping most homeowners in trouble, they're just keeping them in debt longer.

Instead of rescheduling missed payments, more lenders reduced the overall burden by modifying loan terms. They lowered interest rates or extended the term of the loan to cut payments. Less often, they forgave part of the principal.
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The focus of lenders "has always been to collect money, not to give a better deal to borrowers," said Tom Miller, Iowa's attorney general. "A shift in psychology needs to be made." - The Washington Post

The study cited in the Post article was done by a group of state attorneys general and financial regulators - in other words people whose job it is to look out for the average citizen.

These are among the reasons it is a good thing the Democrats are in charge of Congress. They're actually doing something about the problem, as best they can in the face of massive Republican obstructionism.