Cummings Issues Statement on DeMarco Speech on the Housing Market
Washington, D.C. (Apr. 10, 2012) – Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement in response to a speech today by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward DeMarco at the Brookings Institution on the housing market:
“I have been saying for many months that we need to focus on data rather than ideological or political opposition to principal reductions,” said Cummings. ”Although I am encouraged that Mr. DeMarco has now begun to move in this direction, we continue to await the documents and analyses we requested months ago, and the jury is still out on whether he will act to serve both homeowner and taxpayer best interests.”
Cummings has led the effort over the past year to press DeMarco to comply with existing law requiring FHFA to maximize assistance to American homeowners—including through principal reduction—and to provide legitimate data to validate his claims that principal reduction does not serve taxpayer interests.
On February 8, 2012, Cummings and Committee Member John Tierney wrote a letter to DeMarco revealing that data he submitted to Congress in January showed that principal reduction would save U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars compared to allowing underwater homes to go into foreclosure, and that principal reduction could save U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars compared to DeMarco’s preferred alternative of principal forbearance. These data directly contradict DeMarco’s testimony before the Oversight Committee on November 16, in which he stated that principal reduction “is not going to be the least-cost approach for the taxpayer.”
On March 23, 2012, Cummings and Tierney again called on DeMarco to comply with their request for information in light of press reports that “both firms have concluded that giving homeowners a big break on their mortgages would make good financial sense.”
To date, DeMarco has provided no documents in response to these requests.
SOURCE: http://democrats.oversight.house.gov
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In regards to my home loan with them, CitiMortgage was completely unethical in more ways than anyone who has never had to work with them could ever even imagine. At first I thought they were just swamped with loan modification applications and disorganized with new help. No, after making over a 1000 phone calls and them losing my records time and time again, I realized they were next to impossible to get anything accomplished with. They cost me so much wasted time and actually increased my principal with their unjust contrived fees.
If I won the lottery tomorrow the first thing I would do is sue CitiMortgage. Unfortunately, without a lot of money I can’t defend myself against them, They’ve been able to do anything they want whether it’s legal or not. Then they hand the loan over to Fannie Mae and claim they’re no long responsible for any damage. Some settlement that is. Let’s help end this mess by finally giving people some principal reductions.
Our fight is with CitiMortgage. Citi blacked our payments out in Nov 09 and Dec 09 and proceeded with foreclosure in Jan 2010. Just finished 3 mediations through The Collins Center and Citi STILL HAS NOT provided one piece of information on our loan (for example pay off, payment history of loan and monies they think we owe). We are so frustrated! Citi once again has provided NOTHING at our expense. Our home has been in the court system for 2 years trying to resolve the fact that they accepted our payments, blacked them out and wrongfully implemented foreclosure. Citi even served my daughter 400 miles away. The system has to change. We only have a $62,000.00 mortgage but have been paying on that amount for 10 years and still owe more than our original loan. Citi has lost over $15,000.00 of our money (that we know about at this time) and we are spending every dime we make to get our home out of the court system. Dont they understand that even your insurance rates are affected by actions like this. I held a Directors position in my career, and because of this I can not even find a decent job. And DeMarco is worried about helping homeowners with principal reductions when the banks get paid incentives to do so. And the principal reduction is not what most folks really owe; its a reduction of the bogus fees these companies applies to our loans and they still get incentives. Doesnt DeMarco understand what this has done to millions of Americans that work hard to live the American Dream? He would think much different if the shoe was on the other foot. Principal Reductions should be changed to Principal Corrections……because that is what it really is about. I am not looking for a hand out but we are very tired of being screwed! In Northwest Florida, there are so many attorneys to take advantage of the disadvantage. I have been threatened to be locked up because of a scam and of course at our expense AGAIN! Folks, I will continue to Fight the Good Fight
Folks, I forgot to mention that we have been paying 10.81% interest on this loan. Thank goodness we have found an excellent attorney in Milton, Fl., Ms. Julie Nix. She has set a Motion to Dismiss for May 04, 2012. I will update all on the progress or lack of as we go through it. Maybe (and we pray) that some judge will help us and listen to us finally. There is nothing worse than fighting for your life and childrens home to have a judge not even look at you or listen to the facts. Folks, please pray for us and when this thing is over, I vow to help others!
DeMarco is protecting the taxpayers. He should therefore forgo his compensation and the other perks to assist in these difficult times. Some families are being thrown into the street, it’s the least he could do, again on behalf of the taxpayer.
Just wonderful…the foxes who raided the hen house are now riding to the rescue.
/sarc
Ed DeMarco, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency — which oversees Fannie and Freddie — has stood in the way of (principal) reductions and he’s claimed the support of Fannie and Freddie. But that’s no longer the case. Even Fannie and Freddie now support principal reductions. It’s time for Ed DeMarco to step aside by signing this Whte House petition:
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/push-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-issue-principal-reductions-underwater-homeowners/qtS3crg7
“Senator Demands Answers from Freddie Mac’s Regulator” ( Acting Director Edward DeMarco)
http://www.propublica.org/article/senator-demands-answers-from-freddie-macs-regulator
ProPublica and NPR reported on Monday [1] that Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage-insurance company, placed multibillion-dollar bets that pay off if homeowners stay trapped in expensive mortgages with interest rates well above current rates.
Questions the senator put to the regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, include why Freddie made the deals in the first place, when the FHFA learned of the trades, what role, if any, the FHFA played in them, and what the FHFA plans to do about the billions of dollars worth of deals Freddie still has on its books.