Mortgage Modification - Court Ordered

Below is a letter I have written to the U.S. Congressman from my district, outlining the reasons I believe that the measure being taken up by Congress, to give Bankruptcy Judges the right to modify primary residence mortgages, should be approved. If you can, write your Congressman to ask his support, the letter, I believe, is self-explantory

RICHARD I. ISACOFF, P.C.
ATTORNEY AT LAW
100 NORTH STREET
SUITE 405
PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 01201
____________
e-mail rii@isacofflaw.com

TELEPHONE (413) 443-8164 TELECOPIER (413) 443-8171

VIA FACSIMILE 202-226-1224

The Hon. John W. Olver
U.S. House of Representatives
111 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Olver

I write not only as a constituent, but also as an attorney who represents distressed homeowners in our area who are trying to save their homes from foreclosure. This is a genuine and urgent crisis that demands immediate and targeted congressional action. As such, I encourage you to support H.R. 200, legislation that would provide relief to these homeowners.

Too many families in this District and throughout the Commonwealth are on the brink of losing their homes to foreclosure. Across the country, it is estimated that 8.1 million homes will be in foreclosure over the next four years if Congress does not act. As devastating as foreclosure is for the individual families whose homes are threatened, the effects of this foreclosure epidemic are felt throughout the economy. Indeed, virtually every economist has recognized that the financial crisis gripping the country can be resolved only by dealing with the root cause –the escalating millions of foreclosures. I will gladly send you detailed and summary materials on this issue.

H.R. 200 would help families save their homes by giving them more flexibility to restructure the mortgages on their primary residences. The bill would fix current law, enacted in 1993, that prevents judicial modification of primary home mortgages, but allows such changes to virtually all other loans. Why shouldn’t Judges be able to correct “bad faith” loans – regardless of which side acted in bad faith?

Sadly, the magnitude of the foreclosure crisis dwarfs the response to date from Washington. The very clear lesson of the last two years is that foreclosures will not be curbed through top-down voluntary efforts on the part of the financial services industry alone, no matter how many incentives are provided. Courts must be empowered to implement economically rational loan modifications where the parties are unwilling to do so on their own. Loan modifications through the bankruptcy courts can be accomplished on a sufficient scale and time frame to have a meaningful impact. The mere threat of judicial modification may, in fact, lead to more meaningful voluntary loan modifications.

OLVER, REP./CON’T
February 21, 2009
Page 2

President Obama recognized Chapter 13 judicial mortgage modification as an effective approach to stemming the foreclosure tide and expressed his support for legislation that would accomplish this. While the Mortgage Backed Securities investors and market-makers might lose some value, getting a modification that pays 80% of the loan with interest, is better than a foreclosure sale yielding 40%-50% of the investment cost.

Please support the Bill – campaign for it. I worked with you in the days of the BNE collapse and RECOLL Mgt.; I would be honored to do so again. If you need additional information, please contact me at my office on (413) 443-8164, my private cell phone (413) xxxxxxxx or by e-mail.


Sincerely,



Richard I. Isacoff, Esq




RII/mpb
cc: Maureen Thompson, NACBA


Website:www.isacofflaw.com

BLOG: http://finance-for-us.blogspot.com