Voters across party lines are strongly in favor of requiring
financial institutions to do more to help homeowners stay in their homes,
according to a study released by Americans for Financial Reform (AFR).
The study, conducted by Lake Research Partners, finds that
the majority of voters believe elected officials are not doing enough to reign
in banks and mortgage lenders, nor are they doing enough to protect homeowners
by helping prevent foreclosures.
With 1.2 million foreclosures filed in the first half of
2010, one in seven borrowers is delinquent or are already in foreclosure. The looming danger if nothing different is
done is that as many as 13 million Americans will lose their homes to
foreclosure.
People hold the biggest Wall Street banks responsible for
the financial and economic crisis, and now they are both experiencing first-hand
and hearing more and more about irregularities and illegalities in the
servicing, foreclosure, and securitization process.
The public wants more to be done to prevent foreclosures,
and they support requiring lenders to modify mortgages so that more borrowers
are able to pay their bills and stay in their homes.
"Requiring modifications and stopping preventable
foreclosures is the right thing to do for the economy, for homeowners, for
communities, and in many cases for investors, too, said Lisa Donner, executive
director of AFR. "Financial institutions, policy makers and regulators should
take heed of the strong public support for such a mandate, and for holding the
biggest banks and servicers accountable.
Survey findings:
- Voters support requiring financial institutions to work with homeowners to renegotiate mortgages. This support extends across party and ideological lines, including majority support from self-identified Tea Party voters, and to every region of the country. In all, 75 percent support requiring renegotiation.
- Voters believe that elected officials are doing too little to prevent foreclosures, and have not been tough enough on banks and mortgage lenders who violate rules or break the law. 72 percent of those surveyed say elected officials have not been tough enough.
- Voters believe that home foreclosures are an important
issue. Ninety percent believe it is either very or somewhat important.
"There's no question that Americans are tired of the double
standard in which the big banks always win and hardworking families always
lose, said Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president, Policy of The Leadership
Conference on Civil and Human Rights. "Policymakers can no longer ignore the
need to take drastic measures to deal with the massive foreclosure problem that
imperils our economy. Homeowners taken for a ride by fraudulent lenders -- a
disproportionate number of them involving Latino and African-American families
-- should have every opportunity to hold on to their homes.
Rev. Dr. Mario Howell of PICO National Network says the
verdict is clear - that people want leaders in Washington to use "the full
extent of their power to hold the nation's biggest banks accountable for
keeping families in their homes.
Rev. Howell says people of all beliefs and persuasions know that we are all in this boat together. "Continuing to allow banks to needlessly foreclose on millions of families, he concludes, "will only drive down housing values further and hold back economic recovery for everyone.
