Response to why "not signing the petition."

[lennox]

First, let me begin by saying...I love this site. I think it is wonderful that Moe could start up a community of people allowing us to share our individual situations, and in return get advice and support from each member. More so, I enjoy the diverse opinions and openness to disagree.


With this said, since the question was posed; here is why I personally am not signing the petition


1)The rules for HAMP seem fair. The biggest problem is the servicers are not following them. I would sign a petition that simply asks to get official oversight to ensure the banks are following the HAMP rules. I also agree that servicers do need to make the Net Present Value Analysis more transparent on exactly why a borrower passes or fails the test. Simply my opinion, but it makes no sense to me to ask the government to take on more rules, when they can't even enforce the rules they set in place already.


2)The petition has glaring typos. Homonyms are incorrect. Typos on blogs are one thing….Typos on an official petition take away any creditably the petition is trying to convey. For example “rightdowns” should be “writedowns.” This may sound petty. It's not. If a person wants to be taken seriously with legal documents; there should be zero typos. All hard work aside, when asking people to sign their name to a document...it should be presented to them flawlessly.

With the above said, let me add; there is do doubt many borrowers are being denied permanent or temporary modifications illegitimately. There is some hardcore reality that is being ignored though. There are borrowers that are either so behind in their mortgage payments; or have such little income in regards to their mortgage; that the mortgage simply cannot be modified. Not all decisions can simply be made on what is morally right.


I have read the thread asking people why they won’t sign the petition. Sadly to me, the tread conveys the impression…”you’re either with us…and if you don’t sign the petition….you’re against us.” This is not actually said....but it seems implied. In fact there are several posters on this thread that make the argument; if you don’t sign the petition, then do not bother posting on the board. Fair enough. I will respect that request.

[mimirayo]

I don't think it's so much a case of "you're with us or against us", but "try to think beyond yourself". The more voices they are speaking in unison the better we can be heard. You don't agree with the transparency issues, but then again you may not have had the problem of being denied....and doing the math yourself knowing you qualify. It's a starting point. Nothing ever come out of Congress the way it went in. But at least it's something.

I know you have more to contribute to this site than the 5 yr-old attitude that someone said if you don't sign don't post.....and you're respecting that??!??? Why can't you get involved?

You found typos etc......it was posted for people to comment on. Maybe you can HELP with wording, making something a little more professional. The help was requested and if you can help, then please we encourage it. Don't just cross your arms and stomp off...

[darkdays]

Originally Posted by mimirayo

I don't think it's so much a case of "you're with us or against us", but "try to think beyond yourself". The more voices they are speaking in unison the better we can be heard. You don't agree with the transparency issues, but then again you may not have had the problem of being denied....and doing the math yourself knowing you qualify. It's a starting point. Nothing ever come out of Congress the way it went in. But at least it's something.

I know you have more to contribute to this site than the 5 yr-old attitude that someone said if you don't sign don't post.....and you're respecting that??!??? Why can't you get involved?

You found typos etc......it was posted for people to comment on. Maybe you can HELP with wording, making something a little more professional. The help was requested and if you can help, then please we encourage it. Don't just cross your arms and stomp off...

The petition has been drafted for people to make a decision to sign or not. It's out there and people have to decide what is best for themselves even if by deciding not to sign means others are looking at it as "try to think beyond yourself." First and foremost, I am going to think about what is best for myself and my family and if that is perceived as selfish then so be it. The more voices that are speaking in unison may or may not get us heard. I don't know Lennox's story but I can tell you this...I have had the problem of being denied and I am doing the math and know I qualify. However, I have read countless entries to this site and I know there are people who are not quite understanding all of the aspects of what is considered here. When some of the modifications get pulled for a review to back up the petition is someone going to find that the homeowner was behind on payments and had $100K in cc debt as well? The cc debt that is considered "understandable" for HAMP is where you show you had low credit card debt but accumulated your cc debt by making mortgage payments or were making mortgage payments and were using your cc to make payments on utilities, groceries, etc. Be fair... there are alot of people who misunderstand the HAMP guidelines and thought their mortgage would drop to 31% of their income but that does not mean if your mortgage payments was $3500 and you only make $5000 a month you are entitled to a payment of $1600. That was not the intent of HAMP.
If the document has typos or errors, those should be corrected before it is out for signature. If you make changes to the document now, you should get the document resigned so that when submitted and attested to the document is submitted as signed not as amended.
Lastly, while I won't sign the petition I did sign my name to my own statement that I submitted to the state and federal government. I know my story and how my lender has played their game with me. I have no doubt that they have done the same to other borrowers but I cannot speak as to what has occurred with other lenders because I have personal information on that. The statement I submitted gave my thoughts on how HAMP guidelines could be more direct "must" instead of "may", "require" instead of "recommend". It is easier and faster for the government officials to look at individual STRONG cases then to look at a petition of thousands of names and god help all of us if they pick the wrong cases to look at and find that the borrowers were not the type of borrowers the program was intended to help. You have seen the posts as we all have where people are making the decision to stop paying their mortgage so that the lender will help them. There are people very concerned about what it will do to their credit scores. Everyone has their own objective to reach here ut there is something that works in the lenders favor. If you are in need, do you really care what happens to your credit score? If you are making the decision to withhold your payment are you saying you can but won't? If you can't make the payment there is no decision to be made. The government and lenders are certainly united on two very important issues: not every home will be saved from foreclosure and every case MUST be handled on a case by case basis. We have different lenders, are in different states and have different loan types. We are not all one voice nor can we possibly be otherwise we would all have the same loan wouldn't we? This site has served as a lifesaver for many of us giving us strength, support and encouragement. Anything a person can get out of it/ contribute to this site while they go through this stressful time should be for them to decide.