Hopeless

Curiously, I called 1-888-995-HOPE trying to understand the “standardized process” Treasury Secretary Paulson spoke of for freezing subprime ARM rates for five years. First I was asked if I spoke English or Spanish. Then I was told to either leave my personal information (name and mortgage number) with Novadebt or start an online counseling session at http://www.995hope.com/. This is where it gets interesting. Novadebt is a New Jersey non-profit counseling organization. 995HOPE is sponsored by the large mortgage banks including Citigroup (C), Countrywide (CFC), JP Morgan (JPM), Washington Mutual (WM) and the infamous Fannie Mae (FMN). You do not get to talk directly to your lender. How condescending is that?

I don’t have a mortgage, so I could not leave a message asking for help. I tried the next best thing. I claimed that Click Broker was media and asked for the qualifications and the standard process. Clearly, mature adults do not need counseling – they just need to know the rules.

Is the mortgage industry consciously trying to treat borrowers as children or are they being purposely evasive? I believe they are setting up as many roadblocks to modification as possible while trying to look altruistic.

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