No more Excuses. Talk to the Homeowners Not the Mortgage Servicers

No more excuses. Our lawmakers in Washington can no longer claim that they don't really know what is going on at street level when it comes to mortgage servicing and how the industry is failing its customers. For the latest on how our voices are now being heard more than ever in Washington, walk with Richard Zombeck through the hallways of our nation's capitol and hear firsthand the responses he receives to his genuine tales of homeowner woes.

In a nutshell, Richard Zombeck says he created ShameTheBanks.org  "for me, for you, and for millions of other Americans fighting the banking system to save the roof over their heads. The site is not just about shaming the banks however; it's about shaming each and every person that any of us have reached out to for assistance only to be denied, pushed aside and lied too."

As many of us know programs like HAMP,have failed homeowners miserably. And unfair or illegal foreclosures continue to flourish. Zombeck argues government programs designed to help homeowners are simply making things worse for many and they simply aren't working.  When he says this directly to elected officials, he is told that the banks have statistics that show otherwise.  Why, asks Zombeck, are lawmakers listening to the banks and not to the people?  Why, indeed.

It's about time the folks who have the power to make a difference and correct failed programs--our elected representatives--step up and do so.  Only they can stop the rampant fraud and help beleaguered homeowners refinance their houses. Only they can stop unfair predatory financial practices that continue to harm homeowners and our economic recovery. 

Thanks to Richard Zombeck and others like him, the servicing companies, lenders and our government officials no longer have the excuse they "don't know" or "haven't got any data." that would indicate homeowner assistance programs aren't working.  They know now--because Richard told them--and they have the data--because Richard has pulled in stories from individuals all over the country who are dealing with foreclosure, bad banking practices, and the fall-out from failed government programs.

We owe Richard a debt of gratitude.  He may be just one man, but he has the voices of millions of Americans behind him.  He did for us what we could not do for ourselves: he got us heard.  When he said to Austan Goolsbee, a member of the Council of Economic Advisors and Chief Economist of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, that maybe he should listen to the people, Mr. Goolsbee seemed to reply, "We should do that."  This is progress!  Nobody else has been able to wring out of a government official the admission that maybe, just maybe, they should try listening to people -not banks. Hear what Main Street has to say -not just Wall Street.

In fact, maybe we have already been heard.  In a stunning move, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner criticized mortgage servicing companies for not doing enough to help homeowners.  Geithner says those in his department were "troubled" by the news that mortgage servicers  "had done things like foreclose on homeowners who were potentially eligible for relief under the government's Home Affordable Mortgage Program, lost documents or claimed to have done so and even steered troubled homeowners away from available assistance."

 If he thinks that's "troubling" he should check out all the stories on ShameTheBanks--and read of repeated complaints from homeowners all with similar stories. Then read more about  this unregulated industry, their practices -- and the plentiful complaints here!

He'll find a boatload of "troubling" data -some that will make his hair stand on end!

Consumer's Union recently noted that day by day, lobbyists for the biggest banks and Wall Street firms continue to swarm the Capitol to explain why nothing should change. In fact,  recent news reports indicate that six leading banks -- JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley -- spent a combined $6.9 million on lobbying in the first three months of this year.

So as the Senate continues to debate the need for financial reform -and votes on whether or not we need stronger consumer protection regulations -it's important to know how your Senator votes and just what team they are looking out for. Are they playing for Team Main Street or Team Wall Street. Well,  U.S. PIRG has made it easy for you to follow the votes. They've created a scorecard that will give you the play by play, inning by inning and what each introduced amendment means. 

U.S. Public Interest Research released last week a guide for Senators and their constituents to help understand the maze of amendments likely to be offered for the Restoring America's Financial Security Act of 2010 and it will indicate their view of which way to vote - "yes" or "no" - to vote in the public interest.

As recorded votes take place on the Senate Floor -they'll update the guide as well as add descriptions to pertinent amendments.

"We expect many, many amendments - some meant to weaken or even gut the bill and others meant to strengthen the proposed legislation. It is crucial that Senators, their constituents and the media know how they should vote if they want to protect our economy and our families from another potential meltdown," explained Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director and author of the guide.

"The public needs a voter's guide and score card to follow Senators and see clearly which Senators are casting their votes for Main Street families and which are voting for Wall Street CEOs," Mierzwinski concluded.

You can view the Amendment Guide online -or download a PDF version.