Mortgage Modification Help

Banks such as Bank of America are hiring staff to deal with the flood of requests to modify mortgages.

Politicians love to point fingers at the banks, saying they are not doing enough here, but why should banks modify mortgages? What about the sanctity of contracts? If people signed up to pay a certain amount per month, why should not banks hold them accountable to that deal?

The AP reports:

Shontaye Edwards spends her day in a gray cubicle at a Bank of America call center in this Dallas suburb. On the other end of the phone line are homeowners – tense, exasperated and looking for help.

They often call with questions about the Obama administration's plan to help borrowers modify their mortgages, but many simply don't qualify. They make too much money, or too little. They have too much debt. They don't actually live in the home.

"I do get attached at times," Edwards says during a momentary break in the office where she and about 350 colleagues sit under flat-screen displays showing how long callers have been kept on hold. "But at the same time … we have to go by the procedures."