At Work by Lindsey Novak

Q: I have been a successful, full-time real estate agent in Chicago for 20 years with a prestigious, nationally known company. Our residential market held on longer than other areas in the country, but what I see happening now to homeowners who are laid off is shocking. The banking and mortgage industry claimed the surge of foreclosures was due to masses of people purchasing homes their income couldn?t support, combined with putting nothing, or very little, down when purchasing. Both those situations were caused by the stupidity of those running the mortgage industry. Instead of those executives being held legally responsible, they are making up for corporate losses by not helping people who are experiencing temporary setbacks due to lost jobs and health problems.

I receive 200 emails a day. Numerous clients are rushing to sell their homes because they tried to obtain loan modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Program — all unsuccessfully. All have similar stories: The information you sent two weeks ago is old and needs to be updated; we need more information (that wasn?t asked for in the beginning); you don?t make enough money; you make too much and should be able to make the payment. In fact, I have not met one homeowner who succeeded at qualifying for the HAMP program. Despite losing their jobs, having health issues or originally paying too much for the property, they were all held to the high interest rates of their mortgages when the going rates dropped to 3 to 4 percent. I think that Obama?s HAMP program, which was supposed to help people avoid foreclosure, is similar to the infamous corporate bailout where high-level executives used it for their own bonuses. The movie ?Rainmaker? with Matt Damon is a scary reminder of what we are experiencing. Only instead of the insurance companies stamping ?denied,? the banks are doing it.

I have had potential sale after potential sale destroyed because of poor decision-making by banks.

The workplace is in a shambles, and the layoffs and cutbacks continue, Perhaps more of the good employees are being let go while the uneducated, uninformed, inexperienced employees remain, leaving no one in the mortgage industry to make caring and intelligent decisions. Everyone in the workplace is affected when one industry performs at such low levels of intelligence. Where is the government in all of this? Was HAMP ever meant to work to solve the foreclosure problem or was it designed by banking executives and pushed on politicians to placate the public. I would like to meet someone who has truly been helped by HAMP. I would like to help the many clients I have had who had to walk away from their homes because of being misled or lied to by these mortgage employees.

How do I help find them lawyers willing to take on the industry in a class action lawsuit against some of the companies? Obviously, all bank and mortgage employees are not ill meaning; they are just doing their jobs and following rules that make no sense, but something needs to be done to help.

A: The quickest and most comprehensive way to reach the masses is to record a video and post it to YouTube. If you are a good speaker, your impassioned plea for lawyers who care to help tackle the shortcomings of the mortgage loan industry could be just what people need. Perhaps a truly helpful program could be created for all who have applied and been denied lower interest on mortgages through HAMP.

Email Lindsey Novak at LindseyNovak@yahoo.com with all your workplace questions. She answers all emails. To find out more about Lindsey Novak and to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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