Polishing a turd definition: The act of trying to make something hopelessly weak and unattractive appear strong and appealing. An impossible process that usually results in a larger, uglier turd.

Example: She tried to look more attractive by getting plastic surgery, but let’s face it, you can’t polish a turd.

“Bottom line America, thousands of homeowners are just walking away from their underwater homes every month and any loan modification plan that does not address “true” market real estate values is a plan made to fail and a mortgage turd that cannot be polished.”

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Earlier this week, James Lockhart, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the government conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said that the two companies need to begin writing Read the rest of this entry »

Reductions in principal, on mortgages that now dwarf the home’s value, are nearly unheard of, even among the most willing firms. Just 2 percent of modifications — or less than 1 percent of all loan “workouts” — resulted in a reduction in principal, according to a monthly state survey of a dozen California lenders and servicers that agreed to join a state program to streamline their processes.

“It comes down to common sense. They start doing principal reductions for people that deserve it, everybody and their mothers will come for one,” said Moe Bedard, who launched loansafe.org, where borrowers share their miseries and tips on breaking through the barriers with lenders.

Read more from the Contra Costa Times

There are a lot of myths surrounding lenders and servicers as to what they will and will not do during the loan modification process. 

The confusion and inaccurate data that is propagating the internet and the news is based on ill-informed bloggers or journalists who really have no idea what is going on in the loss mitigation arena. This to me is akin to someone who studies baseball and claims to be an expert, but has never caught a ball or swung a bat in their lives. How can anyone take them seriously? How can these same people be relied on by the media as “experts” when they have never even played the game? Read the rest of this entry »