N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has hopped on the anti-foreclosure bandwagon, asking that foreclosures be curtailed in North Carolina because of some vague allegations of irregular paperwork that have nothing to do with people actually being delinquent in their payments.
Meanwhile, as these foreclosures are halted, and the people living in the houses aren’t going to pay any interest on their loans, the taxpayers will get stuck with the bill.
During the delays, borrowers will stay in their houses without paying interest, while banks pay real-estate taxes and even upkeep. Since we’re talking hundreds of thousands of cases, lenders are in for some pretty staggering losses.
Which means you are. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (which have already eaten $148 billion in taxpayer funds over the last two years) own or guarantee about half of all mortgages — $5.5 trillion worth. The taxpayers also guarantee many other loans via the Federal Housing Administration (which is now insuring one in three new mortgage loans). And taxpayers own a majority stake in GMAC since advancing $17 billion to save the mortgage giant during the financial crisis.
One way or the other, the majority of these fresh losses will end up on Uncle Sam.
