No one owns the loan. It’s “serviced” as part of a sliced-and-diced financial instrument, pieced out into the financial markets. There’s no lender to call and ask forgiveness of. The servicer has no authority to work out a deal with the borrower (homeowner).

Actually I’m not sure this is really the case so far as negotiating to keep a loan performing is concerned. However, I’d need to review one or two of the Tanta UberNerd posts to know for sure. But my recollection is that the owner of the servicing rights can make some deals with borrowers, which could be enough to keep some of them from defaulting.

Also, many banks and such do still have some mortgages on their own books, e.g. Countrywide for sure, etc. They (as a class, not each bank necessarily) always did keep some for portfolio reasons of one kind or other; and the breakdown last year of non-Fannie/Freddie securitization also meant that banks are just plain stuck with loans they hadn’t expected to have.

Yet many banks reportedly have been as resistant as servicers to negotiate with borrowers. Some of the weak “Hope” this and that initiatives from the Treasury Dept. have really been directed toward getting banks to deal on at least those accounts that they do hold, and that are likely to fit into a new-standard refinance, so presumably such deals had not been getting made before.

Also, there is Bernanke’s call a couple of weeks ago for lenders to get started on the inevitable business of writing down the principle value of troubled loans, where the problem is the underwater borrower who can reasonbly be expected to perform in a loan that reflects current values. That, too, suggests that banks have been sluggish even in doing what they clearly have contractual rights (some would say obligations) to do.

I think some of this has been strategic, maybe some kind of high-concept game of chicken some bankers have been trying to play with sources of public money like the Fed, Federal Home Loan Banks, Congress, state legislatures, … to avoid having to write down what they’re still holding. I think it has backfired in that none of these entities has really played along, maybe because the problem is so much larger than their standard funds.

How much is this bailout netting CEOs?
I hope it’s not as much as Palast implies.

No, actually, I am just concerned that programming that counters the shows like Morning Joe and such which are Republican slanted, such as most notably Olbermann..not go the way of being shown between the obsessive “lockdown”, “prison”, “sexual predator” shows…and end up aired when the least amount of possible viewing public can listen to his views as opposed to what we are bombarded with 24/7 by the rest of the media. I am for free media, not suppressed media, which is where we are likely headed as November approaches. Sigh.

i see what you’re saying,

but i can’t picture ko being manipulated/mistreated/screwed without him throwing a punch…….or a kick…….or something.

and he isn’t, so far.

and he would be the one to know that, if he was.

so, wait until his next new show, and you’ll have your answer.