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Over 4.8 million homes are in serious delinquency or are in foreclosure, according to a leading trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance. To help homeowners in foreclosure keep their homes, the Obama administration authorized the Home Affordable Modification Program—HAMP—in 2009. HAMP administers home loan modifications for homeowners who can no longer pay their mortgages and meet the government’s qualifications. Bank of America became the largest servicer of home loan modifications after buying Countrywide Financial Corp. in 2008, and has since been investigated by the Senate Banking Committee after frequent complaints about its mishandling of home loan modifications. In December, Arizona sued Bank of America for failing to help the 13,000 borrowers promised a loan modification by Countrywide in 2008. The state of Nevada sued Bank of America on the same day seeking damages on behalf of borrowers who were swindled by deceptive loan modification practices. Most recently, a California homeowner won nearly $7600 in small claims court from Bank of America. A mortgage service specialist from the controversial bank admitted that the bank continued to accept the homeowner’s payments even after telling the homeowner that he no longer qualified for the HAMP program and had no chance of getting a modification. Bank of America is also known to be one of the next targets of revelations by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.org. Today we hear from one of the millions of people whose homes are being threatened with foreclosure for no fault of their own. Devon Palermo is an Altadena resident who, being a responsible home owner, tried to refinance her home to a lower interest rate so she and her family could better afford it.

GUEST: Devon Palermo, LA County resident facing potential foreclosure of her home

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