A tax we can all support!

GOOD CALL IN MIDDLESEX BOROUGH
In a move that we hope is adopted by municipalities all over the state, banks will be required to maintain foreclosed properties or face fines of $500 per day. We believe that the term “fine” should be replaced with the term “tax.”

Forgive us for indulging in a bit of populism, but if the banks insist upon being so vicious to the very consumers who are bailing them out, then they certainly should be forced to live up to extraordinarily high standards.
By and by, the majority of banks holding foreclosures in middle class neighborhoods are holding those properties because they refuse to work with consumers of their loans.

For example, if a homeowner comes to the bank requesting a hardship program of some sort, the bank tells him or her that as long as they are making regular payments, well, clearly there is no hardship. Yet miss payments to get into hardship and the bank will knock down your credit score, the bank will add exorbitant penalties and fees, and the bank will generally give you a crap deal for your hardship application anyway. And forget about hardship if you have PMI (generally forced on struggling families).

Then the banks tell you that the problem is on your end, that you are not responsible enough. Fees and charges pile up, meanwhile they charge you for savings, they charge you for checking, they charge you for ATM fees, they charge you non refundable assignment fees just to tell you that you don’t qualify for a mortgage, they charge you $35 overdraft fees on the $1 overdraft you incurred when you bought that cheeseburger at McDonalds.

Then the banks take bailout money and stop serving complimentary cookies and coffee.
Holding banks to a high level of accountability for the properties they foreclose on with expensive penalties is exactly what townships across the state need to do, both to supplement the dwindling tax base and to give banks a financial incentive to work with delinquent mortgage holders.

We at THE STATE urge all 566 municipalities to adopt this sort of ordinance, but triple the penalty and call it a tax. Perhaps the state legislature could impose this as an unfunded mandate that we all could support!

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090517/NEWS/905170315/1003/RSS01

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