The aspiration of home ownership undergirds American society. Until recently, most who attained it could expect to remain in their dwellings as long as they wanted and then sell them at a very substantial profit. But the current economic downturn has turned that dream into a nightmare. Foreclosures, which topped 1 million last year, are projected to rise by 20 percent in 2011; in 2009, Florida alone had almost 400,000 filings. Housing values have plummeted: Nationally, 23 percent of residences are “underwater.” Unfortunately, the search for remedies has yielded more hype than genuine improvement. In particular, it is doubtful that government-sponsored mediation programs, a growing phenomenon, currently deliver the meaningful results claimed by supporters.

As though the threat of losing one’s home were not bad enough, the process of trying to avert that outcome or to negotiate a “graceful exit” has proved daunting in the extreme. Mounting evidence of fraud and forgery led many banks to suspend foreclosures for a time last fall. Yet less headline-grabbing deficiencies in procedure have frustrated owners nearly as much. Stories abound of mortgage debtors needing to submit “lost” paperwork to mortgage servicers multiple times or being shunted from agent to agent on the phone without being able to reach anyone authorized to make a decision. Widespread securitization has cast a cloud of doubt on who has the right to enforce, or alter the terms of, a loan.

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