January foreclosures are up 8 percent over December. Additionally, there was a 57 percent increase in January foreclosures over last year. However, many are saying that these foreclosures are lower than expected, and point to such programs as Project Lifeline as helping the situation.
Others, however, are worried that even if the situation is helped now, it may not be a permanent fix. Most of these programs only temporarily adjust home loan terms, and this means that after a while many homeowners will be right back in the same place.
An overhaul of the way the mortgage industry does business, and the way that Americans think about debt, is needed if this problem is to be solved beyond temporary "fixes." The mortgage industry, while backing off on subprime loans right now, is likely to return to its ways, and without real consequences and real change, Americans are likely to fall into the same traps.
On top of that, many fail to consider the fact that rather than try to avoid foreclosure, some Americans are simply walking away, using foreclosure as a financial planning option.
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