Mitch Landrieu: “right after Katrina hit the financial services industry responded with compassion to their customers in Louisiana. Every…”

“right after Katrina hit the financial services industry responded with compassion to their customers in Louisiana. Every bank, credit union, mortgage broker, and other mortgage holders instituted a 90 day forbearance period during which they did not collect mortgage payments. They deserve to be commended for this policy. They gave peace of mind to the thousands of families who lost their homes to Katrina and Rita, or whose homes were damaged by the storms. Many of these forbearance periods have now ended, most effective December 1st. I have heard from homeowners throughout the state who are now being told by their lenders that in addition to making December's mortgage payment, they now also have to come up with a lump sum payment for the payments they missed. A lot of these people were under the impression that their loans would be restructured to add the three months on to the end of the loan term. Instead, they are getting a bill for thousands of dollars. Can you imagine what it must be like for a person in New Orleans or St. Bernard Parish to get this notice from their lender? Their home is gone. Their community has been wiped out. We have lost over 200,000 homes in Louisiana to these storms and more than 18,000 businesses have been destroyed. Personal income in Louisiana has fallen by more than 25 percent in the third quarter of 2005. And now these homeowners--in this kind of situation--face foreclosure.…”