Jeff Merkley

I think we are going to have a tsunami of foreclosures.

I have serious concerns about that process.

And that just cannot continue to happen, Mr. Chairman.

It is not certainly only shocking, but it is one example of how banks have mishandled both foreclosures and mortgage modification requests.

So that is a process you are actively pursuing? You are requesting those changes in the servicing contract?

Did the safe harbor not provide enough protection to disconnect the foreclosure track from the modification track?

If I can summarize what I just heard, you are not contesting her analysis of the financial incentives that certainly favor foreclosure, but that because the reputation of the bank is at stake, that balances that out.

That would be great. This is the last question I will ask, though everything we talk about is so complex and interrelated, I have 100 questions, but I will stick with this one.

I just wanted to clarify a couple of points.

I am very concerned about the legal issues getting resolved, in part because this poses a huge systemic risk to our banking system as a whole.

So we have so many folks coming to our office in Oregon who over here are working with the servicer to modify their loan, but then they are getting foreclosure notices, phone calls, agents coming to their door.

We have made our new payment for over a year and are still receiving foreclosure notices.

I just want to put that forward.

So, Professor, in that case the financial incentives to pursue foreclosure are not offset by, if you will, defense of the reputation of the banking institution?

Because of the constituents streaming in our doors with the enormous stress connected with working on a modification...

Should student loans be extended to programs that are unaccredited?

Have you run into that? Are you familiar with that? Do you have any thoughts on that?

Judge Marco Hernandez has served Oregon's legal community with great distinction in a variety of roles.

He has devoted his life to a fair and just legal system, and his diverse experience will serve him very well in the capacity as a district judge.

When they ran the numbers they consistently found that it was cheaper for the State to be the entity than it was the private partner.

It is helpful. Another comment that they put forward was that generally, the structure is more amenable to very large projects.

In Oregon, we have had a process of looking for the choke points, if you will, the places where strategic investment would make a real difference.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Our Nation's infrastructure is a state of shameful disrepair.

Opening statement of Senator Merkley