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Show Home Loan Foreclosures rTHE Home Owners Loan corporation, were to be Judged strictly on the basis of its fiscal operations, there could be no argument but that It had proved a sorry failure. There are, however, how-ever, so many other considerations to be weighed that its experience may be said to have measured meas-ured up to what were reasonable expectations from the beginning. When this emergency agency's business is finally wound up it can be known how it fared, but It is pretty useless effort now to attempt to put imaginary figures on an imaginary balance sheet Foreclosures have been authorized on 70,000 mortgages out of the more than 1,000,000 borrowers borrow-ers accommodated by H O L C. The corporation corpora-tion itself estimates that by the end of the fiscal year 193$ the number will have increased to 180,000. This is about on out of every six. Chair mast Fahey plain, though, that in all reset thlr does not mean that owners will be "sold out" because in many cases delinquencies may be adjusted. Thar were countless icases wherein borrower at the beginning had no sincere purpose pur-pose to liquidate their loans. Such debtors, chisel ers and other voluntary delinquent will earn no on' pity1 if they are dispossessed. The H O L C has, in reality, a public responsibility to take uch action to protect the government gainst losses. . Remaining mortgagors fsll into two natural classes: Those who may be able with reasonable adjustment to fulfill their contract and thu keep their home, and those whose income situation situa-tion suggests the wisdom of giving up their home where rent would exact a smaller proportion propor-tion of earnings than maintaining an owned home. There is no kindness in postponing action In such cases, for the sooner it is done the less the embarrassed debtor lose in the end. Thi was another emergency agency, whose history must hav taught the people, congress and administration much of value. It was set up hastily. Its hug staff was largely inexperienced, it was long getting out of confusion, was eating! eat-ing! up appropriation for administrative purpose pur-pose many weeks before the first loans were mad and in other way running up costs. Then there were the chiselera and in H O L C taff there were those who did not seem to be particularly' par-ticularly' bright in defending th government against them. There were even cases brought to light where such employe war exceedingly , helpful and cooperative with the gougers. There are plenty of case where severe criticism of H O L C Is fully justified. Thi involves, though,, questions of individual integrity rather than atructural fault in the corporation. Private en terprise also has a similar problem. Most prominent in the whole HO LC background back-ground is the fact that it was an emergency agency set up to succor distressed homo owners. own-ers. On this point it can Justify ibwlf. In the course of it operation it Indirectly strengthened private lending agencies and permitted them to continue a necessary service. Many families were thus saved from going on relief and mortgage loan firm from collapse. The net gain r loss would be difficult to calculate. It would have been poor business for the government to have foreclosed when real estate was at a low level. With a better market, foreclosures may now enable H O L C to break even or better. The disturbing fact about H O L C is that Hs administrative expense are now $30,000,000 a year and rising. Thi i evidence of a fundamental funda-mental fault needing attention. Its peak of operation op-eration long gince passed. In spit of foreclo-ur foreclo-ur action now looming, operating cost long ago should have started downward. Congressional Congres-sional economy expert hav a Job needing their attention. : |