ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. – Kathy Lovelace lost her job and was about to lose her house, too. But then she made a seemingly simple request of the bank: Show me the original mortgage paperwork. And just like that, the foreclosure proceedings came to a standstill.

Lovelace and other homeowners around the country are managing to stave off foreclosure by employing a strategy that goes to the heart of the whole nationwide mess.

During the real estate frenzy of the past decade, mortgages were sold and resold, bundled into securities and peddled to investors. In many cases, the original note signed by the homeowner was lost, stored away in a distant warehouse or destroyed.

Persuading a judge to compel production of hard-to-find or nonexistent documents can, at the very least, delay foreclosure, buying the homeowner some time and turning up the pressure on the lender to renegotiate the mortgage.

“I’m going to hang on for dear life until they can prove to me it belongs to them,” said Lovelace, a 50-year-old divorced mother who owns a $200,000 home in Zephyrhills, near Tampa. “I’ll try everything I can because it’s all I have left.”

In interviews with The Associated Press, lawyers, homeowners and advocates outlined the produce-the-note strategy. Exactly how many homeowners have employed it is unknown. Nor is it clear how successful it has been; some judges are more sympathetic than others.

More than 2.3 million homeowners faced foreclosure proceedings last year and millions more are in danger of losing their homes. On Wednesday, President Obama will unveil a plan to spend at least $50 billion to help homeowners fend off foreclosure.

via Homeowners’ rallying cry: Produce the note|NewsChannel 8.

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the government’s new housing plan was “comprehensive” and would help the bank modify more loans.

“The plan is good and strong, comprehensive and thoughtful,” Dimon, 52, said in an interview today. “I think it will be successful in modifying mortgages in a way that’s good for homeowners.”

President Barack Obama today announced a $275 billion program that includes cutting mortgage payments for qualified borrowers and expanding the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in curbing foreclosures.

Dimon also said he’s “concerned” the bank may lose employees because of new U.S. restrictions on executive pay. He said he would like to see more details and clarifications about how the rules could apply.

via Bloomberg.com: Worldwide.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Obama administration officials are hammering out the details of a $50 billion foreclosure prevention program that the president is set to unveil Wednesday in Arizona, sources said.

Details remain scarce, but officials are looking to help homeowners who are in danger of defaulting on their mortgages, as well as those already behind, according to sources close to the discussions. Until now, most government and industry efforts have centered only on the delinquent.

The administration is under intense pressure to find a solution to the housing crisis, which many experts say is crucial to reviving the overall economy. More than a million homes are already in foreclosure, and more than 2 million more are expected to succumb this year. Obama has long promised that his fix will go beyond the steps taken by his predecessor.

The multipart plan will for the first time commit government money to spur loan modifications. One likely component will be interest-rate subsidies for at-risk borrowers, with the government matching the servicer’s rate reduction. Borrowers would have to take an affordability test to see whether they could handle the monthly payment on the reworked loan.

“Our focus will be on using the full resources of the government to help bring down mortgage payments and to reduce mortgage interest rates,” Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said last week as he announced the administration’s financial stability plan.

The administration is also expected to ramp up loan modifications of borrowers in default. These modifications would lower monthly payments to more affordable terms – often 31% to 38% of gross monthly income – through reducing interest rates or lengthening the loan’s term.

Several mortgage servicers, as well as mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, already have implemented loan modification programs with mixed success. The administration would likely require all banks receiving bailout money to implement such plans.

via Obama’s foreclosure fix on the way – Feb. 17, 2009.