For a bit of holiday-week depression, have a read of the Times' examination of those mortgage-adjustment meetings between foreclosed homebuyers and lenders, and the bored lawyers that act as the banks' hatchet men. A study found that 3 percent of the NYC homeowners who seek mortgage help get it. Said one court-appointed referee who oversees the sessions, "I have yet to see an attorney for a servicer cut a deal. Update this, update that. I mean, what's the holdup?" [NYT]
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