and it's deserving of these homeowners. these programs require that the homeowner also agree, obviously. and that in many cases that servicer agree. now, because you're requiring a voluntary agreement and an agreement that has been crafted in such a way that all parties are balanced in their interests, it's been difficult to generate the number of families to be helped so far. i do want to also emphasize this program started in november. this program started in november. we've had about four months to get families onboard to be helped by these programs. for much of that four months we have had abject resistance from the servicers. they have been the obstruction in making these programs work. but i am happy to say that in the last 10 days we have had three major servicers, ally, gmac and wells fargo, that have finally come forward and said, we're going to work within this program and we're going to try to help families stay in their homes, not because -- not out of charity but because they realize that we need to put a floor

, the would-be homeowner. and so we have this crisis, this subprime crisis that we have been going through and there's a lot of misery out there and people that tried to own a home who now find themselves in foreclosure. the banks were not helping with loan modification, so we had to come up with something. the administration came up with the hamp program. it's a voluntary program, but they signed on to these agreements with the banks to say that they would do loan modifications under certain conditions and the administration had to do this because the banks were not helping out the homeowners. as a matter of fact, the banks said, well, we don't have anything to do with this any more. it's up to the servicers. well, a lot of people don't know who is, who is the servicer? the servicer is in most cases a company that's owned by the banks. they own their own servicing companies which means that once the mortgage is signed on by the homeowner they now give it to this other company that they own, these servicers, a

in assisting unemployed homeowners. we will set the regulations for how this is done and of course they will look at these individuals in terms of how long they have been unemployed, how they paid their bills, and whether or not they believe they are capable of not only utilizing the program but repaying these loans at some point. i don't think it's too much to ask of us to be be of assistance. i noted that my colleague from texas referred to it as these people. these people are our people. these people are american citizens. these are constituents. who vote and send us here to make good public policy. it has been said over and over again that we bailed out the too big to fail institutions. that we were generous in our loans to them. billions of dollars that went into those too big to fail institutions. so i would simply ask for an aye vote on this very simple amendment that would bring some transparency -- the chair: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. waters: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gent

the danger for homeowners and the dilemma for one man who was duped into purchasing a now red tagged property. >>> this harbor is not a great place to try to survive a tsunami. >> pointed questions for harbor officials in santa clara. what they say should have been done to protect them from the damaging tsunami. >>> why police say they had to shoot to kiln a local neighborhood. >> have you ever been dumped? >> yes. >> what did that feel like? >> heartbreaking. and actual proof that love really can hurt. what scientists say our heart is trying to tell us. good evening i'm ken bastida. >>> i'm dana king. tonight city leaders in hercules say it is time to declare a state of emergency. >> homes there are literally holding up the side of a hill that came tumbling down in recent rains. four have been red tagged already. four more are threatened. >> the houses in jeopardy are on carson street and they are part of a development. robert lyles got a look inside a red tagged home that the owner says he has never been allowed to live in. robert? >> reporter: well, dana, to understand the gravity

we reduced 10,000 of those homeowners. roughly, you have 10,000 reductions that we did on our own. 1700 reductions were done through this application process. 5000 time shares is how you get to the 17,000 number. just to give you a comparison, it is quite a bit in san francisco. these are huge numbers, larger than the dot com bust. alameda and santa clara did about 1000 come a tenfold. -- 1000, tenfold. we are doing better than our counterparts in other parts of the bay area. i feel fortunate. the tax reduction was about 21 million in taxes that were not collected. 21 million in taxes were not collected. that is a significant number. it is out of a $6.5 billion budget. overall, the difference to the city is still rather small compared to what it meant to many of the other counties in other areas. let me stop there and take questions. >> [inaudible] >> 6462. of those, we actually reviewed only 4177. many of those were already reviewed. we have actively reviewed them. some of them were not eligible. >> [inaudible] >> anybody

please remember there are two homeowners involved here. we are a country of laws and everyone can expect to be treated equally. it appears the building code is being selectively applied to this property. i support revoking a permit and fixing these longstanding problems. the action will correct a wrong that just continues on and on. i have been here at the other hearings and i am surprised that the other owners never try to make the previous work legal. why does the law not apply to them? why does the notice of violations not have to be fixed before they can do the work? to me, this is outrageous and another piece of politics and city policy that really needs some work. so thank you so much. >> thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, we will move into rebuttal. vice president garcia: four minutes would be sufficient. is that reasonable? thank you. >> i would like to refer you to my exhibit 3. the documents here came to me from you, the board of appeals. it is right there, august 4, 2010. this is the cover note. we have already be

those screwed up homeowners nearly a quarter of all homeowners in our nation are underwater on their mortgages or meaning they owe more than their houses are worth that's according to a new report released yesterday by the housing firm core logic that shows that more than eleven million americans are stuck paying huge mortgages devalued houses two thirds of the homeowners in nevada are underwater a half of the homeowners in california florida michigan arizona same situation and that doesn't include the millions more who already foreclosed have already been thrown out of their homes or already foreclosed and they're now living in their cars or if they're lucky they sleep in our relatives couch or almost shelter. so what's going on here how long until our housing market recovers and what's going on with the banks toure's who created this problem joining me michael hudson staff writer of business and financial investigations and author of the monster gang of predatory lenders and wall street bankers at least america michael thanks for joining us from our studio in new york welcome to th

and the coincidence that kepl the homeowner from going out here this morning -- that kept the homeownerfrom going out here this morning. >>> the agency says poisoning from eating mussels can lead to severe illness including coma and even death in some cases. the quarantine continues until october. >>> game two of the annual bay bridge series, bill sounds like it's going to be a good night for baseball. >> yeah, it is. last week when we were doing baseball with the rain, this week outstanding weather. temperatures today into the 70s. temperatures tomorrow into the eight 0s 80s and even warmer as we head into the end of the week. you see most of the bay area on the southern end of those clouds. santa rosa got to 75 degrees today. actually got to 73 but right now it's 72. livermore 67. and of course the weather from last week, a distant memory. it's amazing. i always say this. one of my old instructors told me this years ago. people have really short weather memories. so here's this beautiful day today. beautiful day yesterday. and last week we were doing weather advisories. temperatures a

we reduced 10,000 of those homeowners. roughly, you have 10,000 reductions that we did on our own. 1700 reductions were done through this application process. 5000 time shares is how you get to the 17,000 number. just to give you a comparison, it is quite a bit in san francisco. these are huge numbers, larger than the dot com bust. alameda and santa clara did about 1000 come a tenfold. -- 1000, tenfold. we are doing better than our counterparts in other parts of the bay area. i feel fortunate. the tax reduction was about 21 million in taxes that were not cote

now, just like all these properties, it's not owned by a homeowner. there's no homeowner there. it's owned by a bank. or real estate speculator. it might have been somebody that put someone in this house with what we call an exploding loan. put someone in that house that couldn't afford it. so what do we do? we construct a program that says to this bank that owns this property, is tage taxes to the government on this -- paying taxes to the government on this property, we don't say tear this down. or we don't say we are going to condemn it and convert it. and we are going to get it with no charge. no, we buy it. now, is that right? you said the banks caused this, the lenders. we ought to do what -- we ought to penalize those at fault. well, how does penalizing a lender who made a loan on this property, how is writing them a check, how is that fair? no, it's not. this is a bailout for lenders and speculators. now, is it fair? is it fair to our grandchildren and children? $4 billion every day that goes out of our treasury. more than we bring in. $4 billion a day. in fact, the defic

they haven't helped every homeowner we want. but we shouldn't be in a position of just destroying the programs. the neighborhood stabilization program in particular was established to help communities acquire, rehabilitate, and resell abandoned and foreclosed properties as a result of the growing foreclosure crisis. there are so many economists across this country who tell us every single day until we get the housing market straight, we will not get this economy straight. and so i believe in theory in these programs, declining home values in my community have led to lower tax revenues for our local jurisdiction that is are already suffering from the impact of the economic downturn. in state -- the statewid foreclosure crisis has hit particularly hard in my district and the counties i represent in prince george's and montgomery county, maryland. they have the first and third highest foreclosure rates in our state and account for 40% of t foreclosures statewide. through the neighborhood stabilization program, montgomery county rec

the dangers for homeowners and the dilema for one person for purchasing a red tagged property. >>> it'sace to try to survive a tsunami. >> boat owners want answers. what they should have done to protect them from the damaging tsunami. >>> what one bay area family discovered after just a few days of changing their diet all in the name of science. good everyoning, i'm dana king. >> and i'm ken. and tonight, city leaders say it is time to declare a state of emergency. >> homes are literally holding up the side of a hill that came tumbling down in recent rains. four houses on carson street have been red tagged. four more are threatened. robert lial got a look inside a red tagged home that he has never been allowed to live in. >> i contacted them and i was told the hill is already inside my house. >> this is first time he ventured inside his home. he allowed cbs 5 cameras in for a look at the unbelievable wall of mud. it's the height of the first floor of the house and it ripped the stucco out like tissue paper, buckling the fireplace. the hillside behind his home started sliding late last w

landslide is causing a number of problems for a homeowner. sue sharon tells ktvu her front yard has fallen several feet over the passed few days. today pg&e crews examined a two inch gas line near her home to make sure it wasn't leaking. the utility says it installs a special valve as a precaution that will automatically shut off that line if there is a change in pressure. >>> now to san pablo. city officials met behind closed doors tonight with homeowners affected by the landslide there. heavy rains last thursday caused the slide there. six homes are affected. two remain yellow tagged, meaning they are not considered safe to live in. the city of san pablo will hold another meeting tomorrow. it has already declared a local emergency which is the first step in collecting state and federal disaster funds. >> two robbery suspects are

because that land is owned by homeowners association, the city stance is that the homeowners have to pay up. abc 7 news. >> and thank you. >> in santa clara county, pg&e crews are on a slide just south of san jose. there is screws installing a shut off valve protecting residents if it causes a leak. the hillside brought down trees and power lines, five families live there and have been told the county cannot do much to help them because it's a private road. >> the city of san pablo will meet to draft an emergency declaration to send to the state in the hopt of getting funds to cover slide losses there. three homes are yellow tagged meaning residents cannot live in them. >> residents of one neighborhood got a scare today. a group of suspected burglars decided to run from police, using homes to hide n police set up a primt ter. and we are live with the story. >> there are many residents getting home from work in a short time from now to find out what has been going on all day long, this is where it started with this stolen car, police say the burglars left behind when they took off to

homeowners outside of nfip. so, if you have a suggestion, if you could submit that for the record, i would appreciate it. and as i mentioned earlier, during the coming months, our subcommittee intends to mark up legislation and implement several reforms that will improve the financial integrity and stability of the program. and i think legislation will require an examination of ways to decrease the role of taxpayers and increase the role of private markets and flood insurance. more specifically, among several provisions, our reform measure will aim to improve flood maps through a fair and transparent process, phase in adequate rates for risk, increase program flexibility to better serve homeowners and enhance local communities' ability to enforce building codes. so, nfip reforms must enhance the program and protect both taxpayers and policyholders. and with that, i would really like to thank all of the witnesses. i think you really have highlighted a lot of issues and explained it to a lot of our members who hav

just up the street, homeowners are dealing with their second power outage since monday. after this 80-foot fir tree crashed down on power and telephone lines. >> i got there and there were wires on the road and pavement. the asphalt was melting in a couple of spot where is the wires was touching it. >>> yesterday we show you a huge fir tree that crushed this home and nearly missed the homeowner inside. the power outages has pg & e crews on 24 hour shifts. >> we're trying to do as much can do and stay safe. >> reporter: some homeowners say yes, mother nature is picking on them. >> we're due for a break. we've had our share of indenses this year. >> reporter: this afternoon the county told us there was no change with the slide or the san lorenzo river where people were evacuated yesterday. but right now it's flowing safely. robert handa. >>> tonight in capitola they are looking at a long clean up from yesterday's storm. check out these picture, you can see the power of all this water from you tube shot in cap to the best of -- capitola idea. >> sandbags out but the water w

to the homeowners will talk with the city about how to move forward. kate thompson is live in san paulo with a preview and a look at how the landslide has changed the properties there. >>kate: homeowners have been waiting for days for this meeting with the city. new information we have is according to the assistant city manager, there have been no soil samples taken from the hillside. i'm sure that will come as a disappointment to many of the homeowners. he said there has been no drilling, no soil samples by the experts. many of the homeowners thought it would get some concrete answers on whether or not that hillside was safe tonight, according to the assistant city manager of they will be getting his preliminary results from when the soil expert to walk through this weekend. we were lucky enough for one of the homeowners whose home suffer the most damage to provide us with pictures of their backyard before the slide, see could really get an idea of how much damage has been done. comparing before and after pictures helps illustrate the extent of the da

homeowners in a south bay neighborhood are dealing with trouble. in mountain view where several people had to vehicle their homes. >> it's quite a dramatic scene at the mobile home park. if we take a look at the video you can see how stevens creek ate away at the backyard. the erosion took over several days and the sunday was the final collapse. one of the men at the mobile homes he was forced out of his home. he has lived here eight years and never seen the creek at the levels which tore away the hillside. he said he lost 50 feet of backyard and two neighbors had the same fate. so we have three monthly homes that are red-tagged. they are not livable because of the erosion at the back of the mobile home because of the creek. there is heavy erosion issues. there is information that indicates that one of these mobile homes is going to be moved later today to an available space but the man that i spoke with said his mobile home is too big and it cannot be moved. the mob home park manager as well as the water district are now working together to try to

. >> a warning to homeowners tonight.s in the mail that the state says you should take a long hard look at. >>> and the show will go on just not in the castro. why britney spears show is being moved at the last minute. >>> and not just the first actress to earn more than a million dollars for a role. tonight a look at her role in what's all this? big news! we have another way to help you save. oh, really? how? by bundling. if you get your homeowners and auto insurance together, we give you even more savings. ooh! big bundle. [ chuckling ] home and auto together. it's like peanut butter and jelly. oh, or like burgers and fries. or pickles and ice cream. unicorns and glitter! no? bundling to save you more. now, that's progressive! call or click today. age payments: . >>> the state is now telling bay area homeowners having trouble making their mortgage payments be careful of a new batch of letters in the mail. julie shows you what they offer. >> reporter: cheryl and bennie say it was ray of hope, a let erin viting them to jo

it is a race against the clock basically for these homeowners. will they get emergency funding from the state? or will their houses go tumbling down the hillside first? >> the only way our house can be saved is first on the hill. the hill has been compromised. >> leon walker and his family are living at a hotel after his house was yellow taged on this rain ravaged hillside above san pablo road. he joined five other homeowners including the city manager to figure out what is next. >> the repairs were estimated at about five million across the repair. that's beyond the capabilities of the city of san pablo. so we are reaching out for state and federal assistance. >> i understand it is beurocracy and it is government and things move slowly. we are dealing with lives and people's homes. it is devastating and disappointing we can't get more answers more quickly. >> she is still in her home, but her insurance company won't help because they say it is flood related. entire backyards here disappeared. decks and steps hang eerily suspended in midair follo

american homeowners are struggling. nearly seven million homeowners are facing foreclosure in this country. one in every four houses are owned by people who owe more than what the house is worth. more than half a million homeowners have been able to stay in their home because of the affordable modification program, or hamp. ending that program will undoubtedly kick families out of their homes. that's something the republicans realized they didn't want to do before a 10-day recess. now, i'll be the first to admit, the affordable modification program is not perfect, so let's fix it or replace it with something better. however, i have yet to see a legitimate alternative from the house republicans. they just want to cut, cut, cut, cut. cutting deficits is important, but the republican policies and scheduling gimmicks indicate they don't really care about the american people. every republican member should watch the "60 minutes" special entitled "hard times generation." it aired two sundays ago on march 6. the special focuse

homeowners say yes, they are.ned on live their lives out in these homes and they don't want to think about plan "b". >> kristen: the storm also causing major problems for residents in san jose. the sliding hillside there is affecting all five homeowners on a private road off of almaden. so much water is running down the hillside that the pavement now is coming apart and damaging under ground utility lines. >> the hillside is manager the gas lines break. i talked to pg&e and they said, we'll keep fixing them. i said, what happens the next time you turn on my gas stove? i'm going to blow my house sky high. they don't have an answer. >> kristen: residents have been sed told they can't do anything to help but the emergency management will at least access the situation. >> eric: this morning a former teammate is expected to resume his testimony in bonds' perjury trial. yesterday jason giambi and younger brother jeremy testified about their steroid use. they also talked about meeting bonds' former trainer greg anderson

that is uncertain for the homeowner. they don't really, have insurance, if anything happens, will be protected. i hate to be a homeowner right noi. >> the back side of one mobile home appears to have suffered some slight damage. no one was injured. residents in the homes effected are staying in motels. >>> and unstable hillside has close add road there. it's on scenic avenue. you could see crews were out there inspecting the cracks and the stability of the hillside. so far, there's no estimate on when the road will reopen. >>> new tonight at 11:00, worried parents gathered in berkeley after another student was seen near a high school campus possibly carrying a gun. kron4 jonathan bloom, where parents loudly voiced their concerns to the district. >> parents told the berkeley school board something has to be done before somebody gets killed. after five students in less than two months were found carrying guns. police and district officials say all options are opt table. >> las to be stopped. >> my blood has been boiling th

it was hissing at homeowners. >> redwood city police did not want to risk the safety of the people in this community. >> there is a hospital and alameda which is a thoroughfare. >> so at 11:00 a.m. fish and game decided there was no option but to shoot the animal. then it was taken away. >> this weighed over 100 pounds. a big fat. >> and the fish and game says it weighed 120 pounds, a female, again, a big cat. >> thank you very much n 2004, palo alto police shot a mountain lion. a dog chased it into a tree, where police shot it. the city received hundreds of complaints. neighbors in the berkeley hills expressed concerns about mountain lions biologists encouraged residents to live and let live with the animals. >> a hill slid sliding five years is causing new problems. eight homes in the neighborhood known as the heights have been severely damaged. tonight the city council is expected to declare a state of emergency. wayne freedman is live for us. >> despite clear skies there is an uncertain future. the reason is that hillside. that is only superficial damage. there are four red-tagged

it was already hissing at the homeowners. and the people on the backyard. but it weighed over 100 pounds he thought. they picked it up, put it in a back bag. it was a big cat. >> reporter: many residents say they were saddened but supported the outcome. >> it's a safety issue. i think you have to do what you have to do. >>> the mountain lion was carried on a blue tarp to the back of a fish and game truck. reporting now in redwood city. maureen naylor. >>> a proposal to toughen the leash law got tougher today. dog leashes will be no longer than 6 feet long on city paths. the ordnance came after a woman got entangled on a dog leash, fell, hit her head and died. >>> residents sent a letter to the -- a peta vice president says calling it the tenderloin conjures up the thoughts of -- >>> we're all taking cuts. that is the reality and the mainstay of municipal policing today in the state of california. in every one of those you have police officers that are unhappy. >>> bats tells us he's working on a plan that is more efficient and to fix broken equipment. he ad

afford and remain a homeowner and a sustainable way. but there are implications beyond those bedrock principles that we lay out the differences between the various options, particularly around availability and pricing of the 30-year mortgage. it would be different and there clearly would be less availability of a fixed rate 30- year mortgage and higher pricing on that and onone relative to option three. >> an important point you made. it is not just the homeowner but we have a great tradition of thousands of small businesses started because people were able to borrow against the value of their home. you want to get the value right. we do not know where the balance is but it is important to recognize that whatever we do, it is important that we get the incentives better for people to put predict hold more equity in their house over times. for the bulk of the mortgage market, you want the system to require -- that is very important. you have lots of ways not through fha but other ways to make sure that we get people to help to buy that fi

nbc bay area's cheryl hurd joins us from hercules with a lesson for every homeowner. it brings up serious issues about disclosure here, doesn't it? >> reporter: yes, it does. many left here tonight not knowing if their homes can be saved. this man has been documenting this home since 2008. two days after he got the keys and took over the title, he said he got this letter declaring it a public nuisance. the first indication for him, he bought a home in a mudslide zone. the recent series of storms put at least seven other homes in the same boat he is in. >> even if they demolish the four homes right now, you heard mr. mcguire saying that the homes are now acting as a retaining wall for the hill. it will slide across the street, too. >> that's why dozen of homeowners packed the council members. many own homes on carson street right in the path of what is called the carson slide zone. >> should i walk away? stop making my payments? foreclosure? and then move where? >> reporter: homeowners in many bay area neighborhoods are asking the same questions. three homes in san pab

these homeowners went to the meeting. they learned that the city will send structural engineers and soil engineers out here tomorrow, to reassess the property. it's not just this home. if this home suffered some of the worst, but it's also the house next door to this one which has suffered some terrible damage. we could show you video, when i visited that home earlier today, she has lived in this home in san paulo for decades. her retaining wall has completely swept down this hill, there are cracks in the earth and the mud in her yard. some offer trees have started to slide downhill and also her deck might be compromised. parts of for deck in the foundation have started to also move. she's very concerned about her home. she has lived here most of her life. the main concern, who is going to pay for all of this? >> to see a crevice, the crater in your backyard? your trees looking like they're going to tip over any moment. i think to myself, oh my gosh, just as going to cost? it's sad that not only myself but other homeowner

again, this is not a win for the homeowners. it's also not a win for the tax paying american families. $8.12 billion obligated. we have to go in and look this evening, go in when you tuck your children in bed this evening and ask yourself, are we doing this, is this the best interest of the future generations? is this the best use of our taxpayer funds? we have to be truthful with the american taxpayer, we have to be truthful with the american people. that's what you sent us here to washington to do is to look you in the eye and be truthful with you. this is a program that doesn't work, that doesn't mean that we don't want to help out homeowners, we do not want to be wasteful with your tax dollars. we have to go back to the drawing board because right now this absolutely is a program that by all accounts has failed. so when you look at your children and grand children, know that we -- grandchildren, know that we can and must do better. i think that we have an obligation when we look at the american family. is this the best use o

red is homeowners can't stay inside, yellow they can't go in at all. you can see the tons of soil that has been on the move. martin gonzalez says he tried to buy landslide insurance years ago but no one would sell it. tonight his home is yellow tagged and his family doesn't know where to go. >> they told me, we want to move out. we don't want to get buried alive. >> reporter: tonight the council declared a national emergency. >> we have problems in san pa proand they hope we can tie it together and make ate regional response from the state -- problems in san pablo and they hope we can tie it together to make it a regional response. >> the city says our homeowners association owned the land and there's a problem. >> reporter: now city officials are considering contemplating demolishing the homes. >> i want to know that the city is behind us and will work with us and help us get through this. this is a tragedy. >> reporter: with the dry weather now you would think that problem is over. but the chief building official here said one of the houses here toda

red is homeowners can't stay inside, yellow they can't go in at all. you can see the tons of soil that has been on the move. martin gonzalez says he tried to buy landslide insurance years ago but no one would sell it. tonight his home is yellow tagged and his family doesn't know where to go. >> they told me, we want to move out. we don't want to get buried alive. >> reporter: tonight the council declared a national emergency. >> we have problems in san pa proand they hope we can tie it together and make ate regional response from the state -- problems in san pablo and they hope we can tie it together to make it a regional response. >> the city says our homeowners association owned the land and there's a problem. >> reporter: now city officials are considering contemplating demolishing the homes. >> i want to know that the city is behind us and will work with us and help us get through this. this is a tragedy. >> reporter: with the dry weather now you would think that problem is over. but the chief building official here said one of the houses here toda