Household HSBC Watch

Citigroup Inc., HSBC Finance Corp. and seven other companies agreed to help delinquent homeowners in Ohio avoid foreclosure in the first such accord between a state and home-loan servicers, Governor Ted Strickland said. Like alcoholics that keep drinking, the companies pledged to make an effort. Banks and other lenders pledged to modify terms on adjustable-rate and subprime mortgages, contact at-risk borrowers as soon as possible, and report progress to the state.

While some participants may be since we question the sincerity of HSBC - specifically HSBC Finance, formerly known as Household International / HFC/ Beneficial. How old can these subprime loans be? What about old ‘daily-interest’ loans? Former Beneficial loans? Does the state know about loans where the balance never went down? What about loans that still exist but were covered as part of Household International’s nationwide $484 million predatory lending settlement? Does Ohio have complete and open discovery at HSBC Ohio?

The non-binding agreements were reached about five months after Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann issued more than a dozen subpoenas to mortgage companies. What was in the subpoenas? Time will tell, but we question the sincerity of HSBC in Ohio for obvious reasons. One is the miserable track record of HFC and Beneficial. The second reason is the failure of HSBC Plc to control a division that is losing money and cannot pay down their debt.