Household HSBC Watch

Rep. Brad Miller, who—along with a handful of other Democrats—is urging the mortgage industry to delay certain foreclosures until the FHA’s “Help for Homeowners” gets going. The program is a key component of the new housing legislation and is intended to help struggling barrowers stay in their homes. Brad Miller contacted HSBC Finance. Specifically Miller wrote to Mr. Niall S. K. Booker, chief executive officer, HSBC Finance Corp. Typical of HSBC there was no reply and nothing happened.

HSBC has a set pattern for dealing with unpopular mail. The first letter is ignored, the second letter is “lost”, and the third letter goes to a black-hole investigation and never comes back out of said investigation. Welcome aboard Mr. Miller. In an interview on August 8, 2008, Miller said he has not received a reply. He went on to say: “The mortgage industry has yet to do the right thing, either in the lending practices that created the crisis or in how they’ve dealt with homeowners in bad mortgages. On the other hand, the chairman of the [House] Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, said publicly that there would be serious consequences if the mortgage industry didn’t do more to modify mortgages to help families keep their homes.”

Here are the people Miller contacted:
1. Mr. Steve Bartlett, president and chief executive officer, Financial Services Roundtable
2. Mr. Joe Belew, president, Consumer Bankers Association
3. Mr. Niall S. K. Booker, chief executive officer, HSBC Finance Corp.
4. Mr. James Dimon, chief executive officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
5. Mr. Bob Dubrish, chief executive officer, Option One
6. Mr. William C. Erbey, chief executive officer, Ocwen Financial Corp.
7. Mr. Camden R. Fine, president and chief executive officer, the Independent Community Bankers of America
8. Mr. Jonathan Kempner, president and chief executive officer, Mortgage Bankers Association
9. Mr. Kerry K. Killinger, chief executive officer, Washington Mutual Inc.
10. Mr. Kenneth D. Lewis, chairman, chief executive officer and president, Bank of America
11. Mr. Martin Lifshutz, chief executive officer, Ameriquest
12. Mr. Larry Litton, president, Litton Loan Servicing
13. Mr. Thomas Marano, chairman and chief executive officer, Residential Capital LLC
14. Mr. George Miller, executive director, American Securitization Forum
15. Mr. Daniel H. Mudd, president and chief executive officer, Fannie Mae
16. Mr. Charles Prince, chief executive officer, Citigroup
17. Mr. John Stumpf, president and chief executive officer, Wells Fargo & Co.
18. Mr. Richard F. Syron, chairman and chief executive officer, Freddie Mac
19. Mr. Edward Yingling, president and chief executive officer, American Bankers Association