The reason: under the new law, an appraiser cannot have any information about the transaction and therefore cannot make any attempt to try to make the transaction work.

"Sounds good, sounds fair and too bad we didn't have this before and we wouldn't be in this mess," say the politicians. The missing piece of the puzzle is that every appraiser is held accountable for the value he or she arrives at for the particular transaction. Therefore, it is common sense that the appraiser will always look for a way to bring the value as low as possible. It happens regularly and there is no rebuttal. You can have another appraisal done, but the same rules apply.

Many would believe the method described above would prevent foreclosures, but the number one and number two reasons for a homeowner to allow a foreclosure to be initiated are lack of a job and means to pay back the mortgage, which of course includes lack of sufficient liquid reserves. (Writers note: Congress has seen the statistics from the National Association of Real Estate and the statement that HVCC is stopping many transactions from closing, and is trying to effectively put an end to this new practice which is just two months old.)

You have read my reasons for believing we can turn the economy if we can make our citizens realize that everyone has a part in this country in advancing us forward to the good life, and each and every citizen needs to accept personal responsibility for their actions, good and bad.

Let's give up the thought about getting a free lunch and start working to cut the waste and perhaps nobody will be in need of a free lunch.