VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - 'Put-Backs,' 'Robo-

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Since January, lenders have seized or begun the process to seize about two million American homes. In September alone, banks and other financial companies reclaimed¹ over one hundred thousand properties because of unpaid² loans. That was the most yet since the housing collapse³ that led to the recent recession.

Now, efforts to speed a housing recovery have hit new problems. These include questions about whether banks have acted unlawfully in reclaiming⁴ some homes.

Reports of abuses have grown with talk lately of "robo-signers." These are employees who sign foreclosure forms without taking the required legal steps or even reading the paperwork. They simply act like robots. In some cases, documents may have been falsified.

Last week, the top law enforcement officials in all fifty states announced an investigation⁵ of big servicers of home loans. Servicers receive the payments from borrowers and might also hold the loans.

Among the targets of the attorney-general investigations⁶ are Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Ally Financial. An Ally employee admitted robo-signing thousands of foreclosures each month.

The Obama administration has launched its own investigation. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says several agencies are looking into the way banks have been processing bad loans.

Lawyers of the Ticktin Law Group stand with evidence provided by 150 "robosigners" which they say shows wrongdoing throughout the home loan industry

ROBERT GIBBS: "We are looking at their process in order to determine their compliance⁷ with the law. Obviously, they have certain requirements under the law that have to be met, and if they’re not meeting those requirements they certainly face fines from us and they can face legal actions from homeowners."

But the administration has not supported the idea of a temporary suspension of all foreclosures. Officials say this could endanger the slow economic recovery.

Twenty-three states require a court to approve a foreclosure. Several banks have suspended foreclosures in those states temporarily to review their operations. Bank of America, the nation's largest bank, now believes it can restart home repossessions in those states.

Robo-signers are not the only concern right now. "Put-backs" have joined the list of bank worries. In a "put-back," investors⁸ try to force a bank to take back a bad loan.

This week, Bank of America said it received a letter from investors holding almost fifty billion dollars in mortgage-backed securities. These are bonds based on large numbers of individual loans. The investors want the bank to buy back any improperly⁹ processed loans included in those securities.

Demands on banks for put-backs could grow. And there are even questions about who really owns those bad loans.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

 

1 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 reclaiming   

v.开拓( reclaim的现在分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• People here are reclaiming land from the sea. 这儿的人们正在填海拓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• How could such a man need reclaiming? 这么一个了不起的人怎么还需要别人拯救呢？ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。