Monday, April 11, 2011

Contracting Out Is A Bad Idea.

It is unbelievable that some esteemed banks had used forged documents to foreclose mortgages. Bankers are supposed to be the prudent men who are learned and trustworthy. But in this case they made themselves a costly mess that will take years of undoing. Their sloppy works also cost many unfortunate people undue hardships that can never be righted timely.

According to a story on "60 Minutes" last Sunday, millions of houses were foreclosed with invalid documents. Thanks to an observant home owner. She noticed the signatures on the legal documents were not genuine and were penned by different persons. Now many former home owners, whose homes were foreclosed wrongfully, are suing the banks on losing their homes. Hopefully, they can return to their homes soon.

This story brings to mind the perils in contracting out: One of them is losing control.


By buying out their competitors, the modern banks are getting bigger and bigger. They are getting so big to a point they farmed out the loan servicing part of the business to a third party. This explains why on occasions when we could never get hold of the original banker who financed our home. We, the borrowers, are simply becoming faceless numbers on a loan servicing company’s books. I grant this division of labor has its merits. But when the scheme is getting too large, inefficiency and malfeasance creep in. - Ayee

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