‘Reduced motivation to retain possession’

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Just a quickie: I was reading through the Fed’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey -- you know, light reading -- and found this little nugget at the very end (the subcategory is Special Questions on Loss-Mitigation Strategies on Residential Mortgage Loans): ‘Respondents anticipate difficulties in contacting borrowers, and they are concerned with borrowers’ reduced motivation to retain possession of their properties.’

In other words, banks are telling the Fed they are worried that some borrowers will walk away and mail in the keys. In plain English, we call this ‘jingle mail,’ or ‘just walking away,’ but in this cycle, we have much more impressive-sounding terms, including ‘voluntary foreclosure,’ and now, ‘reduced motivation to retain possession.’ I think we can shorten that to ‘REMO-REPO.’

Joking aside, this is serious stuff. The ‘jingle mail’ story is not just anecdote -- it is a growing worry for banks and lenders. By the way, Reuters’ take on the Fed survey: ‘Banks in the United States tightened their lending standards and terms for businesses and consumers alike amid a deteriorating economic outlook, a Federal Reserve survey showed on Monday.’

Comments? Thoughts? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com