This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
Since January, lenders have seized or begun the process to seize about two million American homes. In September alone, banks and other financial companies reclaimed over one hundred thousand properties because of unpaid loans. That was the most yet since the housing collapse that led to the recent recession.
自今年1月以来，贷款机构已经冻结或开始冻结200万套美国住房。仅在9月，由于拖欠贷款，银行和其他金融机构就收回了超过10万套住房。这是自导致本次经济衰退的房地产崩盘以来，收回住房数量最多的一月。
Now, efforts to speed a housing recovery have hit new problems. These include questions about whether banks have acted unlawfully in reclaiming some homes.
目前，促进房地产复苏的措施遭遇了新的问题。这其中包括银行在收回房屋的过程中是否有违法行为。
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.
关于最近经常谈到的“签字机器”等违规行为的报告不断增加。“签字机器”是指工作人员在没有履行必要的法律程序，甚至没有阅读文件的情况下在止赎表格上签名，他们只是机械地签字。在一些案例中，文件可能已被篡改。
Last week, the top law enforcement officials in all fifty states announced an investigation of big servicers of home loans. Servicers receive the payments from borrowers and might also hold the loans.
上周，所有50个州的最高执法机构宣布对大型房屋贷款机构展开调查。贷款机构收到借款方月供，那么就可能保持贷款。
Among the targets of the attorney-general investigations are Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Ally Financial. An Ally employee admitted robo-signing thousands of foreclosures each month.
司法部调查的目标是美国银行，摩根大通公司（J.P. Morgan Chase）和通用金融公司（Ally Financial）。一位通用金融公司的职员承认每个月机械地签几千份止赎书。
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.
奥巴马政府也展开了独立调查。白宫发言人罗伯特·吉布斯（Robert Gibbs）称，几个机构正对银行处理不良贷款的方式进行调查。
ROBERT GIBBS: "We are looking at their process in order to determine their compliance 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."
吉布斯：“我们正在调查他们的处理程序，以确定他们是否遵守相关法律规定。显然，他们必须满足法律框架下的一些特定要求。否则，他们肯定将面临政府的处罚和业主的诉讼。”
But the administration has not supported the idea of a temporary suspension of all foreclosures. Officials say this could endanger the slow economic recovery.
但是，奥巴马政府拒绝支持暂停所有止赎的建议，官员表示，这可能会使本就迟缓的经济复苏重新陷入危机。
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.
有23个州要求法院审核止赎。一些银行已经暂停了这些州的止赎程序，以重新审核他们的操作。目前，美国最大的银行美国银行认为可以重启这些州的房屋止赎。
Robo-signers are not the only concern right now. "Put-backs" have joined the list of bank worries. In a "put-back," investors try to force a bank to take back a bad loan.
“签名机器”并不是目前唯一的问题。“债券回购”也引起了银行的担忧。在“债券回购”中，投资者试图迫使银行回购不良贷款债券。
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 improperly processed loans included in those securities.
本周，美国银行表示，它收到了一封来自持有近500亿美元抵押贷款债券的投资者的信。这种债券基于大量的个人贷款，投资者希望银行回购所有包含不良贷款的债券。
Demands on banks for put-backs could grow. And there are even questions about who really owns those bad loans.
对银行“回购债券”的要求可能会继续增加。甚至还存在谁实际持有这些不良贷款的问题。
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