Mortgage Bailout

Synaptrik

You're missing a key element here. Banks have programs available to restructure the loan and get these people through a crisis like losing a job. But loan modification departments are not being honest and fair. One example is Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Quoted over the phone one plan, but then sent papers for a different plan with a balloon payment, when questioned about it, the response was: "Don't worry about that." Seriously. The loan-servicing people are not being responsible to the note holders or the customers. If a house has positive equity they have no reason to work with the people. Google Loan Modification Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Corruption and you'll see many stories of the banks messing with the people. In one case they were going to provide a moritorium and a modification, but since the customer got employed he didn't qualify for that and they demanded payment in full, instead of tacking the remaining owed on the back end of the loan, even when shown that the new job could afford the payments. So, I guess we really should just give all the money to the banks, then they'll have the money and the houses. Here's one story: I lost my house. I had a job and could afford it. They wouldn't work with me without a balloon payment of 14,000. We settled, I don't owe any taxes as they made 15,000 from the available equity in my house and that was after calculating what was late. I lost my job without warning. Savings didn't make it that long. Got a good job again, and they wouldn't work with me. They took my house. I had a 30 year fixed with a good interest rate as well. But due to my mother needing support all the time I couldn't maintain enough savings to cover the 6 months of no work and my mortgage payment. I was self employed when the contract was cancelled, and had no unemployment either. Such is life when you are at the mercy of the loan modification department. They stole my house. So, enjoy the comfort of your assumptions. There are more stories like this. Easily found on the net.

This statement is false

Synaptrik

But letting all of those houses collapse just exacerbates the problem. The issue is how to keep the economy from caving in. The money goes to the banks or the people. More foreclosures means more property values fall, which leads to...

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CSS_Shadow

Thats because you are a nigger, don't pay taxes, and collect welfare handouts from us whities.

bulg

Do you live in this country? Do you believe a government is necessary part of human civilization? Then you (tacitly) give your money to the government. If you truly didn't believe the government was necessary, you wouldn't. Every modern democracy has taxes. Taxes mean government. If you don't like it, go live somewhere you don't need government. I'm not going to define what government encompasses, suffice it to say that a lot of people who argue and make rules that you may not necessarily agree with go into it. But you take what you can get, because this is not a theoretical world.

bulg

have you driven through (AZ | NV)? There's a reason land is cheap there. I'm sure you could build a mansion in Lone Pine or Mojave, if you wanted. Fresno, too.

Ed Gadziemski

BoneSoft wrote:

Did that really deserve a 1?

I didn't think so. I didn't vote on it.

Ed Gadziemski

Chris Austin wrote:

I (and my son) will be paying for the guy next door's house that is bigger and fancier than mine yet they have always made less than us and bragged about their credit card debt. It's not right.

No, it's not. Many things in life are not right.

Chris Austin wrote:

I pay taxes in six states and what does it have to do with the price of tea in china?

It gives you the right to complain about taxes if you want to. However, people in states Alabama that get Federal welfare by receiving more than they pay need to STFU. That includes Sen. Shelby and other jerks like him.

Ed Gadziemski

73Zeppelin wrote:

If you want to look for the root of the problem, then the chain of causality doesn't start with securitized mortgage products.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I made no such claim. :confused:

Chris Austin

bulg wrote:

have you driven through (AZ | NV)? There's a reason land is cheap there. I'm sure you could build a mansion in Lone Pine or Mojave, if you wanted. Fresno, too.

My goodness, you are not very bright. I am from Phoenix. I am also extremely aware that home values in the Phoenix metro area and many metro areas in Nevada skyrocketed over the last eight years in comparison to the rest of the country along with California and Florida. But, presently home values in Phoenix and Vegas have taken a substantial beating in comparison to those in the People's Republic of Cali. That was the point that Jon and I were discussing. Simply how Cali's prices are versus a few of it's neighboring states.

Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --?

Chris Austin

Please. As you stated you know this is not a theoretical world. I made no value statement about the merit of taxes or government, just simply that we do not freely give it to the government; it is taken from us and with force if we object.

Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --?

Stan Shannon

Christian Graus wrote:

What about the fire service ? Ambulances ? The forest service ? The list goes on.

General Welfare - good. Targeted welfare that requires redistribution of wealth from one economic class to another - bad.

Christian Graus wrote:

I tend to agree, and that's the problem with welfare, is that people will vote for whoever pays them the most. Personally, I think that those on the state's dime, should not be allowed to vote until they have a job and are paying taxes.

Than we agree completely.

Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

bulg

Are you disagreeing with me that land in Ca. should in general be worth more than land in Az / Nv ? Because that's what I was saying. And I would bet that those places I mentioned have taken a land-value beating comparable to Az & Nv (in terms of years since they were worth what they are worth today), though I'm not going to look it up. Simply, that discussing such an issue on a state-wide level sounds like arm-chair philosophy, and that I would suggest the importance of climate & geography.

bulg

I may have been totally off on the tone of your post then, I thought you were insinuating that you would withhold your taxes if you could when the government isn't doing what you want it to do. edit: However I disagree with your (now clear) thesis that we do not freely give to the government. You choose to live here means you choose to pay taxes and support the government. You can choose to leave, and not pay taxes. You cannot separate the choice you make to live & work here from the responsibilities that come w/ that choice.

modified on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 8:21 PM

BoneSoft

Carter started the Community Reinvestment Act, Clinton put it on steroids with his addition of the SubPrime Mortgage. Though I think it was fairly tame at the time and was probably set up to actually do some good (besides the fact that it was motivated primarily by an affirmative action mindset). I think activists pressing the issue were what really started to do damage, and the subprime just made it worse. CRA just opened the door for exploitation, some of which probably couldn't have been foreseen at the time. But it was the begining of the realization of the dream of getting people into homes who couldn't afford them.

Visit BoneSoft.com for code generation tools (XML & XSD -> C#, VB, etc...) and some free developer tools as well.

BoneSoft

I didn't figure you did. It's my dedicated shadow.

Visit BoneSoft.com for code generation tools (XML & XSD -> C#, VB, etc...) and some free developer tools as well.

Chris Austin

bulg wrote:

Simply, that discussing such an issue on a state-wide level sounds like arm-chair philosophy, and that I would suggest the importance of climate & geography.

Dude. You really need to read what I initially said. I was discussing affordability. It is my opinion that prices in CA are completely detached from reality regardless of the location. I am not arm-chair philosophizing about it, I have been knee deep in it since 96 when I moved to San Diego to work at QualCom (and moved 3 years later to work at TI). I still own a house in Rancho Bernardo that I rent out. Up until just last year I was constantly getting ridiculous offers from people who wanted to buy the house even though it wasn't for sale. People were buying homes there on 50 year notes that they still couldn't afford. I agree that the climate in a few places in CA is awesome but most of central and southern CA is identical to every other big city except you get a few beaches.

Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --?