Mortgage Crisis // Current

One lucky fan every Saturday St. Louis Blues game will get 4 months of their home mortgages paid

Just to show that NHL teams are very aware of the economic woes fans are going through, every Saturday St. Louis Blues NHL game... more

kozeki
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Economy shrinks in third quarter, signaling recession

The economy jolted into reverse during the third quarter as consumers cut back on their spending by the biggest amount in 28... more

Apocalipstick
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A Hillary Obama Joint

Hillary Clinton transitions from opponent to supporter with this speech she gave at an Obama rally in Florida on behalf of his... more

VSiskos
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As the classified ads put it, everything must go. Socks. Christmas ornaments. Microwave ovens. Three-year-old Marita Duarte’s tricycle was sold by her mother, Beatriz, to a stranger for $3 even as her daughter was riding it.

On Mission Ridge Drive and other avenues, lanes and ways in this formerly booming community, even birthday celebrations must go. “It was no money, no birthday,” said Ms. Duarte, who lost her job as a floral designer two months ago. The family commemorated Marita’s third birthday without presents last week, the occasion marked by a small cake with Cinderella on the vanilla frosting. They will move into a rental apartment next month.

An eternity ago, people in this city in northern San Joaquin County braved four-hour round-trip commutes to the San Francisco Bay Area for a toehold on the dream. Today, Manteca’s lawns and driveways are storefronts of the new garage-sale economy — the telltale yellow signs plastered in the rear windows of parked cars Friday through Sunday directing traffic to yet another sale, yet another family.

“You can get great deals,” said Sharrell Johnson, 32, who was scouting for toys in the Indian summer heat last Friday amid boxes of tools and DVDs and forests of little skirts and shirts dangling from plastic hangers on suspended rope. “Sad to say, you’re finding really good things. Because everybody’s losing their homes.”

The garage-sale economy is flourishing here and in many other regions of the country, so much so that some cities have begun cracking down. With more residents trying to increase their income, the city of Weymouth, Mass., limited yard sales to just three a year per address. Detective Sgt. Richard Fuller said it was now common to see 15 cars parked in front of a house.

Richmond, Ind., has had such an onslaught of garage sale signs posted in the right of way that the city has placed stickers on prominent light poles warning of violations and fines.

But it is a Sisyphean task: Manteca’s ordinance, restricting residents to two sales a year, is widely ignored.

The sales are part of the once-underground “thrift economy,” as a team of Brigham Young University sociologists have called it, which includes thrift stores, pawn shops and so-called recessionistas name-brand shopping at Goodwill. As the classified ads put it, everything must go. Socks. Christmas ornaments. Microwave ovens. Three-year-old Marita... more

Apocalipstick
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8 responses

25 days ago

The right blames the credit crisis on poor minority homeowners. Right? Wrong!

Excerpt:

"The thesis is laid out almost daily on The Wall Street Journal editorial page and in the National Review. Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer provides an excellent example, writing that "much of this crisis was brought upon us by the good intentions of good people." He continues: "For decades, starting with Jimmy Carter's Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, there has been bipartisan agreement to use government power to expand homeownership to people who had been shut out for economic reasons or, sometimes, because of racial and ethnic discrimination. What could be a more worthy cause? But it led to tremendous pressure on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—which in turn pressured banks and other lenders—to extend mortgages to people who were borrowing over their heads. That's called subprime lending. It lies at the root of our current calamity." The subtext: if only Congress didn't force banks to lend money to poor minorities, the Dow would be well on its way to 36,000. Or, as Fox Business Channel's Neil Cavuto put it: "I don't remember a clarion call that said: Fannie and Freddie are a disaster. Loaning to minorities and risky folks is a disaster."

Let me get this straight. Investment banks and insurance companies run by centimillionaires blow up, and it's the fault of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and poor minorities?

These arguments are generally made by people who read the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, and ignore the rest of the paper—economic know-nothings whose opinions are informed mostly by ideology and, occasionally, by prejudice. Let's be honest. Fannie and Freddie, which didn't make subprime loans but did buy subprime loans made by others, were part of the problem. Poor congressional oversight was part of the problem. Banks that sought to meet CRA requirements by indiscriminately doling out loans to minorities may have been part of the problem. But none of these issues is the cause of the problem. Not by a long shot. From the beginning, subprime has been a symptom, not a cause. And the notion that the Community Reinvestment Act is somehow responsible for poor lending decisions is absurd.

Here's why."

click the link and read the rest. very educational.Excerpt: "The thesis is laid out almost daily on The Wall Street Journal editorial page and in the National Review.... more

plusaf
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26 days ago

The Myth that Laissez Faire is Responsible for the Financial Crisis.

The myth that laissez faire exists in the present-day United States and is responsible for our current economic crisis is... more

Hawkmang
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13 responses

27 days ago

Credit-Rating Companies `Sold Soul'

Employees at Moody's Investors Service told executives that issuing dubious creditworthy ratings to mortgage-backed... more

Apocalipstick
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27 days ago

Ron Paul: Leaders 'don't understand markets'

While running for the Republican presidential nomination, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas frequently sounded the alarm regarding the... more

Hawkmang
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8 responses

28 days ago

Hedge fund manager slams ‘idiot’ bankers in farewell

Hedge fund manager Andrew Lahde, whose Lahde Capital's Short Credit Fund returned 886 percent in 2007 by betting against the... more

sajh
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1 month ago

Tax Payers Money Not To Be Used

I have a suggestion to help calm the economy via the housing market. This could be done without using tax payer's money. Essentially, it would be a form of downsizing or in a sense a shuffling of the deck with regards to the housing market. My suggestion is as follows:

Take two types of homes:
a) Homes that have already been foreclosed
b) Homes headed for certain foreclosure

A new government regulated process, with accountability and transparency, oversees the transference of a current homeowner facing foreclosure into a smaller home that is vacant due to foreclosure. This would be done only if both parties are in agreement. The homeowner’s equities would be transferred accordingly to this foreclosed property. This transference of equity would have to be determined by a new government formula that would be fair to both homeowner and lender. it would be based on length of time in the home and the dollar amount of the said equity (a form of prorating). In addition the said property would have to be re-appraised to current values. The homeowner would have to be re-qualified based on their abilities to meet their current debt load and the new loan payment on said foreclosed property.

The new loan should be a (proposed) 30 year loan equivalent to the current interest rate (approximately 6%), but should be fixed so there can be no surprises later. No ARMS! This allows the current homeowners to retain their credit, their assets, and their will to continue making payments on all of their debts. The loaning institutions would benefit by slowing down this tremendous foreclosure rate and by eliminating some of their foreclosed properties as well as freeing up loaning monies.

This would bolster the economy in many ways. Debtors would continue to make good on their current debts and loaning institutions would be able to continue to make new loans. Maybe with this change the $700 billion bail out could be used in other areas of economic stimulus and the effects could be farther reaching. The tax payers would be freed from incurring this burden and our economy might be able to rebound.
Thank you, Byron
I have a suggestion to help calm the economy via the housing market. This could be done without using tax payer's money.... more

JuliusBC
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1 month ago

Shoot Yourself, Avoid Foreclosure

Excerpt From Article: AKRON, Ohio - By the time deputies came to escort Addie Polk out of her home of 38 years, the 90-year-old... more

Found_Avenue
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1 month ago

McCain's Mortgage Bailout Plan

The GOP candidate wants to spend $300 billion to buy out "underwater" homeowners at the original value of their... more

starr111
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1 month ago

Ohio shooting puts face on foreclosure crisis - Life- msnbc.com

Addie Polk tried committing suicide to avoid being evicted out of her home

starr111
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1 month ago

What Will the Crisis Mean for Venture Capital? - BusinessWeek.com- msnbc.com

The financial crisis is sure to hit Silicon Valley startups hard, but even the VCs that funded them may find themselves on shaky... more

starr111
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1 month ago

Plan pushed for government to buy bank stocks

Paulson warns that isolationism could worsen the spreading financial crisis

starr111
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1 month ago

Congress may propose a second stimulus plan

Tax rebate, food stamp money, extended jobless benefits are on the table

starr111
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1 month ago

States warned about mortgage crisis -

More than five years ago, in April 2003, the attorneys general of two small states traveled to Washington with a stern warning for... more

starr111
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1 month ago

Busting down Eviction Doors!!

Average mortgage evictions average high.... "victims" of these evictions are cast in a positive light.

starr111
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1 month ago

Insensitivity: Wachovia Refuses to be Outdone

Your Tax Dollar at Work: While waiting to see if the government will relieve it of bad loans, the bank prepares to send 75... more

Apocalipstick
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1 month ago

McCain faces conservative backlash over mortgage plan - CNN.com

John McCain is facing a fresh round of anger from members of his own party deeply opposed to the Arizona senator's proposal for the federal government to purchase troubled mortgage loans.

The pointed backlash from several economic conservatives -- many of whom already distrust McCain's commitment to free-market principles -- couldn't come at a worse time for the Republican presidential nominee less than four weeks before Election Day as he stares at a significant deficit in national and state polls.

But at a time when McCain can't afford to worry about a lack of support from his party's base, several conservatives are openly criticizing the plan as a flagrant reward for reckless behavior among lenders.

In a sharply worded editorial on its Web site Thursday, the editors of The National Review -- an influential bastion of conservative thought -- derided the plan as "creating a level of moral hazard that is unacceptable" and called it a "gift to lenders who abandoned any sense of prudence during the boom years."

Prominent conservative blogger Michelle Malkin went one step further, calling the plan "rotten" and declaring on her blog, "We're Screwed '08."

Matt Lewis, a contributing writer for the conservative Web site Townhall.com, told CNN the plan only further riles conservatives upset with McCain's backing of the massive government bailout plan passed last week.

"Fundamentally, the problem is John McCain accepts a lot of liberal notions, unfortunately. There is somewhat of a populist streak," he said. "Most conservatives really did not like the bailout to begin with, and this was really kind of picking at the scab."

It's not just the plan conservatives are unhappy with, but how it was first unveiled as well -- out of the blue at Tuesday's town-hall debate during which Republicans were instead hoping McCain would present a spirited attack on what they view as Obama's overly liberal positions.

"Here we are watching the debate hoping this is a good format for John McCain to excel at, and the first thing he does is spring this on us," Lewis said. "This is not a good way to win friends and influence people."

"He spent the entire debate assailing massive government spending -- while his featured proposal of the right was to heap on more massive government spending to pursue home ownership retention at all costs," Malkin said.

It's a proposal that is fundamentally at odds with the conservative principle of individual responsibility, and is the latest in a string of public spats conservatives have had over the years and in this election with their party's standard bearer.

But for McCain, the move is another gamble for a candidate in need of a game-changer and one that lends credence to the self-proclaimed maverick's repeated claim that he's unafraid of bucking his own party.

(more at the link)John McCain is facing a fresh round of anger from members of his own party deeply opposed to the Arizona senator's proposal... more