Last week Congress passed, and the President signed some reform bailout package to deal with the current mortgage meltdown.It purpose, so it's supporters claim, was to help stupid borrowers stay in the homes that they cannot afford. I smell the bullshit on this one.
Some history: back in the 90's, after the fall of The Wall, and the emergence of the imaginery 'peace dividend' and the subsequent cutbacks in military spending, California was thrown into an economic spiral downward. Jobs were scarce. Houses where being foreclosed on at a rate never before seen in this state. I took my chances at that time, and got my young family into a decent home at a giveaway price. (about 30% off the original list price).
All around me my new, and unemployed, neighbors were walking away from their homes. Just up an walking off, mostly heading to Arizona or Texas where there was work. For about four years, there was three or four bank-owned properties on every block. It was that bad.
There was no cry-out then to 'save people's homes'. Then again, the home values were not artificially inflated by funny money loans like the problem today. The issue was a plain lack of jobs. If you found work(and you couldn't), you could keep your mortgage. (I soon lost my job as well, but since enough 'went before' me, driving the market down, I was able to hang on with unemployement checks and odd jobs).
The difference today?
There is employment. People can pay a mortgage. Just not the mortgage they agreed to.
If the people are employed, they can also be screwed. By their lenders in cohoots with the government.
The house I'm buying at 45% discount would not likely be available to me today if this Jew and Screw Housing Act was in effect six months ago.
This is a bailout of the lenders. Another gimmick to enslave the gullable further.
It is better to dump the overpriced house, and wait two years (according to FHA rules), and then buy another one saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the now delated price.
I'm not aware of all the particulars that went into this subsidy legislation, but you can bet it's not about saving home owners. It's about screwing them, and rewarding the lenders for bad practices.
2 comments:
When the economy finally falls apart, and it will, it's going to be spectacular.
People complain about oil speculator, but why does no one mention that half of the idiots losing "homes" are flippers/speculators themselves. I have no sympathy for these assholes at all.
Amen. Crony capitalism.
Jack
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