Yup. Reminds me of an old saying my Dad told me. 'If you borrow 200 grand you are in debt. If you borrow 200 million you are in business'
Does anyone here really not see literally close to a million or even many millions of people mailing the keys in if their homes remain under water for the next several years? Is this not the economically rational choice when one throws out any issues of ethics?
Bidask, The process varies from state to state once the foreclosure action happens but takes anywhere from 3 months to about a year if there are no delays in the process. There are two types of foreclosure: judicial and power of sale. For example, Texas is one of the fastest and PA is pretty tenant/homeowner friendly. As someone who worked for a large bank in loss mitigation before trading full time, I agree that the worst is not over. And the longest I know of where someone staying in a home without paying was 10 years (granted this is a pretty extreme example). And that was well before the current crisis. If you know how the system works, you can drag the process out a long time if you have no regard for your credit. Once the process of foreclosure has been completed and the homeowner loses the home, they are evicted by the bank like a regular tenant in the landlord/tenant relationship if they donât vacate when told to. If they try to stay they will eventually have their stuff âset out â on the curb. That process usually takes 30-60 days. Some banks are slow to start the process and others get right to the business of getting the home ready to market. About the dumbest thing you can do if you ask me as the only way to make your foreclosure record worse is to add an eviction to your resident record. Most states have info online and if you do some Goggling you can find a lot of info if you are so inclined. Some very large banks still havenât done even one of the âhope for homeownersâ modifications yet. But they are âGetting close to doing them, â according to friends still in the business. More money down the drain but I digress. Good trading BM
Absolutely it is a huge problem, but as to your second point....why should the American people be ethical, with banks and politicians that are unethical? The politicians point guns at the people and tell them, "give your money to the banks - now!" and the bankers take the money. Is there no gun involved? Try not paying your taxes and see how long until somebody (somebody willing to kill you) shows up at your door (with a gun) and demands your money - to pay taxes - and the TARP. -gastropod
If that starts to become the norm, I would like to see Congress pass a law disqualifying any of these homeowners from getting a gov't insured loan for at least 10 years, and/or be unable to discharge the subsequent deficiency judgment in bankruptcy court.