but socialists come to the rescue http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/070417/fanniemae_freddiemac_subprime.html?.v=1
I could give a shit about the fucking morons who got in head over heels with loans that turn inside out after 3 years. I'm as liberal as the next guy, but Congress stepping in to bail out these non-fine print reading douchebags, well, that pisses me off...especially since I was one of the 'smart' ones who resisted the urge to use my real estate as a cash machine.. Predatory lending, is, and still remains the problem. As far as I know, many of these firms (here in CA) are starting to go away...
People said the same thing about the internet companies that were losing money selling pet food below whole sale on the internet. "it's a new paradigm" they said. There is only one constant that is true about the markets. It is the sheer unbridled stupidity of the common man. The suckers who bought into the "new paradigm" were all sucked out of the markets. And this time will be no different.
yeah, go figure. no one gave me any money after dot.com hit my portfolio, and no one subsidized my home for me. in fact, all i aver seem to get are tax bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. heck, just what my business pays the state every year in unemployment and workers comp is over $400k/yr. where is my freeby?
Congress Addresses Subprime Crisis Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say they'll help troubled homeowners. Source: BUILDER Online News Service Publication date: April 17, 2007 By Steve Zurier The top executives of the two government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, told the House Committee on Financial Services today that they plan to offer programs to help homeowners facing delinquent subprime loans with opportunities to refinance and stay in their homes. The subprime mess has reached crisis proportions as the widely cited Center for Responsible Lending reports that 4 percent of U.S. homeowners--or about 2.2 million--face the prospect of losing their homes. Subprime defaults are particularly acute in economically distressed areas such as the Midwest, and in Gulf Coast states such as Mississippi and Louisiana. Daniel Mudd, Fannie Mae's president and CEO, estimates that roughly 1.5 million homeowners who face resetting ARMs and payment shock this year could be eligible for Fannie Mae's loan options. "Right now, we're getting at least 15,000 applications for subprime refinancing coming into our system per month," Mudd told the committee, adding that through its new HomeStay initiative, Fannie Mae will offer 30- and 40-year fixed-rate mortgages through roughly 2,000 lenders nationwide. "These loans include our usual borrower-friendly options such as low down payments, long-term fixed rates, low fees and points, a prohibition on pre-payment penalties, and a ban on arbitration clauses," Mudd said, pointing out that homeowners facing imminent payment shock will be able to refinance into a Fannie loan without first having to clear-up unpaid bills on their credit reports. Richard Syron, chairman and CEO of Freddie Mac, said his organization will have financing alternatives for troubled homeowners by mid-summer. He said the offerings will include 30-year and possibly 40-year fixed-rate mortgages and ARMs with reduced margins and longer fixed-rate periods. "The one thing we need to do is distinguish between those borrowers who can be rescued and those who cannot," Syron said. "I realize such a triage will not be easy or popular, but policy prescriptions such as widespread 'bailouts' or foreclosure moratoriums should be considered only in certain extreme situations, such as in the aftermath of natural disasters," he continued. Syron may have been referring to last week's proposal by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who supports a government bailout for homeowners facing foreclosure due to predatory subprime loans. "I can't agree with taking taxpayer dollars to address this problem, that's premature in my judgment," said Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee. "What we're looking to do today is to see what legislation is needed moving forward," said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who chairs the House committee. "There's an element of concentration to these loans where blight and other economic problems [may increase] ... and we have to figure out what we can do to help people in these situations," Frank concluded.
Washington Mutual commits $2 bln for subprime help Wednesday April 18, 3:38 pm ET By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE:WM - News), the largest U.S. savings and loan, said on Wednesday it will refinance up to $2 billion in subprime home loans at below-market rates to help borrowers who might otherwise struggle to keep up with payments. ADVERTISEMENT The decision comes amid growing defaults nationwide by homeowners with weaker credit histories as gains in housing prices slow, rates on many mortgages adjust higher, and lending standards tighten. Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News), the second-largest provider of funding for home loans, on Wednesday committed to buy up to $20 billion of subprime mortgages. That could encourage lenders to offer the loans, by ensuring demand to buy them after they're made. Seattle-based WaMu, as the thrift calls itself, said borrowers who are current on existing WaMu subprime loans and expect payment increases, typically in the next six months, may apply for discounted fixed-rate loans and other mortgages. One option is a 30-year fixed-rate loan yielding one-half of a percentage point less than the going rate, it said. WaMu said it ended March with $20.4 billion of subprime loans on its books, or 9 percent of its $217 billion loan portfolio. "Not all borrowers will need to, or want to, change their mortgages," said David Schneider, president of WaMu's home loans unit, in an interview. "Our primary concern is people who are coming up against rate resets. It's 10,000 to 15,000 customers we think we can help." Rising defaults can deepen lenders' credit losses, hurting earnings. The U.S. Federal Reserve has estimated it costs a bank $50,000 to foreclose on a home. "It's in no one's interest for consumers to experience difficulties, or lose their homes," Schneider said. U.S. home foreclosures rose 47 percent in March from a year earlier, real estate data firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Wednesday. The foreclosure rate set a record high in the fourth quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Last week, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - News) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC - News) said they were working with an advocacy group to offer $1 billion in mortgages at below-market rates to subprime borrowers. This program differs from WaMu's because it is designed to benefit victims of abusive lending practices. Subprime lending was the main reason that WaMu's home loans unit posted a $113 million first-quarter loss on Tuesday. That contributed to a 20 percent decline in WaMu's overall profit to $784 million. Results still topped analyst estimates. WaMu shares rose $1.95, or 4.9 percent, to $42.08 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (Additional reporting by Patrick Rucker)