I'm not sure what you said in the rest of your post because of this sentence. This, in my opinion, is the one thing that makes me have a lot of sympathy for people. Have you ever had family that almost went into a stupid financial deal or asked your advice and you instantly knew it was terrible? If your folks were one of these people would you just say they got what they deserve? On some level, yes, I agree. On another...when you have a poor and uneducated old lady in Oklahoma who has been poor her whole life but saved money to buy a house, or got a little money when her husband died recently and is thinking about buying a house. Either she can rent her whole life....or she can do what I would have to imagine everyone in the world dreams of, buy a house. Most people don't just think, "nah, i don't need to own my house and will just rent until i die." I think it's usually a product of circumstance. Well...imagine, like you said, trying decipher Haliburton contracts...is that easy to you? Is it easy to follow the money flow through these companies and their subsidiaries? If so, Goldman Sachs might want to chat to you...because I can pretty much guarantee you those guys get a little brain dent trying to do so. So imagine this poor woman who can't afford a lawyer and is probably working with a local bank or broker to get a house..she find a house and they tell her she can afford it. If they never explain what a recast rate is, does this woman know how to compound new interest rates? Does she know how to figure out what she will owe on a 2year ARM loan? In my opinion...while I don't think that anyone is wholly to blame...I'd be happy to see brokers and lenders get screwed the most. The loans they made were made knowing that 50-70% of people wouldn't qualify for the recast of the loan! That's insane! They knew that in 1-5(mostly 1-2) years the borrowers wouldn't be able to afford the loans anymore! I wouldn't mind seeing most of these lenders going BK for that reason. I see no great solution...but I'm going to be really fucking pissed, as a taxpayer and someone who has purposefully chosen not to buy a house yet(i'm 25) because I saw that prices were out of control, if they use taxpayer's dollars to help lenders or the people who bought houses and need assistance. I'd rather see them liquidate some of these lenders and other firms that were complicit in screwing people and find a solution with that money and then let IndyMac and Freddy handle the loans from here on out. It's harsh but the lenders are real fuckers and while the people were ignorant to sign those loans without fully understanding them I think that's sad that some people think that poor uneducated people should never be able to buy houses because they can't fully understand contracts and should be weary of banks and lenders lying to them. Hopefully there will be a solution that won't hurt...but unless the government infuses a couple hundred billion I don't see any way that they're going to save these people. The ones I don't have sympathy for are speculators and those with high credit who took shit loans so they could still afford the Mercedes to go with the house...California and Florida is loaded to the gills with those types...not stupid, just stupid!
blast 19, I didn't take the time to read your post. however, the quote you posted was NOT my quote. it was a quote from a previous poster.... I'll most likely re-read your post. My post was a rant of people whining when they get themselves in stupid situations. I read a similar story on Yahoo finance. The people knew what they were getting in to before they got in to it. I am sorry they got layed off, and his wife was in an accident, but They still jumped at a loan they barely could afford. trust me, I have done stupid things. By age 25 I was 75K in CONSUMER debt. VERY VERY DUMB!!! I paid the price, but I didnt go whining about it. I changed my ways... PERIOD!!! Was it easy??? No it wasn't. But then again stupid decisions are never easy to bear when the consequences are levied. These people are whining and the media is enjoying exploiting the emotions of americans.... WOuld I assist such a person?? Most likely I would. It's my nature to help. But I dont condone the foolish act.... It is totally based on GREED!!!!
giles, sorry if I accidentally quoted you but I'm not sure I did. Anyway, I understand your point and coming from someone who has never made a silly decision like those who we are discussing it's hard for me to know the situation they were/are in. Agreed...this is a world of cause and action and like I said, while I feel sympathy, I'd be really pissed if my tax dollars go to helping those people. Although I'd rather it go them than most of the other disgusting bullshit politicians use it for. cheers.
No Big deal. I should have properly quoted the original Poster of that quote... My response was to his statement.... Personally I'd rather not see My Tax dollars go that route either. All we do is enable the persons to do the same things again. When I had my rough spell, I had all these people pushing me to grab all the freebies the government offeres. However My wife and I both said NO!!! We got ourselves in this mess, we will get ourselves out of this mess... and we did it. But like you, given the lesser of 2 evils,I'd pick temporary assistance for those who jumped in a dummy bag. One thing, however, they should be taught PROPER SOUND money management.
On some level, yes, I agree. On another...when you have a poor and uneducated old lady in Oklahoma who has been poor her whole life but saved money to buy a house, or got a little money when her husband died recently and is thinking about buying a house. This is a beautiful tale about little old lady but I would venture to say vast majority of people signing those contracts had dollar signs in their eyes just like lenders,brokers etc.
These people paid the price. I was taught, the only security is the security you provide yourself. there is no such thing as Job Security. I learned that at age 16. People want security while the smart financial person is screaming save. Then they invest , but dont take the time to learn about investing. If you dont know about it, either learn it or stay away. PERIOD!!!! It's really simple like that, I would just add,in the meantime, these people are hoping hard to get something for nothing. If humanity weren't greedy and stupid at the same time we would never hear about Ponzi.
......all it takes is one major corporation moving a location outside US to see major devastation. Damn the corporation, what an evil!!!! Like you wouldn't do the same given the chance POSER!!
Statistics please? A link will be fine. I'm not doubting you, but your emphatic statement means nothing because you have nothing to back it up. In the south, not sure if you've ever been there, most people aren't Californian-comfortable. So do say that those people had dollars in their eyes seems shortsighted. Most of the non-subprime stuff is probably people a bit more well off, yes, I agree with that. But the subprime is mostly poor and uneducated. Alt-A stuff is higher FICO with mostly unverified and that's the CA and Southern FL crowd.
I agree with him.. Most people are after the Dollars. In my old rusty belt city I saw it. I talked to many a person who jumped at the chance. The slum Lords who grabbed up cheap properties then refi'd and threw some poor unsuspecting tenant in there. Then lost the properties becasue they OVER-LEVERAGED!!!. Then the little homeowner, who wanted to keep up the the joneses (in this case the drug dealer who had the phat ride with the Chromed out spinners. LOL) Gets a 50K loan on a house that isnt worth (in reality) more than 30k. Never corrected their debt spending lifestyle and is in deeper SHPIT than they were before... Or My Parents!!!! House nearly paid off, refi'd it to get ahold of the 130K in floating equity. To do what?? Satisfy some dumb lusts, and still cant afford to really enjoy life. Barely having 10K to their name... Oh Yeah the 401K. I don't count that, heck it's only valued at 90K. I have to agree, I don't feel sorry for those people. We ask, why so the rich get richer and the poor get poorer??? Becasue the poor never changed what MADE them poor to begin with. Books are on every shelf. READ. The power is in our ability to apply what we read...so... DO!! READ... DO... ENJOY... Dont Read, Dont Do, Stay Broke. These people see big, confusing language in a contract. How hard is it to say, "I dont understand that, let me consult someone 1st, then I'll come back.." If you don't know what a recast rate it, they have public libraries with public computer terminals and PUBLIC!!! internet. Ask somebody to look it up for you. Old is no excuse. I know "OLD" people smart as whips and what they dont know, they search for. They have been mentors in my life... One of my favorite mentors is a 64 yr old man who ran his own business. He wasn't computer saavy, I was. He picked my brain. He used his. LOL.