Grim Perspective on Mortgage Crisis in Poor Nabes
Former FT scribe and Bed Stuy resident James Doran has a powerful piece on WNYC this morning about how the combination of lending abuse and outright fraud are combining to hit the borough’s poorer neighborhoods like Bed Stuy and East New York particularly hard. I wish I could say that the worst is over but…
Former FT scribe and Bed Stuy resident James Doran has a powerful piece on WNYC this morning about how the combination of lending abuse and outright fraud are combining to hit the borough’s poorer neighborhoods like Bed Stuy and East New York particularly hard. I wish I could say that the worst is over but the projections for NYC are not good,”says Sarah Ludwig, director of Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP). “What you see is that the foreclosure actions filed are overwhelmingly concentrated in New York’s neighborhoods of color.” Doran reports that the number of mortgage fraud cases on the FBI’s plate quadrupled over the past year. One victim is James LeSure, who’s on the verge of losing the building he’s owned on Bushwich Avenue since 1969. After paying off his mortgage completely, LeSure refinanced a few years ago when, with medical bills starting to pile up, he received a cold-call from a mortgage broker promising to solve all his problems with an expensive ARM that would, the broker said, be refinanced into a fixed-rate loan within a few months. That never happened, and now LeSure is in the process of having his one asset taken away from him. New York Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) did one study of Bed Stuy that “almost every other house on the block had risky loans that were likely to default.” Update: The transcript and audio are now available on the link.
Housing Crisis Hits City Hard [WNYC]
NEDAP: Foreclosure Map [WNYC]
Amen Amen Amen !!!!!! 4:10 Preach on brother Amen!!!!!!!!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
BTW I thought I was alone is the world.
The way I see it, it’s not even a race issue. This is a national issue with great implications of America in a globalized world. This housing bubbles started with Greenspan & Co leveraged by easy Chinese credits. Unfortunately, as net result, we are now as much addicted to Asians & Mid-Eastern credits as we are to Saudi’s oil. Of course, Greenspan & Co allowed this to happen and continue, to engender sense of wealth and personal/socioeconomic progress among middle-class Americans despite the fact that avg. American wage haven’t kept up with inflation for the past 7 years. Also, as a *winking* gesture to retiring baby-boomers & greying politicians, Greenspan sought to BAILOUT the boomers of their bankrupted retirement funds and what’s better vechicle than housing, when most of them are prob. homeowners. This is a race thing now, but in due time, it will be a generational thing and we will hate them for it. If WWII generation is the “greatest”, then the baby-boomers will go down as greediest and most wasteful generation ever!!
“Hey What,
If you are soooo convinced of this real estate collapse, and you bought your place and paid it off as you claim, why not sell now and cash in before the coming crash?
If I were in your position, that is what I would do. Then you rent for a while and wait for prices to come down by 50-100% and buy something else….Based on your predictions, maybe the market will come down so much people will actually pay you to take their property!”
This statement shows how clueless people are. Why would i give up my asset for pieces of paper. Money has no intrinsic value! The same price it cost to print a 1 dollar bill is the same cost to print a 100 bill.
Maybe if money was backed by REAL ASSETS like Gold or Silver maybe. But not it’s very cheap not and there is no other alternatives I would consider now.
Here read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrinsic_value
The What
Someday this war is gonna end……….
Hey What,
If you are soooo convinced of this real estate collapse, and you bought your place and paid it off as you claim, why not sell now and cash in before the coming crash?
If I were in your position, that is what I would do. Then you rent for a while and wait for prices to come down by 50-100% and buy something else….Based on your predictions, maybe the market will come down so much people will actually pay you to take their property!
dude, monty morris has written a fricken’ novel on this thread. go get some fresh air and give the other socialist marxists a chance to comment and save the children.
yay Consequentialist Libertarianism!
“Reverse mortgages are an alternative to a standard refi, and may be a way for someone to get needed money, and not lose their home if they can’t pay back. Maybe not so hot for their heirs, but why shouldn’t a senior be able to take advantage of the fruits of their labors?”
Did you know if the value of your house goes down, the “Reverse mortgage” RECAST ITSELF!. Then it turns into a full mortgage that has to be paid back. Reverse mortgages are crack for senior citizens! Do you think Mortgage Brokers and Banks have been honest with senior citizens!!!?? Guess what that is???!!!! More ways to fuck over people.
The What
Someday this war will end……..
“No you get one! I know it’s hard to reach the brainwashed masses. Financial System is in TROUBLE! Stop watching CSI. Read the Wall Street Journal, they have some great stories on Real Estate.”
NICE paragraph, What! You should have put a comma after “No,” and a “The” before “financial system,” but for you, this represents serious improvement! Give yourself another pat on the back! Finally there is real hope that you will actually learn to properly use the English language BEFORE the the real estate/credit/bank/climate change apocalypse hits!
I have no agenda other than to work to help people to be able to keep what they have worked so hard to get. If I were in the DA’s office, I would make it my mission to prosecute these three piece suited rip off artists to the full extent of the law. To me, they are more injurious to the senior homeowner than any back street mugger.
Fort Greener hits the nail squarely on the head – medical costs are a huge factor in senior refinancing. This aspect of the refi story needs to be further investigated. If people weren’t desperate, they might not get scammed so easily, or jump at the first opportunity that comes along.
Younger people need to remember the generational differences involved here as well. We are used to shopping around, questioning everything, using the internet to investigate, getting second opinions, as well as being pushy jerks when we need to be, and cynical questioners of everything. That is not true for many seniors, especially minority and ESL seniors, who do not question authority with the same lack of deference that younger generations do. This does not make them stupid, just more ripe for the right kind of pitch.
This is a very complex issue, and needs to be approached on many levels of both understanding as well as education and help. We need to have seminars in our churches, senior citizen centers, and we as children and grandchildren need to step up to the plate and do our bit for educating anyone we can.
Reverse mortgages are an alternative to a standard refi, and may be a way for someone to get needed money, and not lose their home if they can’t pay back. Maybe not so hot for their heirs, but why shouldn’t a senior be able to take advantage of the fruits of their labors?
Greenspan Says `State of Fear’ in Credit Markets
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aQshVLZRFeDw&refer=canada
OHHH Doggie!!!!!!
If you chuckle heads think everything is good. Please read this!
It come from you Homeboy Greensperm!
The What
***Laughing his ass off in his cave***
Someday this war is gonna end…….