We need a clean one. What did I miss today?
*** Update ***
Pretty solid piece on the foreclosure crisis and how it is impacting Cleveland in the NY Times Magazine. This stands out:
There was something else going on in the city that was even more destructive. Unlike fast-growing communities in Florida and California, Cleveland didn’t see housing prices rise through the stratosphere. But even moderately rising property values created the conditions for subprime lenders to exploit strapped homeowners. Cold-calling mortgage brokers offered refinancing deals that would let homeowners use the equity in their houses to pay off other debts. A neighbor of Brancatelli’s had medical problems and fell behind in her bills. She refinanced, then did it two more times, draining the equity in her house. “She used her house as an A.T.M.,” Brancatelli says. “In the end, they just walked away. The debt exceeded the value of the house.” In other instances, mortgage brokers would cruise neighborhoods, looking for houses with old windows or a leaning porch, something that needed fixing. They would then offer to arrange financing to pay for repairs. Many of those deals were too good to be true, and interest rates ballooned after a short period of low payments. Suddenly burdened with debt, people began to lose homes they had owned free and clear.
As early as 2000, a handful of public officials led by the county treasurer, Jim Rokakis, went to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and pleaded with it to take some action. In 2002, the city passed an ordinance meant to discourage predatory lending by, among other things, requiring prospective borrowers to get premortgage counseling. In response, the banking industry threatened to stop making loans in the city and then lobbied state legislators to prohibit cities in Ohio from imposing local antipredatory lending laws.
Ugh.
I know why this story seems so familiar. There was a PBS special on Cleveland’s housing crisis.
Here is another anecdote from the Times piece:
Mayra Caraballo, a 39-year-old mother of two, appeared in court in response to code violations on her home. She explained to Pianka that she no longer owned the house. She had lost her job at a processing plant, and an adjustable rate had kicked in on her mortgage, boosting her monthly payments to $1,100, from $800. She had left after receiving a foreclosure notice. The house was quickly stripped of everything but the furnace. Pianka asked a clerk to check into the house’s ownership; he suspected that the lender had withdrawn the foreclosure at the last minute, as is becoming more common. The clerk tracked down the trustee on the mortgage, Deutsche Bank, and confirmed that the foreclosure had indeed been withdrawn. Pianka calls these situations “toxic titles.” “You’re in limbo,” Pianka told a shocked Caraballo. “There’s no hope in your getting out of this property as a result of foreclosure. We’re seeing this more and more.”
Pianka sees these toxic titles as an effort by lenders to dodge responsibility for vacant houses. Later, I called Deutsche Bank to ask about Caraballo’s house. “We don’t own the property,” a spokesman told me. “We’re the owner of record, but the investors who bought the mortgage-backed securities own it.” Pianka chuckled when I told him of the bank’s response. “That’s their mantra: we don’t own it,” he said. “It’s handy for them to say, ‘Oh, it’s not us.’ It’s part of this big shell game they’re playing.” I checked in with Caraballo, too. She’s now renting and working part time at a day care center. She told me that she would like to move back into the house, but she’s not sure she has the money to replace all the hardware that has been stripped by scavengers or to make the necessary repairs.
I have no idea if the mortgage plan the Obama team rolled out will address things like this, but it seems like a good place to start. This seems like the absolute worst outcome. What a disaster.
Brick Oven Bill
You perhaps missed some very good television programming on Bill O’Reilly, John. Bill was interviewing Laura Ingraham, who was wearing a pink top with sleeves. And then, in the middle of the segment, Laura removes her outer shirt, revealing a pink sleeveless undergarment , which could have been spandex. She then went on to challenge Michelle Obama and her sleeveless outfit.
This was on at the bottom of the hour, will be replayed again in just under 3 hours, and is rated five stars out of five stars. Laura was very angry, and although she has not yet achieved the Michelle Malkin snarl, she was still very good.
SLKRR
Shorter Brick Oven Bill:
Laura W Darling
I told all y’all on Not-SOTU night that The First Lady Sleeveless Issue was gonna strain some tongues.
I only hope she is not going sleeveless on the new swing set.
Shudder.
donovong
I can’t find a video, but if you did not see Obama’s closing comments at the Healhcare Summit today, you need to. He particularly schooled those who are wringing their hands about whether this is the right time to address healthcare, what with the fact that the rest of the world is collapsing around our heads.
To sum up his take-down in as few words as possible – "What the fuck are we waiting for?"
I love that man.
The Other Steve
Republicans in Minnesota think it’s a good idea that we build a new stadium for the Vikings, using our tax dollars.
Talk about piss poor timing
Comrade Stuck
I had labored to provide a dazzling array of worthy news item events, then Firefox crashed and I got nothin’.
Andre
@Comrade Stuck:
So the ‘fox ate your homework?
Laura W Darling
@donovong:
"If not now, WHEN?" is what I heard.
It was really powerful.
Comrade Stuck
@Brick Oven Bill:
Watching Fox News will shrink your spoof BoB. And Michelle could wax the floor with that bag of bones wingnut.
Comrade Stuck
@Andre:
Yes! or it burned in a fire.
John Cole
This is entertaining. Listen to the all out brawl between David Frum and Mark Levin. I’m hard pressed to disagree with Frum’s conclusion.
MikeJ
If Glenn Beck is afraid of cities "going feral", shouldn’t he be suggesting to everyone that they install solar and/or wind power systems? If the collapse of civilization that he so desires comes about, it looks like the hippies will have a much higher standard of living than the global warming denialists,
John Cole
RE: the Health Care summit, the only thing I saw was a funny clip with Obama and Rangel, when Obama asked Rangel about his committee counterpart, Rangel started blabbing, and Obama said, “No, I meant for you to give him the microphone.” Pretty funny.
Comrade Stuck
One little tidbit of news. It looks like Walmart might be the only company to survive the econ cataclysm. Pretty soon, we will all be Walmart, all the time.
Jay
Yeah, Laura’s having a contest on her radio show to name Michelle’s biceps.
Conservatives are so far down a rabbit hole Bugs Bunny is dropping them carrots. It rubs the lotion on it’s skin.
laxel
An observation from watching Morning Joe today:
If Ari Fleischer’s lips are moving, he’s lying.
Laura W Darling
@Laura W Darling:
4:56 p.m ET. At the end, a call to action:
Obama uses his closing remarks to address those who say "maybe we’re taking on too much. … (That) we should put this off for another day" when the economy is stronger.
"Let’s just be clear," he continues, "when times were good, we didn’t get it done." Health care reform wasn’t achieved "when we had mild recessions … when we were in peacetime … when we were at war. …
"There’s always a reason not to do it. It strikes me that now is exactly the time to deal with this problem. …
"I would just say, what better time than now? And what better cause for us to take up? Imagine the pride when we go back to our constituencies next year and say ‘you know what? We finally got something done on health care.’ "
donovong
@Laura W Darling: You summed it up quite well. Either way, he took the wind out of any and all arguments about this not being the "right time." Yes We Can!
Alan
Did you catch Mark Levin put a happy face on conservatism?
Oops, I guess I should have read the thread.
Surreal American
In other news, ursine excrement was discovered in a nearby coniferous region.
So was it a boiling rage or her usual trademark bitter snarkiness?
And why should I care?
jenniebee
I am very deeply worried now about what is going to happen in 2019 if we don’t learn – and learn soon – how to tell the difference between a Decepticon and an Autobot.
Also, Werewolf Congress. Though. Also.
/cry
Laura W Darling
@jenniebee: MALL GHOSTS!
Surreal American
@Alan:
Mark Levin’s an actual person? I was under the impression that someone had taught a dyspeptic ulcer how to speak on the radio.
Comrade Stuck
@John Cole:
It is totally beyond my comprehension why republicans fear and love Rush Limbaugh. I could pin down the meaning of life before understanding that phenomena.
Incertus
Lots of y’all seemed to like it last time, so here’s the link to my great-great-grandmother’s diary again. I’ve found out a little more about her history as well.
cyntax
Whatever will we do without out these enterprising John Galts to lend us the use of their creativity?
JL
@Incertus: I got a message saying try again later.
Montysano
@John Cole:
Heh. Levin is on during my short drive home, and he’s hugely entertaining. Frum? An "a-hole… a putz". Derbyshire and Bobo? Leftists and appeasers.
How about Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin as the face of the conservative movement? Works for me.
Dennis-SGMM
As if Cleveland hasn’t been punished enough just by being Cleveland.
merrinc
The only thing really surprising about this mortgage clusterfuck is that it took so long to happen.
I worked for a very large mortgage insurer from 86 through 97; the last five years in the fraud department, investigating early term defaults (ETDs).
Not all ETDs were fraud; some were just the result of idiotic lending programs. One of the most heartwrenching I investigated was a disabled Vietnam vet who defaulted on loan for a quadraplex in MA. They’d qualified him for the loan based on prospective rents from the other three units.
Others were indeed outright fraud. We uncovered a huge fraud ring in southern California – millions of dollars in losses – and begged the FBI to get involved. They were still thinking about it when I left.
Oh, and Countrywide was a problem back then too. But we were never allowed to take action on any fraud in their portfolio because when the Mozilo brothers said jump, our risk management folks took a swan dive off the building.
Brian J
Two things.
First, something hopeful. It’s hard to know whether this article in The New York Times about Anderson, Indiana, and the recovery from its past as a General Motors town paints a picture that is too positive from the reality, but I hope it’s entirely accurate. I live in an area that has its ups and downs, but because of its proximity to big population centers seems to hold up better than some, particularly those in the Midwest. It’s tough to imagine living in such an area, as the lack of opportunity would only compound an already stressful situation. One can only hope that the same sort of rebound happens to a lot of areas in Michigan, like Pontiac, discussed in this article in The Times. I don’t know if it’s possible or even fair, but if there was ever a state to try something radical like having the federal government cover all sorts of taxes for a few years to try to build up the economy, it’s Michigan. I don’t know if it’s really no different than a governor throwing money at a company for a plant, or if it would constitute a more serious effort to improve the business climate so that the economy could get back on its feet. Whatever the case, it’s such a shame to have so many key elements that can’t connect in a state that could be a key player in a strong national economy.
Second, is Larry Kudlow really considering running for the Senate in Connecticut? I’m surprised nobody has made a bigger deal out of this. He’s far less outrageous that someone like Alan Keyes, but no less ridiculous. Think of all the ridiculous things that would come out of his mouth. As this site says, Chris Dodd, who actually might be vulnerable, has to be praying that his opponent is Kudlow. If he can’t beat that guy, he doesn’t deserve to win.
Joshua Norton
Mainly because they have made him the face and mouth and 17 chins of the conservative movement.
(I keep expecting hear him say "Bring me Hans Solo and the Wookie".)
Incertus
@JL: Blogger’s been wonky today, but it just worked for me.
Comrade Stuck
@Joshua Norton:
Funny
les
@John Cole:
Frum may have something to say. But my sweet jeebus, the commenters over there are not even close to sane. If that’s his usual crew, I shudder to think of his usual output.
Mike in NC
We go to the local Walmart from time to time. Obligatory dress for women is very baggy sweats and for men is hunter camouflage caps, vests, and pants. Whoeey!
passerby
@donovong:
Here’s a cspan link to Obama closing remarks at the Healthcare summit. He was accompanied by Ted Kennedy.
About 55 minutes.
Jim
Mark Levin is completely devoid of any sense of irony. He screams at Frum about how horrible it is to personally attack people. Does that miserable SOB not listen to himself? Aside from Savage, he is meanest, most dispeptic piece of crud on the radio. The talk show wingnuts are ruling the roost and driving out even the 90% wingnuts like Frum.
JWW
John,
I love your use of the word "seems". Go to Cleveland, see what’s up in this specific case and report back to us.
Our nation is spending a lot of borrowed money in the last thirty days and it "seems" we all agree with it.
John Cole
@JWW: Why the hell would I go to Cleveland? That is why we have reporters.
Laura W Darling
@Incertus: What a treasure chest for you to dip into every day. I would love to do something like that, and like you, would have a very hard time keeping a moderate pace.
camchuck
CNNPolitics
Hmm, a nice challenge for you snarky folk. I say just stamp a big, fat, red FAIL on the billboard.
Joshua Norton
I heard the same thing. Kudlow is such a chest-beating, jingoistic pea brain that even John McLaughlin can’t stand him. He’s so far beyond Republican that he makes Torries look like DFH’s. He’d much rather be Prince Regent, but since Chimpy stepped down, that position doesn’t exist any more.
El Cid
Awesome. I just saw crazy Michelle Bachmann on the House floor one-upping the anti-socialist rhetoric from Steve King by calling the ‘last 7 weeks’ of economic policies of Obama "graveyard economics."
Literally. That’s what she called Obama’s economic policies.
"Graveyard economics."
JWW
Mike in NC,
Walmart stocks what the locals want and buy. If you don’t fit into the area, move. If you relocate to San Fran or P-Town you just might find the attire you are looking for.
Other than you being a business dumbass, you can order your attire on the web.
NonWonderDog
Eerily familiar. And if the 1978 Kucinich administration is any guide, the banks have probably taken out a mob contract on the mayor, too.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Nice little city ya got here. Be a shame if something happened to it. KnowwhatImean?
Comrade Stuck
@camchuck:
That intrepid Malkin minx is already on the case with plans to shut down the abomination by entering the contest for naming the thing. I think the plan is for her cultists to flood the website promoting the board,with name suggestions, so if no name can be won the billboard can’t go up, or something.
Dennis-SGMM
@camchuck:
I prefer "I’ve stopped screwing sheep, folks."
Comrade Stuck
forgot malkin linky
Martin
That lucky ducky in Cleveland should take a job in the bootstrap factory. Then she could pay her fair share, stop being an irresponsible member of society, and become a Republican.
Fixed
/wingnut
bvac
Mayra Caraballo just needs a nice healthy tax cut.
Brick Oven Bill
Sheila Bair is another reason why I do not support affirmative action programs. She blamed the blogs for causing the market problems back in July (Dow 13,000), when she scolded us that:
“The blogs were a bit out of control.” .
Now she’s out there telling the country that FDIC is about to go belly-up unless she gets more fees. What is she thinking?
…
Here is a sobering write-up of one man’s opinion of our point in history. I believe that this guy is more in touch with reality than Sheila Bair, who is an academic.
"Just so you have a short list of what’s at stake if Washington DC doesn’t change policy here and now (which means before the collapse in equities comes, which could start as soon as today, if the indicators I watch have any validity at all. For what its worth, those indicators are painting a picture of the Apocalypse that I simply can’t believe, and they’re showing it as an imminent event – like perhaps today imminent.)"
kommrade reproductive vigor
This just in. American movie industry officially devoid of original ideas.
El Cid
I wish we could make it so that all the big box stores had to actually pay all the sales taxes they collect just like our small businesses have to.
But then, the ‘invisible hand’ of the market only works when there’s big money to grease its palms, so, I guess that can’t happen.
Ed Drone
No way! The hippies will have those things for a few days, maybe a month, then someone will remember that the hippies don’t carry guns, and they’ll get over-run by rednecks who were the worst deniers and Bush-warzees*.
Ed
I think it was on Kos where someone suggested this conflation of a criminal’s name and a Swahili word for "group of people with a common interest." I like it.
Dennis-SGMM
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
Oh, shit! That means that they’ll be re-making "Black Hole" too.
Tax Analyst
Well, that’s a different twist on this miserable situation. What a bunch of scumbags.
John, I think you spelled a name wrong, it should have been "Douche-bag" instead of "Deutsche Bank".
An easy mistake to make.
JWW
John,
Today reporters only look for an angle so they will be printed. Facts are not discovered or researched, just enough highlighted info, good or bad to get into the uproar of the news cycle.
I could pull 20 year old articles out of the National Inquirer and put them in the MSM and some would be published as news.
Comrade Jake
@Laura W Darling:
Sort of amazing to have a President who is actually trying to lead the country, isn’t it?
Joshua Norton
"Rush: What you’d have if gonorrhea could get gonorrhea."
"Consuelo – we’re out of Ranch dressing"
And still my favorite:
"Bring me Hans Solo and the Wookie".
Comrade Jake
"All your Republicans are belong to me."
gbear
Open thread? Pup Video! When dreams go bad…
Brick Oven Bill
I was wet behind the ears and was being sent to Hania, Crete. My dad suggested to read up on the place, so that I could get more out of the experience. And I did, buying a small book on the island, which I have since lost. Here is Wikipedia on Crete. I was very excited. It surprised me to see all of the automatic carbines in the Greek airport system.
One thing I remember is all the goats. The others are the eyes of the people, which were not at all trusting. We were warned to travel in groups. We would get drunk and chant Pearl Jam’s I’m Still Alive.
They put flammable gel on the bar and Greek girls would dance on the bar as the bar was flaming and we were buying beer. My CO consistently got very, very drunk every night, and we were worried about something bad happening, so we just gave him a personal escort.
I believe that the look in the people’s eyes and the automatic carbines were the result of their ancestors living together on the same island for thousands of years, with limited resources.
Americans, to this point, have had unlimited resources, and I believe that we are living through a period of history where that is changing. Which should be interesting.
Wile E. Quixote
Watchmen is out tomorrow and season 2 of Breaking Bad starts on Sunday. I’m feeling the same sense of anticipation, giddiness and glee that Michelle Malkin does when she’s torturing kittens and puppies.
Curt
@John Cole:
You really need to make this (the Frum/Levin trainwreck) its own post with the title, KICKING EACH OTHER WITH CLOWN SHOES or something similar.
Martin
Well, if you want to drag Rupert’s outlets into this, sure…
Left Coast Tom
From Douchebag Bank
“We don’t own the property,” a spokesman told me. “We’re the owner of record, but the investors who bought the mortgage-backed securities own it.” Pianka chuckled when I told him of the bank’s response.
I see.
So…why exactly should Cleveland care about any fact other than the identity of the "owner of record"? This other crap should be Douchebag Bank’s Problem.
So far on my block there’s been only one foreclosure (knock on wood). Five minutes with Teh Google revealed that in July, 2005, Douchebag Bank extended a loan for the rather curious sum of $599,999, filed NOD March, 2006, and foreclosed August, 2006. Plainly ability and willingness to pay weren’t among the loan criteria.
A few more minutes with Teh Google revealed that it didn’t sell until late last year because Douchebag Bank kept pricing the property at the high-end of what was then neighborhood values, even though the house had obviously been damaged.
Once they finally got serious, after two years, it was bought by someone who’s fixed it up and moved his family in.
One house.
And another in Cleveland.
Multiplied by all the other loans extended to people who either could not, or would not, repay.
And that’s one lender.
Great.
TheOfficialHatOnMyCat
@Brick Oven Bill:
Bill? Nobody is listening to you.
Maybe you should try a new spam venue for a while?
I hear CNBC has a blog
Comrade Jake
@Wile E. Quixote:
I got into Breaking Bad in season one. That is one kick-ass show.
Martin
I’m amazed that Bill had the courage to bring up goats…
That said, I agree with this:
Yes, as a nation we’ve been living about 50% beyond our means. Some of us won’t notice the change much, though.
Brick Oven Bill
TheOfficialCatOnMyHat;
I am leaving shortly anyway. Laura will be on TV again in mere minutes.
Martin;
Our groups was determined to come back to America and establish a night club that we were going to call ‘The Velcro Glove’. It never happened.
But check out this backyard scientific research system, The Box O Truth.
I will not concede what I believe to be my project’s superior status, using my backyard to strive for American energy-independence. But The Box O Truth, deserves a great deal of respect, in my opinion.
Les Miserable Fulcanelli
"I was wet behind the ears…"
"One thing I remember is all the goats…"
"They put flammable gel on the bar…"
"I believe that the look in the people’s eyes…"
Brick Oven Bill’s posts seem to make more sense, and perhaps have a slightly erotic quality to them if you pull the first few words from each paragraph like so… Hmmm.
Goats… flammable gel… done in front of other people.
Nah, couldn’t be.
anonevent
@Wile E. Quixote: I expect the Watchmen to be declared one of the all time great conservative movies by the end of tomorrow, once again missing the point.
AhabTRuler
@Les Miserable Fulcanelli: I have a sneaking suspicion that if you mix goats and flammable gel, you won’t get anything erotic.
However, you will get a stinking mess.
Or dinner.
freelancer
Levin is also playing on my short commute home. He and his callers are in Y2K/Tinfoil hat/Woveringnut territory. He champions the crazy, and it just stymies thought. Especially when he screams at Frum over a dick-measuring contest regarding academic cred. It’s hard to claim scholarly supremacy when your inflection and passion are the radio equivalent of this guy.
Also, in other developments, today, SULLY points me in the direction of something I immediately fall in love with, again, and again. (BTW, add State of Play to your netflix queue before they remake it into a shitty Ben Affleck vehicle.)
robertdsc
Why haven’t these securities been outlawed yet?
kay
@Left Coast Tom:
So…why exactly should Cleveland care about any fact other than the identity of the "owner of record"? This other crap should be Douchebag Bank’s Problem.
Because there can be an owner of record (all that means is that the original transfer was recorded) and a true owner.
The bank recorded the deed, at the county recorder’s. They then "signed sealed and delivered" a (valid) transfer, and the entities that bought the mortgage debt simply didn’t record.
Viola. A record owner and an true owner. The transaction was complete.
Recording is voluntary, and it’s done by the buyer, because in the good old days, it acted as a protection for the buyer.
TheOfficialHatOnMyCat
@Brick Oven Bill:
I like the Box O Truth better if it has your face painted on it.
Fortunately, like your actual head, there is nothing inside that can be damaged by a projectile.
TheOfficialHatOnMyCat
More Papa John’s coupon door hangers to get out tonight?
r€nato
If those commenters represent the current state of conservatism/the GOP, then the Dow is going to hit 36,000 long before the Republicans appeal to the middle again.
r€nato
I swear I did not hit "Submit" twice.
kay
The lady in the article has a break in the chain of title. There’s an unrecorded owner. Cleveland can jump in there with a judgment, and seize.
But, of course, that just makes them the record owner.
This has never happened before because the assumption was that the real owner of that property wanted to claim title, so would record.
Property law didn’t anticipate mortgage-backed securities.
Brick Oven Bill
Women fight differently than men. Males engage each other directly. Women are craftier.
I had a girlfriend in school who called me to her apartment, where she lived with 3 other ladies, to get a bat that was flying around. These women were vicious to each other. One had threatened to burn another’s face in the middle of the night with an iron. This tension ran deep and went on forever.
We had fights in our apartment too. But we would throw each other against the wall, establish the social hierarchy, and then drink beer together. We would play ‘Hi Bob’.
In this manner, men are like chickens (pecking order). An order is established, and then there is good will and harmony. Women did not evolve in positions of political power, leading us to hot irons, seared cheeks, my face on the Box O’ Truth, and Sheila Bair publically telling America that her organization cannot adequately insure bank deposits.
TheOfficialHatOnMyCat
@Brick Oven Bill:
You are drinking again, aren’t you?
Comrade Stuck
@Brick Oven Bill:
You’ve outdone yourself with this one BoB. And the "us". does this mean your a gurl named Bill?
Brick Oven Bill
As a matter of fact, I am enjoying a nice whiskey and Seven-Up HatCat. I am munching also on one piece of a big batch of pizza that we prepared yesterday. This one has mushrooms and tomatoes on it. It is very good, and a pleasant way to close out the day. I am sitting at my little plastic table in the cellar, looking at this computer screen.
I did a presentation once in Scottsdale, and it is surreal to me that these words will perhaps be read in Phoenix, and Sydney, in a second. The Internet is very powerful, and a game changer. The thing I remember about Scottsdale is the girl handing me a warm cookie upon check in. It was chocolate chip.
I had a much better time at a place fifty miles or so to the north, after the boondoggle, however.
Brick Oven Bill
Breaking News!
Geithner, whose best man at his wedding was his dad, and who cannot get anybody to sign up to work for him, has just been authorized by Chris Dodd, to give Sheila Bair $500 billion dollars.
You see, this way, Sheila now has plenty of money.
Church Lady
Yesterday’s NYT had a pretty interesting story on two home owners that won’t be able to utilize the mortgage plan the Treasury announced, due to the size of their mortgages.
One guy owns a luxury used car business in California and purchased a home for a little over two million, putting down $500K. The house is now worth about half of what he paid for it and his income has been cut in half. He called Countrywide, the mortgage lender, and requested his loan terms be modified by a slight reduction in the interest rate and and an extension in the amortization to 40 years. He figured that he could then afford the payments and would be able to keep the hourse. Countrywide told him he was out of luck – they couldn’t do anything.
The other guy purchased a house in Florida in 2004 for something like $565K, put no money down, and then proceeded to use his house as an ATM. He refinanced two times in two years, jacking his mortgage up to around $1.6 million. It’s now worth about the original purchase price. He’s complaining about the fact that the terms of the mortage recovery plan won’t help him hang on to his house.
The first guy should get help. He did everything right and has just been caught up in the economic downturn. The second guy should have his ass thrown out onto the street. It’s people like him that have so many up in arms over the idea of bailing out homeowners.
Xenos
Among the small firm attorneys who take up the work defending homeowners in foreclosure Deutsche Bank is known as Douche Bank. You can’t work with them, I guess because they never saw themselves as anything more than a conduit for selling mortgage notes and have no interest in the business of property management in foreign countries.
I can’t believe their investors have not cleaned them out. Because of their actions in cases like this one in Cleveland, they have destroyed the security for the notes they underwrote and then sold. Within a few months the City of Cleveland will take the property by condemnation, or will sell off title by having a tax auction, and with Deutsche Bank as owner of record, with a fiduciary duty to the people they sold the note to, they will be in deep shit.
Rumour has it there was a lot of Russian mob money going into these things as part of a large-scale money laundering system. Ouch.
mclaren
John Cole remarked: This seems like the absolute worst outcome.
Folks, you need a history lesson. This is not the worst outcome. The worst outcome is bread riots, martial law, mobs besieging the White House and congress. The worst outcome is 40% unemployment and tens of millions of families living in tents while sadistic cops attack them with tasers and billy clubs for the crime of vagrancy.
The worst outcome is a bonus march like the one in 1932 when the U.S. army rode down marchers with drawn sabers under the command of Douglas MacArthur.
The worst outcome is U.S. army soldiers patrolling the streets of burning cities and shooting starving kids for looting bread from smashed supermarket windows. That’s the worst outcome. Right now, things are bad, but they’re not even close to America in 1932, or Germany in 1921, or Russia in 1910.
kay
I read yesterday that one of the provisions in the cram-down (that passed the House last night) is legal protection for the entity that brokered the debt transfer from the bank to the investors.
They were afraid the investors were going to turn to them for damages.
State property law, with the 18th century language and traditions, the deed registers and assumptions about buyers and sellers and the "manor house" and "a writing" is simply not up to the task of regulating complex securities.
It’s looking "quaint", and completely beside the point.
kay
@Xenos:
They have destroyed the security for the notes they underwrote and then sold. Within a few months the City of Cleveland will take the property by condemnation, or will sell off title by having a tax auction, and with Deutsche Bank as owner of record, with a fiduciary duty to the people they sold the note to, they will be in deep shit.
I hope that takes it back to the bank, whatever duty is associated with the note. Because the investors didn’t record.
If they come back and try to claim an interest in that tangible piece of property, they got nothing, and the bank is the last recorded owner in the chain. The bank will simply stand on their record rights, so it works both ways for them. There’s a true owner until the bank claims superior title, in other words.
slightly_peeved
Well I’ve never heard that term for it before…
Now if you’ll excuse me, me and the wife are going to put on some soft music, drink some champagne and go establish the social hierachy. Tonight, I get to be the oppressed proletariat.
lawnorder
AS someone said: When threatened with foreclosure, make the bank show you a title for the house.
Just that can keep you in the house forever because most of this guys don’t really have it anymore!
mikee
" At first, you wouldn’t understand (at least for me) pero sa huli, you would get it :)
Just watch it here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmjnKCm3SFc&feature=channel_page"