Foreclosure!

[BOSS]

And the beat goes on...

Leahman Brothers will file bankruptcy this morning. Employees were escorted out under police scrutiny...

Leahman tried to find a buyer, no takers internationally...says a lot about the current state of affairs on The Street...

 

[Victoria]

Merril Lynch avoided the bullet this morning as well.

Things seem to be imploding.

V

 

[sfox]

Leahman Brothers will file bankruptcy this morning. Employees were escorted out under police scrutiny...

Leahman tried to find a buyer, no takers internationally...says a lot about the current state of affairs on The Street...

Keep in mind that a couple of years ago these were the same guys that had to have armed guards escort them out of the office because their bonus checks were out of this world.

The real question is were the "good times" we want to go back to really that good?

 

[aileen_c]

I not only blame finanical world people but the general public as well for falling for those "let's play with the numbers so you afford this house on paper" loans. I'm glad all of this is happening makes people open their eyes! Stick to what you can truly afford!
Our situation is tight right now since we've got crap tenants who keep paying late causing us to pay our stuff late. So we decided to take matters into our own hands and get on the Total Money Makeover (Dave Ramsey)!! We can't wait to not have to rely on the tenants' paying!! WOO HOO!

 

[Bigted]

I not only blame finanical world people but the general public as well for falling for those "let's play with the numbers so you afford this house on paper" loans. I'm glad all of this is happening makes people open their eyes! Stick to what you can truly afford!
Our situation is tight right now since we've got crap tenants who keep paying late causing us to pay our stuff late. So we decided to take matters into our own hands and get on the Total Money Makeover (Dave Ramsey)!! We can't wait to not have to rely on the tenants' paying!! WOO HOO!

As a die hard republican I should agree with blaming the public, but I just can't. A lot of these people have worked forever to try and afford a house and like magic, there was an opportunity. Maybe they suspected something wasn't right, but with a little smooth talking from the loan broker, how could they refuse. Sure, other people just scammed the system for investments, but most of them are long gone.

The mortgage companies, and especially these big banks and wall street companies are absolutely guilty and should pay dearly. They knew what would happen and just hoped that they could get out in time.

And, while I'm on a rant--what about congress that kept pushing for more people to get loans via easy credit. I mean think about it. Does it make sense that you can buy a house without verification of any income?

 

[coppercountryflowers]

Feel free to call me irresponsible...

Hi. I'm one of the "irresponsible people" that just paid off a foreclosure. This summer I had one daughter who had kidney stone surgery and then complications and spent 3 days in the hospital. A son on that same day the daughter went into the hospital ran his bike into a moving car as it came along a blind spot, (yes, it was his fault), popped his lung and ended up with a tube in his chest in ICU for four days. (The docs joked that if I had one more kid put in the hospital I could have a family discount...)

Two weeks later another son e-mailed from Costa Rica where he was doing international studies with his university and fell ill, (all but a couple of the 30 kids in the group caught variations of whatever it was.) Any way, he called and said to put more money in his account as he was afraid that his debit card from his checking account would bounce and he wouldn't be able to see a doctor.

I have also been trying to pay off $20,000 in medical bills from 2004 when I got injured working for an insurance agent, (shoved my skull into the C-Spine and now have left ocipital nerve damage in the neck/head, and right ocipital nerve damage all the way down to the right pinkie, as well as intermittant head/neck pain. And guess what? The insurance agent, (an independent agent for Farm Bureau,) didn't have work comp insurance, and owes IRS and State of Michigan over 500,000 for back taxes, (including ones he took out of my paycheck.) So... can't sue him as I'll never collect according to four attorneys I talked with... so I have to pay the bills. Docs are not willing to write off or reduce the bills... if I don't pay a minimum of $100 per month, I can't see the local docs. If I don't pay a minimum of $100 per month, I can't have blood work or any other services at the hospital done. So... pay I do.

Through all of this...I called the mortgage company when I was going to be 2 months behind on the mortgage. The girl was rude, incompetent, and non-helpful when I tried to get the mortage company (Citi Mortage) to take money out of my checking account every two weeks until I was caught up. Sorry can't do, she tells me. She wouldn't even agree to taking a phone payment, (they had in the past for a fee.) I then fell 3 months behind...

And now my $1200 for three months mortgage is $4400 because I have to pay for the legal costs of their laywer...Yes, they charged an extra $3200 for them... and when I called them they couldn't answer what I owed until they mailed it to me... 10 days later, after they posted it in the paper and had a personal rep hand me the foreclosure notice... which upped the amount owed...

I am not against lawyers. My dad, granddad, and ex-sister-in-law were all lawyers. One of my daughters is in her final year at Notre Dame in law school.

All I can say... is find a way to pay your mortgage... selling your kids are not an option... it's either that or pay 3X what you owe to keep the house.

Call me irresponsible, but I tend to think of myself as a mom trying to make good in this world for my kids and others.

 

[wildflowerschicago]

As a die hard republican I should agree with blaming the public, but I just can't. A lot of these people have worked forever to try and afford a house and like magic, there was an opportunity. Maybe they suspected something wasn't right, but with a little smooth talking from the loan broker, how could they refuse.
The mortgage companies, and especially these big banks and wall street companies are absolutely guilty and should pay dearly. They knew what would happen and just hoped that they could get out in time.
quote]

It isn't often that I agree with a die hard Republican, but I totally agree with you Ted. When we bought our house (6 years ago) the mortgage brokers kept telling us what we could afford...which was far more than I knew we could afford. When the 4th person assures you that you "qualify for" and "can afford" so much more than you thought, you start to question yourself. Luckily, we trusted our gut and stayed on the low end.

I was recently talking with a friend of mine who is a bank vice president at a small local bank, and he told me that they are doing just fine. You see, the little banks didn't have the balls to make all these unsecured loans and interest only mortgages, so now they are holding their own as the big guys fall. I guess Samson does eventaully defeat Goliath.

 

[bloomz]

As a die hard republican I should agree with blaming the public, but I just can't. A lot of these people have worked forever to try and afford a house and like magic, there was an opportunity. Maybe they suspected something wasn't right, but with a little smooth talking from the loan broker, how could they refuse.
The mortgage companies, and especially these big banks and wall street companies are absolutely guilty and should pay dearly. They knew what would happen and just hoped that they could get out in time.

It isn't often that I agree with a die hard Republican, but I totally agree with you Ted.

Ditto that.

But Ted and I agree on Iraq too.

Time to say sorry we forked up and and go home.

Don't anyone try to tell me that doesn't have something (a lot) to do with economic collapse in the USA.

Or you can try but I won't believe it.

 

[aileen_c]

Hi. I'm one of the "irresponsible people" that just paid off a foreclosure. This summer I had one daughter who had kidney stone surgery and then complications and spent 3 days in the hospital. A son on that same day the daughter went into the hospital ran his bike into a moving car as it came along a blind spot, (yes, it was his fault), popped his lung and ended up with a tube in his chest in ICU for four days. (The docs joked that if I had one more kid put in the hospital I could have a family discount...)


Call me irresponsible, but I tend to think of myself as a mom trying to make good in this world for my kids and others.

No I don't call you irresponsible...life just happened to you that's all.

I'm talking about the people who make say for example $50k a year yet they buy a $300k house! COME ON!! Who is to blame here for that?
When we were buying a house they kept trying to push "those" loans at us since we were VA backed. My hubby was trying to convince me to go for them and I stuck to my guns and said NO! What can we afford on a 30 yr fixed? Then I dropped it by alot. At the time they said we could afford (on one income) a $250k house!! So I went down to $150k-$190k. Now imagine the situation we'd be in if I had followed what they said...we would have lost our house last year!! As of right now, we're struggling on his full time income, my part time income and now he's going to get a second job....this whole situation is due to some outside factors that frankly I just want to MOVE ON from!! And we're doing that.

Oh Amy, GET the book!! It will open your eyes and fire you up!! I am completely determined to live credit card free!! To pay for things out right! Imagine ( my hubby makes around $75k right now) not having payments for anything!! think of the money in your pocket from not having payments!! He's got 6 years to retirement so we're gunning for it...he wants to stay until 30 years but I would love to be "ready" for retirement whenever it comes! I say GET THE BOOK!

 

[BOSS]

More to come....

Hewlet Packard just announced that they will lay off 2700 employees (50% US) or about 7% of their staff.
Not good...

 

[Chezbloom]

Ditto that.

But Ted and I agree on Iraq too.

Time to say sorry we forked up and and go home.

Don't anyone try to tell me that doesn't have something (a lot) to do with economic collapse in the USA.

Or you can try but I won't believe it.

Sums it up in a nutshell me thinks.

 

[bloomz]

More to come....

Hewlet Packard just announced that they will lay off 2700 employees (50% US) or about 7% of their staff.
Not good...

Close to home - right in the immediate family.

They used to rule our town with 6000 employees, now they're sinking.

 

[Victoria]

Sums it up in a nutshell me thinks.

I can't help but think the terrorist organisations are sitting back and watching with glee. And they didn't really have to lift a finger.

V

 

[Bigted]

I can't help but think the terrorist organisations are sitting back and watching with glee. And they didn't really have to lift a finger.

V

Victoria, it's not really that bad. We are going into, or should I say through, a pretty bad recession. There will be a lot of pain to go around. But, we have been through many before. We will come out of this and prosper once again.

Count on it.

 

[Eric S]

Quote Of the day.

Wilbur Ross

You can’t have much of an economy if people are just flipping hamburgers, trading stocks, and suing each other.

Well actually from 2004
The Bottom-Feeder King

 

[Victoria]

Victoria, it's not really that bad. We are going into, or should I say through, a pretty bad recession. There will be a lot of pain to go around. But, we have been through many before. We will come out of this and prosper once again.

Count on it.

I think the people who have lost homes and have been flung out of their jobs may disagree Ted. It is that bad I'm sure if one is standing in their shoes.

A society can implode on their own without a lot of outside "help". Historically it's not new and for some reason lessons aren't learned.

V

 

[Bigted]

I think the people who have lost homes and have been flung out of their jobs may disagree Ted. It is that bad I'm sure if one is standing in their shoes.

A society can implode on their own without a lot of outside "help". Historically it's not new and for some reason lessons aren't learned.

V

Victoria, we are not even close to imploding. Bad things are happening, but the sun will shine again. Unfortunately, a lot of the people that lost homes never really could afford them. They were scammed into believing they could.

 

[Kristine]

Victoria, we are not even close to imploding. Bad things are happening, but the sun will shine again. Unfortunately, a lot of the people that lost homes never really could afford them. They were scammed into believing they could.

Don't lump everyone into your group.

We have 2 sets of friends, both in the construction business. One set is in foreclosure the other barely hanging on. Because their jobs have disappeared.

Both have/had modest homes and a modest house payment. But when there is no money coming in. Then have someone get sick or make an emergency trip to the hospital. The end.

 

[Bigted]

Don't lump everyone into your group.

We have 2 sets of friends, both in the construction business. One set is in foreclosure the other barely hanging on. Because their jobs have disappeared.

Both have/had modest homes and a modest house payment. But when there is no money coming in. Then have someone get sick or make an emergency trip to the hospital. The end.

Good point Kristine. Not everyone has a subprime mortgage, and illness or job loss can wipe out a family. However, it's the subprimes that are the primary cause of the current crisis.

 

[Sher]

Good points from all and yet yesterday we had an amazingly busy day...probably better tha all summer and today is following the same pattern. I tossed and turned all night thinking about the market fizzle and wondering just how much it would impact me personally and the business as well and then we get crazy busy...how do you explain that????...I am glad but it is certainly not what I figured folks would be doing....I use to be able to gauge our sales on the market rallies and downturns but this playing field is a new breed for me......
Sher