Posted on 05/30/2005 6:19:28 AM PDT by Flavius
Edited on 05/30/2005 6:35:29 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
PHILADELPHIA - To walk Thayer Street in northeast Philadelphia is to count, door by door, the economic devastation afflicting a working-class neighborhood. On a single block, 18 of the 42 brick rowhouses have gone into foreclosure in the past three years.
There's Marciela Perez, who fell ill with cancer, lacked health insurance and stopped making mortgage payments. Barrel-chested Richard Hidalgo, who got divorced and could no longer make his monthly nut. And Mike O'Mara, a rawboned and crew-cut truck driver who took on too much debt, lost his job and fell behind on his mortgage.
"Mortgage companies convinced us to refinance, and each time our bill went up," O'Mara said as he surveyed his narrow street from his shaded front porch. "You fall behind and they swoop down on you."
Excerpt msnbc.msn.com
Our country is screwed because we have idiots who don't know how to manage money borrowing large sums of it.
...and because too many people, at all income levels, feel/believe that the government OWES them the help they need to buy the things they want, including houses.
US Congress???
Who have been screwed by Madison Avenue and an addiction to credit. The next circle of hell has been reached with the introduction of paying-the-interest-only mortgages, which is an insiduous way of reintroducing indebtured servitude. Guess debtor prisons are next.
The results of do-gooder/feel-gooder government meddling again. Congress forced lenders to give money to "the Poor" for mortgages they couldn't afford. Now we have blocks of blight. Surprise, surprise.
LOL, good one.
I sure would have loved to find one of those banks forced to loan money to the "poor" when we were refinancing earlier this year. We probably would have had an easier go at it trying to borrow $150,000 rather than just the $50,000 we wanted.........*SIGH*
There is a tremendous quantity of money in Mutual Funds and other firms, looking for return on investment. Hundreds of millions can be had for 4 to 4.5 percent.
>>he advised homeowners to make their mortages ARMs
why would that be a good thing? seems to my tiny mind that a low fixed rate removes a lot of risk should inflation come around again -- and it will.
:^)
Yes I just saw one of those advertised on TV I cringed to think that people would actually fall for that, why would you want to keep paying off interest and not the capital, some people just don't get it.
It seems to be aimed at people like those in this article, who are stretched more than their finances should allow, so they take the easy way out with lower monthly payments, but mis the long term implications.
If you can't afford it, don't buy it, some just don't get that.
Lack of Self-Control? My husband will not refinance to buy the "extras" - we buy it when we can afford it or just don't buy!
Magic money, just dropping off trees in the front yard. Just buy a home and the money spigot overflows. As if the money pulled out of a home (appreciating asset) and spent on cars, vacations, Super Bowl trips(!) (depreciating assets) doesn't have to be paid back. And the poor are missing out on this stupidity!
As for mortgages, pffffffttt, I've bought and sold three houses in my adult life and the next house I buy will be in cash, or not at all.
Yeah, you're right. Rental companies aren't stupid, they know a lot of people don't have credit cards, and if they want that business, they darn well better accept debit cards.
Nothing wrong with credit cards, as long as you use them like a debit card. Just pay off the balance every month.
Bingo!
"Mortgage companies convinced us to refinance"
Pretty much said it all for me, I didn't read much further.
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