Don't leave us to foreclosure (A messaage to the President)

New Orleans Times Picayune ^ | 9-29-06 | Times Picayune Editorial

[Uncle Sham]

Don't leave us to foreclosure Sunday, January 29, 2006 Here in a community full of ruined homes, it takes no imagination to predict an epidemic of foreclosures that could devastate families, cripple the recovery of greater New Orleans and strain the nation's economy. If your flood insurance payout isn't nearly enough to cover your mortgage, you wonder if you'll have to abandon your unlivable home. If you look down the block at a dozen other damaged houses and know that your neighbors are in the same bind, you understand the fear of losing your neighborhood to blight. If you travel daily past block after block of empty, flood-marked houses, you understand how large the hole in our economy could become. This explains why U.S. Rep. Richard Baker is not giving up on his proposal for a federally backed buyout of flooded-out homeowners and small business owners. He wants Congress to create a corporation that would release Hurricane Katrina's victims from their mortgages, sell bundles of property to developers and help get storm-ravaged land back into commerce.

[CobaltBlue]

Most of the water damage in New Orleans was caused by failure of a drainage canal. And, drainage water isn't flood water.

[Lurker]

it isn't going cost you one red cent.

In a word, bullsh**. If the LA political types screw this program into the ground like they have screwed every other 'aid' program into the ground it will end up costing the US taxpayer billions.

Here's a clue for you Uncle Sham (appropriate name btw), don't build in a flood plain and then underinsure your property.

Move somewhere else. I'm sick and tired of pouring good money into the rathole that is Louisiana politics.

L

[Howlin]

It sure LOOKED like a flood, but after all, you're the attorney...........ROFLMAO.

That's a silly thing to say.

[CobaltBlue]

If you (1) live on a Special Hazard Food Area; and (2) have a federally guaranteed mortgage (FHA or VA) then (3) you have NFIP flood insurance.

If you say no, you're either a liar or just plain ignorant.

[CobaltBlue]

It sure LOOKED like a flood, but after all, you're the attorney

Well, this is why I get paid the big bucks, and you get to bitch about it. ;^)

[Mind-numbed Robot]

If they have flood insurance, no problem, even if it is a federal subsidy. I thought Baker's plan was for all property owners whether they were insured or not. That was the rub for me, or if it would take insurance companies off the hook and put the taxpayer on it. Just as the flood waters, all this is still murky.

[Howlin]

If you (1) live on a Special Hazard Food Area; and (2) have a federally guaranteed mortgage (FHA or VA) then (3) you have NFIP flood insurance.

I don't live on a Special Hazard Flood Area

And

I don't have a mortgage, period.

Now you can apologize for calling me a liar or ignorant.

[Howlin]

Well, this is why I get paid the big bucks

Why, for being wrong? Good to know.

[CobaltBlue]

Baker's plan is nebulous, agreed.

Nevertheless, there are several factors to consider.

~ Federally guaranteed flood insurance.
~ Federally guaranteed mortgage insurance (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, on FHA and VA loans, especially the new "no equity loans).
~ Federally guaranteed SBA loans.
~ Federally guaranteed student loans (this may be miniscule).
~ What will it do to the economy if 1% of the population defaults on credit cards and car loans and files Chapter 7?

We need top notch number crunchers to figure this out ASAP.

[CobaltBlue]

OK, so you live in rental property, maybe a trailer park. How nice for you.

Please go away now and let the grownups talk policy?

That's a good girl.

[Howlin]

OK, so you live in rental property, maybe a trailer park.

Hardly.

[RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS]

Hint for the future: Don't build below sea level.

Or 2 feet above sea level!

Boynton Beach, FL. hint

[rock58seg]

Seems those D@mnYankees in Vermont are a lot smarter than Gulfcoast Southerners. Their little catchphrase is, "Buy a view and inherit the wind."

Granted sitting there looking across U.S. 90 at the Gulf on a cloudless day is real relaxing. If you don't have insurance that covers the various contingencies of a hurricane, wind damage, falling water and rising water, you're no better off than someone who would live in a hole in the ground with no preparation.

Of course he used a FEMA trailer, but he got his family out of it also, at the earliest possible time. Didn't he? The federal assistance is there to be used. No-one is denigrating anyone for using what was available. The problem is the additional whining and Begging/Extortion that is off-putting.

[dennisw]

So you're a greed driven freak using this website to justify your dishonorable existence. You aren't the first

[CobaltBlue]

No-one is denigrating anyone for using what was available. The problem is the additional whining and Begging/Extortion that is off-putting.

I just came back from a trip to Biloxi and New Orleans.

I have family and friends in all kinds of situations. I don't know a single person who suffered no damage at all.

My family has lived in the region of the Gulf of Mexico for almost 300 years, so I hope you will give me credence when I say that this is simply unprecedented.

I've seen and experienced many a hurricane in my time, including Betsy and Camille, and my mother and her generation experienced Audrey and the unnamed hurricane of 1946. My grandparents generation, the unnamed hurricane of 1906 (28 ft. storm surge in Dauphin Island.)

Me, I learned my lesson. I live in Virginia.

Leave all that aside. You, me, and everyone we know are on the hook to save these people, feckless or not, one way or the other. No matter what you believe, it will happen.

If all you want to do is complain, feel free. Me, I want to minimize the bottom line.

[CobaltBlue]

Sorry, you're talking to the wrong person. I don't get a nickel from Katrinia, nor Rita, nor any other hurricane. All I am is (1) an American taxpayer; (2) an honest person who believes in the rule of law; (3) a realistic person who comprehends that what is, is what is, whether I like it or not.

Your mileage obviously varies.

[rock58seg]

And I just read your latest posts. Is arrogance and Smarminess your usual demeanor?

[endthematrix]

"Stay out of my tax-payer pocket."

RIGHT ON!

[dixiechick2000]

"Is arrogance and Smarminess your usual demeanor?"


Yes, it is...from my own experience.
CB is neither tolerant, nor conservative.
I don't know why she is still here.

[FreedomCalls]

the property owner is entitled to just compensation pursuant to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, at fair market value.

What's the "fair market value" of a destroyed pile of sticks and bricks on a plot of land located below sea level? It ain't what you think it is (that is the value of the home pre-Katrina).