Posted on 03/22/2008 11:33:44 AM PDT by BGHater
SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — The U.S. credit crisis has extended far out into the Pacific territories.
Sixty percent of homeowners under a 10-year-old government-backed loan program in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are in default on their loans, The Marianas Variety newspaper reported, citing the Marianas Public Housing Trust and the Marianas Housing Corp.
Lawmakers say many homeowners could be forced to move into smaller homes or move out of the territory because they cannot make loan payments. The loans were issued under a $10 million program set up in 1998.
Republican Sen. Paul A. Manglona said lawmakers are alarmed by the high percentage of borrowers that are in default.
"The bottom-line is we're concerned about what will happen to these 60 percent delinquent homeowners," Manglona said. "If President Bush is doing something to help prevent foreclosures of homes in the states, what are we doing here in the CNMI?"
Manglona said lawmakers expect the land trust, which has taken over the delinquent loans, to come up with recommendations for helping owners so they do not have to abandon their homes. He suggested repackaging the loans and reducing interest rates.
Ugh.. Just maybe they could buy EACH OTHERS homes in foreclosure.. then TRADE...
That's because you're a clueless twit, senator, as are much of your ilk.
Is it a nice place to live? Maybe I’ll hide out there for the next 8 years...
Good place for Barry to vacation and get a twofer. He could get some R and R with his lovely wife Michelle by telling her that we can rest here, it is not really Whitey’s country, just a protectorate, and at the same time say he was taking a working vacation studying effects of the sub-prime crisis on just plain typical folk.
You could say 60 Percent of Marianas are under water. Must be Global Warming!
Why are we not arresting the mortgage brokers who falsified these applications.
Interesting read:
http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=77264&cat=3
I believe it is and you wouldn't have to worry about mortgage payments for years........palm trees lots of rum and fruit.......I'm checking airfares
http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Pacific/Commonwealth-of-Northern-Mariana-Islands
The CNMI’s real estate crisis continues
The CNMI is a tax haven and tourist heaven. Japanese and Korean tourists enjoy complete visa waivers.
Unfortunately visitor arrivals were hit by the Asian crisis and have fallen continuously since then, from 736,000 in 1996, to 435,464 in 2006. The average hotel daily spend crashed to US$80/night in 2004, from US$136/night in 1997. Daily rates somewhat recovered in 2006 to US$90/night.
To make matters worse, the January 2005 Multi-Fiber Agreement, which ends textile quotas, has impacted the CNMI, which long enjoyed the almost unique advantage of a low-cost Asian labour force except from US visa and immigration rules, at the same time as it sold its textiles quota-free in the US domestic market. This special advantage has now vanished.
Real estate prices in CNMI have fallen by as much as 90% in some areas since 1997. Building permits have slumped from a year high of 597 in 1999, to 292 in 2006, an all-time low.
CNMI building prices tend to be volatile as a result of Article 12 of the Constitution, which bars foreigners (Non-Northern Marianas descent) from acquiring real property fee simple. Local law requires property owners to be of at least 25% CNMI descent.
Calls for repealing Article 12, or extending the lease term beyond 55 years, have become more insistent as a result of the economic slump.
But as Article 12 prevents the Commonwealth from being overwhelmed by tele-commuters and retirees, feelings can run high, and recently proposed amendments of the lease period were defeated in the House of Representatives.
Wow, thanks for the link. Some of this reminds me of issues seen in rural Alaska.
Some local newspapers are on line
For a glimse of life in Alaska try
“http://www.alaskanewspapers.com/newspapers.asp";
No surprise that things are getting worse in Alaska.
It’s close to Japan so will have tons of Japanese tourists, The Southern Marianas island of Guam is a big Japanese honeymoon destination. So if you enjoy watching Japanese lovebirds bill and coo, you’ll love it there.
What is exactly Whitey’s country?
You ask an excellent question, if I had been sitting in a congregation for twenty years exposed to black liberation theology, I would be able to provide a short answer. But I will give it a try anywhere, Whitey's country is the America that Barry's Uncle Jeremiah petitioned God to damn. As far as I can make out this country which Uncle Jeremiah asked God to curse, is the country I live in.
This is what will ultimately happen when the Government intervenes in the mortgage business. People will stop paying their mortgage and then expect their debts to be forgiven. After all, isn’t housing a basic human right? [/sarc]
Looks good to me. ;)
http://www.viviun.com/AD-58318/
The U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands has the highest female - male ratio in the world. 100 women for every 76 men. And the place is in the South Pacific between Hawaii and the Philippines?
Uh, I think I found my retirement spot....
Because it was Racist to deny these loans. Jobs, we don't need no stinkin' Jobs.
Wonder what the median home price is in the Marianas?
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