Posted on 06/02/2010 10:02:29 AM PDT by AngieGal
For Alex Pemberton and Susan Reboyras, foreclosure is becoming a way of life — something they did not want but are in no hurry to get out of.
Foreclosure has allowed them to stabilize the family business. Go to Outback occasionally for a steak. Take their gas-guzzling airboat out for the weekend. Visit the Hard Rock Casino.
“Instead of the house dragging us down, it’s become a life raft,” said Pemberton, who stopped paying the mortgage on their house here last summer. “It’s really been a blessing.”
A growing number of the people whose homes are in foreclosure are refusing to slink away in shame. They are fashioning a sort of homemade mortgage modification, one that brings their payments all the way down to zero. They use the money they save to get back on their feet or just get by.
This type of modification does not beg for a lender’s permission but is delivered as an ultimatum: Force me out if you can. Any moral qualms are overshadowed by a conviction that the banks created the crisis by snookering homeowners with loans that got them in over their heads.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
I’m all for making lemons into lemonade, but some people have absolutely no shame.
What a pair of friggin’ low-lifes......shit......I’m of a mind to call “A Plus Restorations” and schedule a big ass job and then just not pay them.....absolute, worthless lowlifes. If I were the bank, I’d wait until they all left the home together just to burn it down....
Some of us actually pay our bills. And we’re getting pretty angry with the people who don’t pay their bills, get special deals from the government, or otherwise seem to be rewarded for contributing less than the rest of us.
3 years free rent?
It’s what I would be doing if I had bought during that bubble. However, I saw what was coming and rented. I saved a HUGE chunk of cash renting for a third what it would have cost to own, as the value of my home plummeted.
I did buy a farm and new home in central Kentucky, but it cost less than one years wages and they didn’t have the bubble there. It could lose ALL its value and I wouldn’t be as underwater as most of my homeowner friends here in Seattle.
So they would rather go to the Hard Rock Casino than pay their bills? Shame on these people. And I love the play slots, but I have my priorities straight. Sickening.
The system is collapsing around us anyway. I have an acquaintence that just walked away from his townhouse in Rockford Il. Half of the units were vacant and the association padlocked the cabana and the pool has been non-functioning for years. He tried renting it out and even moved back as he tried to make the payments. He finally exercised plan B written right into the contract: He gave it back.
But he was not living there for free. He just walked away. I told him to do it two years ago. Come to think of it, that happened to another friend that I was counseling to walk away about two years ago. He finally did a few months ago. It almost bankrupted him. He’s fine now.
>>So they would rather go to the Hard Rock Casino than pay their bills?<<
Yeah, that’s kinda creepy, actually. I’d be turning every dollar I save into gold and junk silver.
If we enforced debt repayment more stringently, people would find a way to make their payments. It’s just too damn easy to walk away.
These people are foolish; they did it to themselves. One of my friends has a problem with spending beyond his means. He took out an equity loan against his house to consolidate and pay off numerous maxed-out credit cards. The house was nearly paid off, had been purchased many years ago by his now-departed parents.
He told me that the loan officer offered an additional $80,000 cash on the equity loan. I said "you turned it down, right?". He took it. Yep, went on a spending binge, and nearly lost his house this year. I blame my friend. The bank can't force you to be stupid.
And it was probably too easy to get into the debt to begin with.
The nation is failing.
For many years it has been the ordinary decency of average Americans that has kept the whole society afloat.
Ordinary American who pay their taxes, and don’t cheat on them.
Ordinary Americans who volunteer to fight in the Army.
Ordinary Americans who honor the contracts they make, even at some personal cost.
Ordinary Americans who sacrifice for the good of their kids.
Now ordinary Americans have lost faith. The see the government has an endless appetite for their money. They note the tax evasion of the Treasury Secretary. They start thinking: “I’m a sucker”.
They see minorities, even illegal immigrants who’ve only just arrived, living off the system. Section 8, foodstamps, welfare, public health care. They think “What the hell am I doing. I’m a sucker”.
The see a political class that doesn’t send it’s own children into the military, but is willing to send theirs. It sees a commander in chief who can’t be bothered to even attend services at Arlington on Memorial Day. The think: “I’m a fool.”
They watch the Government steal from bondholders, they watch the government bail out banks, and car companies, and insurance companies — and the execs of these firms all get millions. The think: “screw this”.
So, yeah, at some point people just decide they don’t want to play the game anymore. They walk away from the rules.
The truth is that the ordinary American has been a far better person that the elites that rule over us for a long time. The gap widened for years. Until we hit the tipping point.
Now the average Joe is going to start acting like the fellows in Congress, or on Wall Street. “Strategic Defaults”. Lawfare against creditors. Stiff ‘em. Hide the assetts. Lie to them. Take a vacation in Vegas. What the hell, the whole system is stinkin’ freak show.
Why should I be the last honest dupe, playing by the rules, paying for everyone else’s fun. With tax dollars.
So, lots of us aren’t there yet. Many of us will never go there. But the world isn’t made of saints. Ordinary people can only take so much before they snap.
The example that is being set for the nation by the elites has assured that behaviour like this will continue to grow. At some point we will no longer be the America of our past. Widespread corruption results in dysfunctional societies like Russia and Indonesia. Sadly, we are headed there.
Replacing the leadersship, not gently like Bush did, but forcefully with anger, recriminations, accusations, prosecutions and jailings is one step needed to turn things around. Who has the guts for that? Palin? I don’t think so.
Natural economic forces at work. This will further lower home values to a more natural level.
What is the difference between what these people are doing, and what common thieves do?
"One reason the house is worth so much less than the debt is because of the real estate crash. But the couple also refinanced at the height of the market, taking out cash to buy a truck they used as a contest prize for their hired trappers.
It was a stupid move by their lender, according to Pemberton [the foreclosed on owner].
So these sociopaths are blaming the bank for their decision to do a cash out refi to finance a prize for their business partners?
...and those are becoming fewer and fewer. Witness the myriad of Young Republican types perfectly content to watch young women their age depart to war while they sit at home. Ask Mitt or the Huckster if they have any young 'men' in their family like that.
“Go to Outback occasionally for a steak. Take their gas-guzzling airboat out for the weekend. Visit the Hard Rock Casino.”
Still not acting their wage. These are little babies that aren’t willing to sacrifice now for reaping rewards later. See my tagline for further detials!
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