So you propose this would be appropriate here?
What about people like myself who lent money in good faith to home buyers with the expectation that I would recieve money back in interest and eventually, the principal?
That money that the bankers lent to the mortgage holders came from people like myself.
Should I just eat it as one of the evil rich?
I worked hard, very hard for that money I saved. A lot harder than most people would ever work in their lifetimes.
I’m with Opus. “Free Stuff” always has a flip side.
Here in this country you have a bizarre situation where banks who can legitimately foreclose on homes due to unpaid mortgages are refusing to do so in many cases. This is because they know damn well that the mortgages aren’t just “underwater” (i.e., the homes are worth less than the balance on the loan), but that the homes securing the mortgages aren’t even “assets” anymore. In many cases, the cost of foreclosing, taking possession, and then owning the home for an indefinite period of time isn’t even worth the bank’s effort in the long run.
Opus-couldn’t agree with you more. Problem is that at a very high level, involving millions of properties whose notes are completely bolluxed up...there may be little practical alternative.
The basis for Federal and State Gov’mt..the supervision of the order required to maintain the integrity of such transactions is being called into question. The very future of government and social fabric is predicated upon enforcement of contract laws in these instances-with the appropriate punitive consequences. Unfortunately, given the magnitude of individual involvement, it would require regional/state tribunals, operating for months/years to achieve.
The default to eliminate mortgage debt may very well happen if the involved bankers and powers that be perceive the nooses from the lampposts starting to swing near their their necks. Bernanke will of course reimburse the big banks under the table