Housing dilemma -- Foreclosures, Maryland

Stop lending
to people
with bad credit
or to people
with low incomes--
no taxpayer bailouts
for corporations
or for individuals....

recommending more regulation and "solutions" from the same people who brought us this mess is irresponsible.
...
abolish the central bank
...
no more fake money - use gold standard
...
let the market work. it won't be painless, but neither is quitting heroin.

I wonder if the Government will pick up my mortgage payment for the next few years. I want to go to Hawaii, buy a new Mercedes, join Caves Valley Golf Club, eat at Ruths Christ every evening, visit Ireland, and a few other things. Be responsible and no foreclosure problem.

I still can't find it in my heart (or wallet) to pay for people who bought twice as much house as they could afford and signing mortgages they now admit they did not understand. It seems those who live within their means continue to get the short end of the stick. Stupidity pays in this country.

Amen

I'm in agreement with Dave come on Government and pay my mortgage. I have a brand new Lexus along with private school for the kids and a couple of vacations a year that I have to pay for. My household income is 95K a year which is well above what my parents made so I should be able to live the lavish lifestyle because after all "I deserve it". This is the way 95% of the homeowners who are now in trouble with their mortgages look at their situation and now they expect my tax dollars to pay for their ignorance/greed while they get to keep the home at a lower payment than they originally signed for. I say let the market correct itself so that people with common sense will be able to buy a home in the future at an affordable price.

And since the Sunpapers editors think all good spouts from government, they won't mind seeing the 'housing crisis' stretch out far longer than if we'd let the market itself sort the problem out.

Banks will fail, along with people losing their houses. That's a cold, hard fact, a consequence of stupidity.

Let the real estate prices go back to reasonable levels and let the people, who don't know basic Math and have no sense of financial responsibility, go into foreclosure and bankruptcy. Help should be available on individual basis to those, who are experiencing temporary difficulties, are disabled or otherwise disadvantaged. For others - apartments are always available for lease in our complex. As simple as that.

What you can afford today might be out of reach tomorrow. You never know what might happen.

Wow, what a bunch of heartless bastards you all are.

The bulk of the people in foreclosure are ordinary folks who were assured by financial and real estate experts that they could afford whatever ridiculous loan they were sold, and then could not, often because they lost one or both incomes after signing.

And when you have to live in a particular area to get decent schools or a decent commute, and that area is wildly overvalued, how exactly do you buy a "responsible" house?

I wonder how many of you fans of the unregulated market are aware that that's exactly what allowed all the predatory lending practices to flourish in the first place?

I suppose those of you who are Christian can take comfort in the admonition "those of you without sin may cast the first stone", knowing that you are, in fact, one of those people.

Mike wrote:

I'm in agreement with Dave come on Government and pay my mortgage. I have a brand new Lexus along with private school for the kids and a couple of vacations a year that I have to pay for. My household income is 95K a year which is well above what my parents made so I should be able to live the lavish lifestyle because after all "I deserve it". This is the way 95% of the homeowners who are now in trouble with their mortgages look at their situation and now they expect my tax dollars to pay for their ignorance/greed while they get to keep the home at a lower payment than they originally signed for. I say let the market correct itself so that people with common sense will be able to buy a home in the future at an affordable price.

It is not very often I agree with Mike and Dave , but most of these
interest-only , no down payment and other exotic loans were speculators .
They deserve to pay for their risky
mistakes and for people who weren't speculating , they deserve a refiguring of loan if possible , but
you can't take the risk out of markets.

JWER you can always contact one of these irresponsible individuals and contribute money to pay for their loans. Surely, that would make you feel better and we heartless "bastards" won't have to have our tax dollars used to bail them out. So, you lose a house you couldn't affort and buy a smaller one. What is bad about that? They should have done that in the first place. Ever hear of the old saying "if sounds too good it probably isn't" or something like that.

Dave wrote:

JWER you can always contact one of these irresponsible individuals and contribute money to pay for their loans. Surely, that would make you feel better and we heartless "bastards" won't have to have our tax dollars used to bail them out. So, you lose a house you couldn't affort and buy a smaller one. What is bad about that? They should have done that in the first place. Ever hear of the old saying "if sounds too good it probably isn't" or something like that.

Before all of these loans started going into foreclosure, apparently most of these folks were paying their mortgages without problem.

Again, I agree with Dave if JWER feels that way feel free to donate to someone who is living in a 5 bedroom 3 and a half bath 3800sft home that they paid 650k for with an ARM or interest only loan betting on the fact that they were sure to make at least 100k in appreciation on the home. But guess what most homes were overvalued and now they are going down to real market value and guess who's crying/whining to the Government to bail them out? The same people who bought the homes thinking they were going to make money instead of actually trying to find a home to live in at an affordable price. To own a home is a priviledge not a right. Now for the people who are temporary unemployed/disabled, I am all for finding a way to help them out but not with the Government giving them money maybe the bank lowering monthly payments for awhile (Not Forgiving) until the person gets back on their feet.

PeachdeQueen wrote:

<quoted text>
Before all of these loans started going into foreclosure, apparently most of these folks were paying their mortgages without problem.

They were paying without problems because they were using an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) or an Interest Only Loan but once the loan reset after a year or so someone could possibly go from paying $1800 a month to $3500 a month which is a huge jump for most middle class households. This information was included in paperwork that they signed at Closing.

jwer wrote:

Wow, what a bunch of heartless bastards you all are.
The bulk of the people in foreclosure are ordinary folks who were assured by financial and real estate experts that they could afford whatever ridiculous loan they were sold, and then could not, often because they lost one or both incomes after signing.
And when you have to live in a particular area to get decent schools or a decent commute, and that area is wildly overvalued, how exactly do you buy a "responsible" house?
I wonder how many of you fans of the unregulated market are aware that that's exactly what allowed all the predatory lending practices to flourish in the first place?
I suppose those of you who are Christian can take comfort in the admonition "those of you without sin may cast the first stone", knowing that you are, in fact, one of those people.

What exactly is a predatory lending practice? People and businesses need to learn to stand on their own two feet.

Mike wrote:

<quoted text>
They were paying without problems because they were using an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) or an Interest Only Loan but once the loan reset after a year or so someone could possibly go from paying $1800 a month to $3500 a month which is a huge jump for most middle class households. This information was included in paperwork that they signed at Closing.

You are correct, however most of the ARMs that were sold, were done so at 5-year terms.

As it stands, I purchased my home five years ago this fall. You would be amazed to learn how insistent I had to be to not be sold one these "not your parents' or grandparents' loans." Actual quote from a Bank of America mortgage rep.

Every time I spoke with this individual, I had to tell him, "No, I do not want an ARM. I want a fixed-rate mortgage."

And while all the loan terms are stated in the massive stack of paperwork that one must sign on closing day, it is a rather overwhelming process.

Everyone in the room with me when I closed (from the seller, the seller's agent, my agent, and the title company rep), where completely ticked off that I spent the two hours reading every single piece of paper.

It is a real shame, but I'm sure most people don't read the paperwork that they sign.(And that would be for any large purchase, I'm sure.)

The key is education, and not relying on other people to explain things to you.

PeachdeQueen wrote:

<quoted text>
Before all of these loans started going into foreclosure, apparently most of these folks were paying their mortgages without problem.

Duh. Interest only loans that come due, variable rate mortgages that adjust. Get it?

More house than they could really afford. Get it yet?

Mike wrote:

<quoted text>
They were paying without problems because they were using an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) or an Interest Only Loan but once the loan reset after a year or so someone could possibly go from paying $1800 a month to $3500 a month which is a huge jump for most middle class households. This information was included in paperwork that they signed at Closing.

ARMs aren't a new mortgage product. They have been around and used for years and years and years. So why NOW are ARMs suddenly sending folks into foreclosure. something else is added in the mix, something unexpected like the housing market going bust. People can't sell their existing homes and get out of their ARM, new home builders can't unload new homes because people can't sell their current one. The value of houses rose too fast and much like the dot com era, have gone bust. it's gonna get worse before it gets better.

Yes, America has a debt problem. But Americans didn't suddenly get more stupid in the last 2 years then they have been in the last 100.

jwer wrote:

Wow, what a bunch of heartless bastards you all are.
The bulk of the people in foreclosure are ordinary folks who were assured by financial and real estate experts that they could afford whatever ridiculous loan they were sold, and then could not, often because they lost one or both incomes after signing.
And when you have to live in a particular area to get decent schools or a decent commute, and that area is wildly overvalued, how exactly do you buy a "responsible" house?
I wonder how many of you fans of the unregulated market are aware that that's exactly what allowed all the predatory lending practices to flourish in the first place?
I suppose those of you who are Christian can take comfort in the admonition "those of you without sin may cast the first stone", knowing that you are, in fact, one of those people.

Yea, yea, yea....Life's a bitch.

Why should tax payers pay for their mistakes? I say, let them work it out themselves --- get an additional job, work overtime, etc. Hard work is good for the soul.