OMG!!! Obama Administration pushing for a deal to settle home foreclosure claims

Glory, Hallelujah!!!

I am speechless!! This is great!!!

Well, until you really read the information a big thud comes upon you. As in, business as usual, as in no accountability but all deniability by banks, as in wrap this up because it can become a sore thumb in any re-election bid.

But, I was excited for a hot minute!! Now, not shocked at this deal, it is what we have witnessed the past 2-1/2 years from the Obama Administration.


The premise of this deal sounds solid, good but as you read it, if you were one of these homeowners is this good enough?

The bottomline is this:

Described as a "shock and awe" approach, the deal would accomplish the four goals set out by state and federal policy makers and regulators as part of their multi-agency investigations into abusive mortgage practices by the nation's largest financial firms: punish banks for violations of state law and federal regulations; provide much-needed assistance to distressed borrowers; stabilize a deteriorating housing market; and dissuade firms from abusing homeowners in the future.

The modified mortgages could cost the five financial behemoths -- Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial -- as much as $30 billion, according to sources. Combined, the five firms handle three out of every five home loans, according to newsletter and data provider Inside Mortgage Finance.

It also could lead to reduced mortgage payments or lowered loan balances for nearly two-thirds of the 4.7 million delinquent homeowners who have yet to fall into foreclosure, according to data provider Lender Processing Services.

Forget those who have lost their homes due to malfeasance, fraud, trickery and theft by these financial institutions. Your loss will remain ignored, not recognized and part of collateral damage in the art of "CYA", Washington, D.C. style. Sorry, but that is what is going to happen.

What this deal WILL DO is to help homeowners who are delinquent modify their mortgages, forgive the principle and any balances on second mortgages/home equity loans will be written down or possibly eliminated.

All of this has to be ok'd by the federal government/agencies, banks, financial institutions, along with the states. Why the states? Well, many states have started legal processes against many of these financial institutions on behalf of their constituents.

In the meantime, the financial institutions, along with the federal government want this over and done with. Why? Well, the public dislike and mistrust of banks is clear, especially since these thieving robber barons was directly responsible for the fall of this country's economy. This the public understands VERY WELL. For the Obama Administration, they want this continuing talking point OFF THE TABLE. Their position will be, "see we have held the banks accountable and are helping millions of Americans to restructure their loans in a fair and timely manner." Not having this deal will continue to be a black eye to the Obama Administration, as they will be perceived as doing nothing and "In Like Flynn" with the banks. Remember, the public don't like the banks.

Meanwhile, banks, while eager to put the controversies over wrongful home repossessions and "robo-signing" behind them, do not want to be the only firms that pay for what could be a mass mortgage principal forgiveness scheme. They want government-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee more than half of all home loans, to participate in any initiative that calls for lowering homeowners' loan balances. Fannie and Freddie's regulator has been reluctant to allow them to participate, citing his responsibility of minimizing the cost of the bailout to taxpayers, people involved in the talks said.

The Obama administration wants a quick resolution to the probes, and is putting pressure on the small group of state attorneys general leading their investigation to wrap it up, sources said. On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a Senate committee that "all parties have a stake in bringing this to resolution as quickly as possible."

"It's very important that we try to bring this to bed as quickly as we can," Geithner told the Senate Banking Committee.

If all goes well, this could go over well with the voters, maybe. But for those wanting an investigation from this Administration, IT AIN'T HAPPENIN'.....

Investors, homeowner advocates and law enforcement officials hoping for a deep investigation into allegedly widespread mortgage abuses by the nation's largest financial firms may ultimately be disappointed.

Lastly, the banks are still in charge where D.C. is concerned. They definitely will not sign any agreement with new rules and procedures attached, nor will they pay any new penalty fees that will not clear their name (I am not kidding about this).

But the banks won't sign any agreement that forces them to abide by new rules and pay substantial penalties that doesn't clear them of liability or at least significantly lessen the chance of a state-brought lawsuit, sources familiar with their position said.

In fact, the banks are crafting their own proposal. Did we think this would not happen?

In the long run, the Obama Administration must show that they have done something in regards to the financial institutions because this continues to be an anger point with voters out here. The banks don't want a full investigation and all their dirty laundry out for us to sniff and become even angrier, especially since that dirt will be legal documents with legal signatures, with financial executives still bringing in billions and no accountability like "hand cuffs" on these crooks. Oh, no, don't expect that to happen.

This is about the best that will come of a preliminary deal and I mean preliminary because as we know, deals change, whether we like it or not. This will be a public slap to the banks, while the banks will continue business as usual, which in the end is a sad state of affairs for government working and not protecting the public. The government does not work for the people, they work for the status quo and we all know who they are.

Elizabeth Warren says it the best about this mortgage mess:

“If there had been a cop on the beat with the authority to hold mortgage servicers accountable a half dozen years ago, if there had been a consumer agency in place, the problems in mortgage servicing would have been exposed early and fixed while they were still small, long before they became a national scandal,” Warren said in testimony before a House Financial Services subcommittee. She is point person for setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

If the Financial Regulation Bill had real teeth in it, we would have started to see real change. But, again, the status quo always win.

Cross-posted @ Daily Kos

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Foreclosures moving right along.....

Along with problems of NO JOBS and people having to take wage cuts to try to keep a job, your mortgage bill sure isn't going down anytime soon. Record high foreclosures and folks just walking away from these homes that is not worth the paper it is printed on, should be an ALARM all across this country. The Dow Jones may be partying like it is 2099, but Main Street is being slaughtered out here.

Despite concerted government-led and lender-supported efforts to prevent foreclosures, the number of filings hit a record high in the third quarter, according to a report issued Thursday.

"They were the worst three months of all time," said Rick Sharga, spokesman for RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed homes.

During that time, 937,840 homes received a foreclosure letter -- whether a default notice, auction notice or bank repossession, the RealtyTrac report said. That means one in every 136 U.S. homes were in foreclosure, which is a 5% increase from the second quarter and a 23% jump over the third quarter of 2008.

Nevada continued to be the worst-hit state with one filing for every 23 households. But even tranquil Vermont, where the foreclosure crisis has barely brushed the housing market, saw foreclosure filings jump nearly 170% compared with the third quarter of 2008. Still, that resulted in just one filing for every 5,023 households in the state -- the best record in the country. read more here....

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As long as the job numbers are horrific, foreclosures will continue to rise

I am for the stimulus program, I see the Obama Administration signs around various construction jobs, but one thing that bothers me is the job numbers. The unemployment numbers are not coming down, the numbers are going up and I am not sold on the economy bottoming out.

Why is that? Well, I went out of town this holiday weekend. I left from one of the busiest airports in the world, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. I am here to report that the travel was LIGHT. The plane I was on was half full leaving to my destination, though full on the flight back, but all in all, the airport traffic was one of the lightest I have seen in a very long time.

That says something. It says people don't have the money to travel, even though you can get good deals out there. It also says that if folks are not traveling, it has a roller ball, ripple effect on everything else.

Another indicator is the malls. The one big mall that I have frequented over the years have cut the hours down, drastically. My hairstylist, who works at this large mall, told me that it is hard to book all the stylists at Mario Triccoci, work there has been cut down. Shopping malls are another indicator of how strong the economy is. Case and point, I went to Best Buy to purchase Twilight on a Saturday and I have not been in Best Buy for quite a while, since I purchase most of my goods from the internet, going in that store was a reality check. It was a ghost town. This is an anchor store at a shopping mall, which at one point was crowded EVERY WEEKEND, was like a ghost town. Sure, folks are shopping on the internet, but when people don't have money for a basic lavish necessity as a DVD, times are hard. Yep, the shopping malls are ghost towns.

On the low-income east side of Charlotte, N.C., the 1.1-million-square-foot Eastland Mall recently lost a slew of key tenants, including a Dillard's and, next month, a Sears. Sales per square foot at the venue fell to $210 in 2008 from $288 in 2001.

The Metcalf South Shopping Center in Overland Park, Kan., is languishing after plans to redevelop it into an open-air shopping district fizzled. The stretch of shops that connects the two largest tenants -- a Sears and a Macy's -- stands mostly vacant, patrolled by security guards.

With their maze of walkways and fast-food courts, malls have long been an iconic, if sometimes unsightly, presence in the American retail landscape. A few were made famous by their sheer size, others for the range of shopping and social diversions they provided.

But the long recession is helping to empty out the promenades. Some analysts estimate that the number of so-called "dead malls" -- centers debilitated by anemic sales and high vacancy rates -- will swell to more than 100 by the end of this year.

For many when money is tight people move into the survivor mode of thinking, which means if I don't need it, I won't buy it. So, the smallest of luxury items, like a 13.99 DVD, is put in the I don't need list and if this mode of thinking is out there now, a lot of shopping malls are going through some tough times.

Enters that pesky job number or unemployment number, which is over 600K a month. Americans single most asset of value is their home, period. Americans have seen their home value plummet and the notion that it will pick back up is just a fallacy. It won't, not for a very long time. And since folks are getting the pink slips at record clip, this includes solid home owners, with solid credit, who are now behind on their mortgages.

As job losses rise, growing numbers of American homeowners with once solid credit are falling behind on their mortgages, amplifying a wave of foreclosures.

In the latest phase of the nation’s real estate disaster, the locus of trouble has shifted from subprime loans — those extended to home buyers with troubled credit — to the far more numerous prime loans issued to those with decent financial histories.

With many economists anticipating that the unemployment rate will rise into the double digits from its current 8.9 percent, foreclosures are expected to accelerate. That could exacerbate bank losses, adding pressure to the financial system and the broader economy.

“We’re about to have a big problem,” said Morris A. Davis, a real estate expert at the University of Wisconsin. “Foreclosures were bad last year? It’s going to get worse.”

Economists refer to the current surge of foreclosures as the third wave, distinct from the initial spike when speculators gave up property because of plunging real estate prices, and the secondary shock, when borrowers’ introductory interest rates expired and were reset higher.

“We’re right in the middle of this third wave, and it’s intensifying,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “That loss of jobs and loss of overtime hours and being forced from a full-time to part-time job is resulting in defaults. They’re coast to coast.”

To be honest, there is only so much at this point that government can do. The shame of this is that the Obama Administration inherited a huge financial anchor on its neck and no matter who was in the driver seat; the reality would be the same. The automotive industry is not helping the job numbers, expect unemployment numbers to escalate.

The reality is this in the end:

The issue here is that even the best credit rating in the world is little protection against the fact that if you’re laid off during a recession your income may drop a huge amount. Foreclosures, in turn, help make the economic situation worse and drive up the unemployment rate.

And that is a dilemma that the Obama Administration is in, they can not wave a magic wand and make it better. It will take time. And for some, time is not on their side.

Source

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Obama Administration expanding housing plan

This is good news for many homeowners trying to hold onto their home. This targets homeowner who do not qualify for the assistance of various programs now. Remember, the foreclosures in this country is still at record levels, if we want to stablize this market, which means the value of many homes in this country, we must slow down the foreclosure rate.

The Obama administration expanded its $50 billion mortgage aid program on Thursday, announcing new measures that would help homeowners avoid a foreclosure if they don’t qualify for other assistance.

The new initiatives are expected to streamline the process of selling a home that is worth less than the mortgage, or transfer ownership of a home to the lender. Both options will still ding the homeowner’s credit score, but less than a foreclosure.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan held a press conference Thursday with borrowers who saved their homes through the government’s mortgage aid program called Making Home Affordable.

Since the program was launched in March, Mortgage companies have made more than 55,000 offers to modify borrowers’ loans. So far, 14 companies that service about three quarters of the mortgage market have signed up and will be paid for each loan they modify.

While the number of success stories is growing, it pales compared to the rate of new foreclosures, and many housing counselors across the country are complaining that the Making Home Affordable is taking off slowly.

“Our experience at the ground level has been, so far, frustrating,” said Michael van Zalingen, director of homeownership at Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, a counseling group. Entry-level employees at mortgage companies, he said, are either steering borrowers away from the plan or are entirely unaware of it. read more here....

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Bank of America needs a sh*tload of money, eventually more bailout money...

Again, I have been writing from the beginning, we cannot save all the banks. We cannot. We have sunk billions into Citibank and have been sinking the same into Bank of America. Now, we are all smart here and can smell the bulls*it, eventually the Obama Administration will have to cut the purse strings, which are our purse strings and let one of the big ones, that we were told, "CAN NOT FAIL", do just that. FAIL.

Bank of America Corp. stock rose in premarket trading after an initial decline, amid reports that it needs $34 billion in new capital.

The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are reporting that regulators are telling the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank it needs about $34 billion in capital based on results of government "stress tests."

The New York Times quoted a bank executive, while the Journal report cited unnamed people familiar with the situation.

Bank of America was not immediately available to comment on the reports. The Treasury Department declined to comment.

Shares of Bank of America rose $1.02, or 9.4 percent, to $11.16 in premarket trading. The stock had been down more than 5 percent earlier in the morning.

Bank of America has been among the hardest hit banks by the credit crisis and ongoing recession. It has received more than $45 billion in government aid already, and has come under heavy scrutiny in recent months for its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The need for more capital comes as the government gets set to release the results of a stress test on Thursday that it completed on 19 banks to determine how they would fare in economic conditions worsened. The test aims to gauge how much of an additional capital cushion the nation's biggest banks need to protect against potential future losses.

Any of the banks that are deemed to need more capital will have an opportunity to raise the funds on their own before the government steps in to help support them.

Can BofA raise this capital? I don't know, this is not the only shaky bank out there and though the stock market is slowly becoming more solid, the job market is not and though the housing market is up it is only because many are purchasing drastically reduced homes. This also means that many Americans are sitting on mortgages in homes that have dropped drastically in value. Now 1 in 5 home owners owe more on mortgages than what the home is worth.

The downturn in home prices has left about 20% of U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage than their homes are worth, according to one new study, signaling additional challenges to the Obama administration's efforts to stabilize the housing market.

The increase in the number of such "underwater" borrowers comes amid signs that falling prices are making homes more affordable for first-time buyers and others who have been shut out of the housing market. But falling prices also make it more difficult for homeowners who get into financial trouble to refinance or sell their homes, and for others to take advantage of lower interest rates.

For instance, fewer will qualify to take advantage of a key component of the Obama administration's plan to stabilize the housing market. Under the plan, announced in February, as many as five million homeowners whose loans are owned or guaranteed by government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can refinance their mortgages, but only if the mortgage loan is a maximum of 105% of the home's value.

This leaves many STUCK with a mortgage on a home not worth, well, squat. So, now we should continue to keep the likes of Bank of American above water? Eventually, for the Obama Administration, people are going to get tired of this, if they are not getting ansy already.

WE CAN NOT SAVE THEM ALL. If we can let Chrysler go into bankruptcy, so can some of these banks. Like the automobile industry that drove themselves over a cliff, so did the greed of these banks.

ENOUGH ALREADY.

Source

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Democratic Senators sides with the banks and against homeowners (Video)

They did. Again, lobbying is still going strong. Again, these senators who continue to take their money, vote lock step with STATUS QUO. From Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

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Hard to swallow the truth while the government is in OUTRAGE over AIG, Tent Cities, Slums are real (Video)

This is near Ontario Airport, one of the burbs of Los Angeles. And Sacramento and Phoenix have tent cities popping up, too.

Sacramento is below:



Folks, families, individuals getting thrown out on the street is real, not FAKE. We sure care about AIG and the rest, not failing and this just breaks your heart. And evictions, look here.

h/t Jeffrey Feldman

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AIG can pay themselves MILLIONS in bonus money from US taxpayers, but folks get EVICTED from their homes, with no help in sight....

Where is the fairness?

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Obama's Home/Foreclosure/Mortgage Plan (Video)

This video has all the basic information with contact information on who qualifies.

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The Crisis of Credit Visualized (Video)

Don't understand what is going on and how the credit crisis happened? This breaks it down to simple terms. h/t jjp

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White House Slams the "Rick Rant" (Video)

And if you have not heard of the RICK RANT, a man who wants to be significant, view here.

Gibbs schools them at the presser, today.

"I also think that it’s tremendously important that for people who rant on cable television – to be responsible and understand what it is they’re talking about. I feel assured that Mr. Santelli doesn’t know what he’s talking about," Gibbs said during the daily White House briefing for reporters, .......read more here

NBC Nightly News

Robert Gibbs full statement on the "Rick Rant"

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Hypocrisy on Wall Street, "Rick's Rant" about Obama's Housing Bailout, but quiet on their OWN BAILOUT (Video)

h/t jjp

rikyrah at jjp is right. Where was this mo-fo when Wall Street was begging for a bailout? When Wall Street said, "if we don't get a bailout the financial system will collapse?" And finally when Wall Street was the MAIN PROBLEM of the housing collaspe in this country. Yes, the main problem because they kept saying YES to many who had too much debt or could not afford these houses, instead of saying, "NO". In other words, they only cared about their bottom dollar and not the consequences of what could happen to this country until after the fact.

Again, two set of standards. One for the very wealthy in this country and one for the average worker. The love of money will get you every time, we see it got Wall Street.

The Wall Street ranter is Rick Santelli.

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President Obama Introduces the Housing Plan for the Mortgage Crisis in Arizona (Video and Transcript)

Transcript

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If this is true many Americans will thank President Obama

It appears part of President Obama's housing plan is to force the bailout banks to cut mortgage payments. Btw, Obama is announcing the housing plan in Arizona, today. This could work, since these banks have cut lending, while still taking our tax payer's money to clean up their mismanagement mess.

While many are grasping the stimulus package, the housing mess is something everyone in this country fully understand. Some in congress felt Obama should have addressed this first, my take, it does not matter. Many things have been left for Obama to clean up by the Bush Administration, the housing mess is just one on the list to be addressed.

President Obama’s plan to reduce the flood of home foreclosures will include a mix of government inducements and new pressure on lenders to reduce monthly payments for borrowers at risk of losing their houses, according to people knowledgeable about the administration’s thinking.

The plan, to be announced Wednesday, is expected to include government subsidies for reducing a borrower’s interest rate, which a lender would have to match with its own money.

But officials cautioned that subsidies for lower interest rates would not in themselves help many troubled homeowners, because lenders were still likely to view many of those borrowers as bad risks and refuse to restructure their loans. As a result, they have been casting about for sticks as well as carrots to persuade the lenders to take part.

Exactly what kind of pressure Mr. Obama would bring to bear remains unclear. One possibility is a stepped-up effort to enact legislation that would give bankruptcy judges new power to restructure mortgages and reduce a borrower’s payments.

The part I emphasized above should be read with caution by every American. If we want out housing prices to stop falling, foreclosures to stop in our neighborhoods, short-sells to cease, the Obama Administration will have to give these lending institutions or bailout banks some type of incentive to restructure these loans, bad debt or toxic assets sitting on their books.

We don't like these banks right now. Many of us feel dumped on by Wall Street and their greed, I feel all of this, but if you want your home price to stabilize then a deal will have to be made. These banks, as of now, have no obligation to homeowners who got tricked into these funny mortgages, homeowners who got greedy flipping homes, or homeowners with their second or third vacation home who can not afford the payments now.

Folks, a deal will have to be cut and we in the end will have to take it.

Source

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Nationalizing Banks, from ABCs This Week with George Stephanopolous (Video)

In all honesty, Senator Lindsey Graham is right, if we put out banks under a stress test now, they would fail. There is so much bad paper, toxic assets from the housing market on these banks books, the continuing of throwing good money to bad will not help. The smile on Rep. Maxine Waters face says it all, "We have come a long way." Folks, the financial crisis is not fake it is real, we are still seeing upwards of 10,000 foreclosed homes a day, these banks will not survive letting this continue.

In a gloomy segment about the financial sector on ABC'S This Week, two self-avowed fiscal conservatives said that the U.S. Government should at least consider nationalizing the country's banking system as a means of moving beyond the current lending crisis.

"This idea of nationalizing banks is not comfortable," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). "But I think we've got so many toxic assets spread throughout the banking and financial community, throughout the world, that we're going to have to do something that no one ever envisioned a year ago, no one likes. To me, banking and housing are the root cause of this problem. I'm very much afraid any program to salvage the banks is going to require the government... I would not take off the idea of nationalizing the banks."

The remark prompted a bewildered smile of sorts from fellow panelist Maxine Waters (D-CA) who said, to no one in particular, "We have come a long way." read more here....

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Senator Kerry SCHOOLS the Republicans on HOUSING and FORECLOSURE (Video)

AMEN. Big hypocrites in Washington, D.C., (most) of the Senate Republicans

h/t tndp (Tennessee Democratic Party)

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Home prices dropping like a hot rock (with video)

Again, I never bought into the "existing equity", or the "I bought this home and already have 50K in equity!!" I guess my skepticism comes from my mother in law being an independent mortgage broker, who always has said this, "your house is only worth what someone wants to pay for it." Meaning, all these folks with these mortgages are in free fall, many now own a home that is not worth what they paid for it. It also means, that if homes continue in the downward spiral of foreclosure or short sell, the home a responsible owner has is not worth the value they think it is.

Do I think that the housing market will turn around quick? No. The homes many are in are not going to spiral back up for some time. Some folks have been in their homes a while, others wanted to flip it and are stuck, others just wanted a first home and can't afford it.

The mortgage industry and banks made big money of those fishy loans, made big money off of no regulation, and in the end stuck the bill with the taxpayer, us. We are the ones who now have to help homeowners, banks, etc., keep their homes. Banks don't want these homes, they are not going to get nothing for it, but you can't suck blood from a turnip when it is bone dry. That is the reality here.

My husband is totally against helping anyone with mortgage problems, me I am more sympathetic because things happen in one's life like losing a job, medical emergency, wages cut, etc. That is another reality that is happening around this country, but I do understand my husband's rage of bailing out homeowners who signed for these homes.

Everyone is hoping that the housing market will rebound to what it was 5 years ago, I say, no it will not happen. The housing market needs to come to reality of what their actual property is worth. It was overpriced in the beginning, now it is time for reality readjustment. Until this happens, homes are going to continue to plunge and those with money will make a killing out here in this market. Oh, that is another problem; many don't have the money to make a killing. Sigh.

Home prices plunged a record 18.2 percent in November from a year earlier as the country’s housing market remains in the throes of a deep recession, according to an index from Standard & Poor’s.

[snip]

Prices in 11 metro areas fell at record rates from a year earlier. Prices in 14 cities fell more than 10 percent from November 2007.

[snip]

Phoenix and Las Vegas were hardest hit in November, with prices down 3.4 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. The two cities also have the worst returns over the one-year period, with prices falling 32.9 percent and 31.6 percent, respectively.

Source

Foreclosures up 81%.....Staggering.....

What is happening? Many folks, some who have lost jobs and even some who have not are leaving these homes.

Remember that fake equity many thought they had when they purchased their homes? Well, their mortgage payments cost more than what the house is actually worth.

Wake up call, for real.

More than 2.3 million American homeowners faced foreclosure proceedings last year, an 81 percent increase from 2007, with the worst yet to come as consumers grapple with layoffs, shrinking investment portfolios and falling home prices.

Nationwide, more than 860,000 properties were actually repossessed by lenders, more than double the 2007 level, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing firm based in Irvine, Calif., which compiled the figures.

States heavy hit are California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida. California homes were always overpriced, but many got caught up in the fake equity meme, plus that Writers Strike in Hollywood is still being felt, many in those swanky homes walked away from them due to no salaries. And the reality is that California has a high unemployment rate at 8.4% and rising, not good news.

Nevada was a real boom state for some time now, many communities were built with the population growing, the casino industry was solid. Well, not now.

In one of the more ominous signs of Las Vegas' crumbling housing market, foreclosures nearly tripled in 2008 from the previous year, Sacramento, Calif.-based Foreclosures.com reported Wednesday.

Lenders took back 31,416 homes in Clark County during the year, compared with 11,509 in 2007. Preforeclosure filings nearly doubled to 67,314 from 33,953 during the period. It's by far the highest numbers since Foreclosures.com began tracking the information.

[snip]

Nevada was No. 8 in the nation with 37,043 foreclosures, far behind California (260,709), Florida (107,833) and Texas (70,037). However, Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate at 4.99 percent.

Since the country is going through massive job losses, wages slashed, who has money for Las Vegas? So, that means that the easy jobs to get at the casinos are not so easy anymore. It means that many have lost jobs, hours cut to the bone and these home owners can not afford to keep up mortgage payments.

Florida was always a quagmire. My father lives there and since he retired, moved, built his home, survived Hurricane Ivan, he wished he was back in Chicago. Why? The home owners insurance is so expensive, some folks are paying MORE for insurance than their actual mortgage payments. For many this state is becoming too, expensive to live in.

Florida also is a tourist state, much like Nevada, when the country is hurting so is Florida. It means that many with these jobs are laid off, hours cut, wages cut, etc. It means mortgages for these workers homes can not be paid. It is a vicious circle. Florida is number two in foreclosures.

Nationally, 3.2 million foreclosures were filed in 2008, an 81 percent increase from 2007 and a 225 percent increase from 2006. Nevada had the nation's highest foreclosure rate, and Florida was second with one in 22 of its houses and condominiums falling into foreclosure last year.

The question is this, "Has the foreclosure of homes stablized?"

Still, foreclosures — which keep breaking records going back 30 years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association — are likely to remain well above normal levels for years to come, and that will continue to keep home prices from rebounding.

In other words, expect record number of foreclosures for 2009 and possibly going into 2010.

Finally, what is up with prices rebounding? How the hell can prices rebound when these home prices were inflated from the start? As my mother-in-law, who is a mortgage broker always said, "Your home is only worth, what someone wants to pay for it."

Ain't that the truth.

.....and jobless claims? Bad news....

Source
MSNBC

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Foreclosure Help for Homeowners, NONE (Video)

Times are grim and tough.

And let us revisit, FORECLOSURE ALLEY.



My question is this, "Does anyone care about folks losing homes, jobs, retirement funds, lifetime savings, and the list is endless?"

And how bad is it? Read, this.

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Obama Morning Break. Foreclosure Alley. New Ad "Can't Explain"

Joe at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, Vice Presidential Debate

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Foreclosure Alley

This is what is going on in America. And why McCain don't get it.


h/t Andrew Sullivan

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Biden, Palin Avoid Major Gaffes in Economy, Foreign Policy Debate

Vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden appeared to bring their A-games to their first and only debate, nimbly tangling on a broad range of issues from the economic crisis to the war in Iraq without making any of the gaffes some feared -- and others hoped -- they might make.

Meeting at Washington University in St. Louis Thursday night, the candidates concisely presented their positions, each playing to their strengths as public speakers, rather than their weaknesses.

For Sen. Biden, D-Del., that meant concise lawyerly arguments and references to his working-class roots.

For Alaska Gov. Palin, that meant relying on folksy colloquialisms and appealing to her base of "soccer moms" and conservatives.

Palin had the most to prove, analysts said. Recovering from a tough week in which she was pilloried by the national media and members of her own party for being unprepared in a recent series of interviews, Palin spoke with the confidence she brought to her earlier gubernatorial debates. continue

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"Maverick He Is Not"



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Palin Gets McCain Stance on Homeowner Protections Wrong

ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports:

Sarah Palin got her facts wrong in Thursday's debate with Joe Biden when discussing where John McCain stands on new protections for homeowners facing foreclosures.

The Alaska governor incorrectly made it sound like McCain supports giving bankruptcy judges the power to rewrite mortgage payment terms on first homes.

He doesn't.

The McCain campaign confirms to ABC News that Palin misstated McCain's position.

"No, that is what is called the cramdowns, which is so objectionable that Obama didn't even want it jammed into the stabilization bill," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers when asked if McCain supports giving bankruptcy judges the power to re-adjust the interest rate and principal to help people stay in their homes.

Palin's mistake came when the debate's moderator asked her if Biden was right in thinking that she and McCain oppose giving bankruptcy judges this new power. continue

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PLOUFFE: PALIN SELLING 'FAILED PRODUCT'

David Plouffe called Palin an effective speaker tonight, but argued that she was selling “a failed product” and again ignored middle-class concerns.

“I was given some grief for saying earlier that she was a strong debater -- she is a strong debater,” he said. “There were some platitudes, but I don't think there was much there there, in terms of what specifically are you going to do.”

Talking to reporters in the spin room, the Obama campaign manager said that debate watchers saw clear differences between the candidates, especially on foreign policy. He called her answer to the question about nuclear weapons “somewhat incomprehensible,” while Biden gave “a very direct answer on those and all the foreign policy questions.” And on the important domestic policy questions, he said Palin did not offer “any compelling case for change.”

“At the end of the day the middle class are going to decide this election,” he said. “We've said all along she's a very talented politician. She proved that again tonight. But she's selling a failed product.”

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Vice Presidential Debate (Full Video)



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and....................

Unemployment Rate hits 11%

Instant Polls find Biden Wins

Happy Anniversary, Barack & Michelle Obama

McCain's Now Playing Defense; Obama Bracing For Counterattacks

Make-Believe Maverick

Facts go adrift on taxes, energy in VP debate

New Yorker Magazine Endorsement

VP Debate: Biden on McCain: “Maverick, he is not”

Obama Evening Wrap Up

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New Ad, "Can't Explain"


Airing on National Cable Channels

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Campaign Appearances

Today

Barack: Abington, Pennsylvania

Saturday

Barack: Newport News, Virginia

Sunday

Barack: Ashville, North Carolina

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