How we got here
Yeah, the current economic crisis is George Bush’s fault. It couldn’t be the fault of people buying houses they couldn’t afford, and especially not these poor people interviewed by the Washington Post;
The eviction from their million-dollar home could come at any moment. Keith and Janet Ritter have been bracing for it — and battling against it — almost from the moment they moved into the five-bedroom, 4,900-square-foot manse along the Potomac River in Fort Washington.
In five years, they have never made a mortgage payment, a fact that amazes even the most seasoned veterans of the foreclosure crisis.
Their adversaries, they argued, are giant financial institutions with armies of lawyers that are out to make as much money as possible at the expense of homeowners.
I’d argue that their adversary is common sense, which they’ve successfully dodged, apparently. Yeah, banks are supposed to make money, that’s how they stay in business, and that’s how I have free checking and free banking. But then, what do I know? I bought my house without using a bank, because I don’t like banks either. I bought a house that I could afford at the height of the poor housing market and I don’t have a mortgage, so I guess I should have no opinion when someone buys a 1.3 million dollar home and never makes a single payment on it.
And obviously, the Ritters have no shame about the fraud that they’ve perpetrated on the US economy, otherwise, why would they allow the Post to publish their picture and their story like they’re some kind of Robin Hood taking on the evil banking system?
In 2007, my bank went out of business because they’d sold an assload of bad mortgages in Georgia, a year later all of my credit cards had changed banks because more banks had gone out of business because of bad loans. Anyone who didn’t see this coming, was intentionally blind. And if I’m not mistaken, George Bush tried to get Congress to tighten restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who were handing out mortgages like candy to risky borrowers like the Ritters.
Category: Shitbags
Well, one of the problems I see was the fact that these clowns could get any bank to give them a mortgage. Seriously, bankruptcy fraud, no job, but write him a mortgage for $1.3 Mil, no problem?
Yeah, Bush did try to tighten regulations (that’s right liberals, a republican wanted more regulations), they actually got a bill through the Senate Banking and Finance Committee before Chris Dodd threatened to filibuster it and then it died in the Senate in 2004.
Chuck Schumer also said in 2003 there was no need to regulate Fannie and Freddie the way the federal government regulates other banks, credit unions, etc.
But its all Bush’s fault.
We watched people here play the “real estate game” for years. You know…buy a house, slap a coat of paint on it, jack the price $15,000, turn around and sell it. As a result, we now have 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom houses that sell for $150,000. Except they’re NOT selling, because they’re one step up from slums, so the owners use them for rentals. The big houses in the hills, the $500,000 with the indoor/outdoor sauna and a view? They’re sitting there empty. And to make matters worse, the banks will sit on the properties they’re holding and let them fall down, before they’ll lower the price enough so somebody can afford them.
Sad and pitful and nothing but greed.
Too bad Montana doesn’t allow you to own land.
And then the same people act surprised when the banks jack up interest rates, fees, and everything else they can think of to cover their losses and/or comply with regulations imposed on them by (you guessed it) bills like Dodd/Frank.
Those guys may not necessarily be evil, but their stupidity is criminal.
It’s all of a piece. Action and reaction. What sucks is those folks who follow the rules get hurt – higher prices, excluded from the markets, more taxes.
ah, a couple of god fearing Christian felons. Wonder why they did the article, trying to get on MTV Cribs?
These people were/are probably connected and knew the outs of this ahead of time.
Otherwise, how many people know that The Fed exchanged 30+ Trillion of perfectly good US Treasuries for worthless mortgage related casino paper with banks foreign and domestic? 787 Bln Bailout. Phsssaw. The mortgage paper is worthless because it is not associated with physical property. Derivatives. Source http://www.minyanville.com as of a couple years ago. This so the filthy steenkin rich could have a do-over.
Now Bernanke or whoever is going to take his place are going to find themselves in the position of having the US take it’s medicine by allowing deflation, interest rate rises, and free market repricing of assets. It will be painful. But we could have done this in 2008 and we’d probably be through it now. Instead, we’ve gone this route to avoid having some number of obscenely rich people not be quite as obscenely rich. Truly disgusting.
In 5 years, they haven’t made a single payment? It would appear that they never had any intention to make a payment.
That Community Reinvestment Act certainly has worked out well for the country. At least these folks had the opportunity to buy a house. Several times over, but they still bought something they couldn’t afford and had no intention of paying for.
This is unbelievable! Shitbags such as this get mortgages for homes they couldn’t possibly afford. Meanwhile, I can’t even get a refinance without them adding thousands of dollars to my already upside down mortgage!
Coincidentally, I wrote about it here: http://thelibertyzone.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/dear-quicken-loans/
But beside this… I wonder how many “undocumented” immigrants get special dispensation from banks to purchase homes. How many people who scream “VICTIM!!!!” receive money from banks and then refuse to pay it back?
Meanwhile, I have a 781 credit score, pay my bills on time, have a secure job (two, actually), and I’m considered a credit risk???
I’m now angry. Fuck!!!!
These people were NEVER homeowners. Homeowner, at some point in time, have EQUITY in their homes. People paying interest only are renters. People making no payments are squatters. I have a very hard time feeling sorry for these people. The people I feel sorry for are their neighbors who are going to watch their home values plummet because of these numbnutses.
Ok, I went and read the story. Now I am pissed. These people are in no way “victims.” They, and people like them, are the problem. I will be forwarding this story to the United States Trustee for their region and every bankruptcy judge I can think of in that area.
Jonn: you are correct. As Adam_S points out, Bush(43) tried to get Congress to tighten up mortgage rules that had been excessively loosened under the Clinton administration. Congress wouldn’t go along. So the Clinton-era mortgage policies stayed in effect, and the real estate market collapsed after about a decade of speculation and too-easy-credit fueled shenanigans.
But remember, it’s not Clinton’s fault – even though his administration made the rules that caused it. It’s also not Obama’s fault, even though he’s done precious little but throw good money after bad. So it must be Bush(43)’s fault.
Susan, as far as I’m concerned, they’re thieves, plain and simple. They borrowed money to get into a lavish home, and are now squatting in it without paying, and complaining about it????
That’s thievery, plain and simple.
Shades of the former hit TV show “Flip This House” come to mind….Mr & Mrs Ritter had no intention what so ever of paying for that house. Get their foot in the door for zip, smear some paint on the walls and bingo! we are as rich as “Flip This House” is…Frauds!
what a mess. Not victims, AT ALL. the fact that you, Jonn, don’t have a mortgage (nor do I, paid 10K for a foreclosure. spent less than $300 replacing the water lines. ) gives you even more say in the matter. Find a way. that used to be the American way. If the banks are crooked, find another way. these people have nothing to do with the mortgage crisis. they are criminals. Period.
If they have never made a payment on that home then they are not homeowners. You have to put money into something to call yourself an owner, I would think. If they couldn’t afford to make a single payment on a $1.3 million home, then how in the hell did they come up with a downpayment? FHA requires 3% for first time home buyers. By my calculations, that’s $39,000. If they weren’t first time home buyers, the number shoots up to 10% or even 20%. That makes the downpayment $130,000 to $260,000!!! Obviously they couldn’t afford any of the three numbers I just entered. How the hell does a financial institution give a loan to people that can not afford it? I was denied home loans twice in this same time.period because the homes I wanted would have put me ina financial bind. Thank goodness the lenders didn’t give me money and put me in dire financial straits. I now have a very comfortable home and have no.problems making payments. Unlike these people.
It has finally caught up with them. It was a sweet ride while it lasted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fort-washington-couple-evicted-from-million-dollar-house/2012/05/04/gIQAkTCc2T_story.html