It's a sunny day in California and I'm losing another neighbor.

[asdjrocky]

Sorry if I'm being a downer, but when the fuck is the Obama Administration going to get around to helping some people save their homes?

This is 3 now just on my street that have lost their home, and a wonderful young family that lived right behind me. It's all too much, and yeah, it's starting to make me real bitter toward this White House. It's the same thing every time so far, the bank refuses to negotiate, they kick out my friends and neighbors, then they sell it at a loss to some out of town business person. Now renters live there. Where once lived my friends sits an empty house or strangers. My whole street is being foreclosed on and being bought up by rich people who care nothing for my neighborhood, and know nothing of the people they displace. These are real families, real people. I already have one friend staying with me that lost his house and I've got no more room.

Things are bad. Things are real bad.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. Of the three people I know who have lost their homes --

all failed to qualify for any governemnt program to help them save them -- teh restrictions were far too tough. One of them is also trying to save his small business and checked out available programs throught the SBA -- he does not qualify for any of those programs either. One requirement was you had to have been profitable for one of the last two years -- everyone knows this decline has been going on a heck of a lot longer than two years. :mad:

Must be nice to be Goldman Sachs and AIG, huh? :puke:

[progressoid]

2. Profitable for the last two years? Or like General Motors?

Something is very very wrong here. :grr:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

5. Yes, two years.

When I read that, I couldn't believe it. It just didn't tmake any sense -- who the heck could qualify for such a program?? Or maybe that was the point. After all, TARP sure cost us a whole lotta $$$ -- we couldnt; go any further into debt to help a small, podunk business in California, could we. :eyes:

[asdjrocky]

3. Yeah, must be nice.

Out of the 4 people on my street we managed to get one into a program that helped. I'm going to go over to Mario's place tonight and see what we can figure out, but he's pretty much resigned to losing his home, just like my other friends.

I'm so mad right now I could fucking spit. I live in a real piece of shit neighborhood, really it is but it's mine, and the people that loaned them money for the house managed to get their payments up to 1800.00 a month. Eighteen Hundred Dollars.

This country is up side down.

So sorry about your friends, know that you, and they, are not alone.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

7. I am in a perpetual rage these days.

It really is all too much to deal with. And to witness the complete lack of genuine help from the government only adds to pain.

Hope your friend finds a way out.

One thing this all has made me think about is thinks like credit ratings. What wil they mean in the future? With so many Americans going into foresclosure, defaulting on loans, filing banckruptcy, being late on credit cards -- who will be left for the finanical industry to prey off of in the fture? No one will be able to qualify for their products or services. :shrug:

[saracat]

15. Thanks for that. I thought I was alone in "perpetual rage". Funny thing is

my local dems are totally complacent.They can shrug this off.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

31. If you're not pissed off --

you're not paying attention. :hi: :hug:

The election seems to have been some sort of coma inducing event for far too many Dems. :wow:

I think there are many people who have a lot invested in having the first black President be a complete success (even if he isn't), others who are wholly ivested in the Democratic Party, and others who are just too tired after the last eight years or who are in personal crisis like the OP's neighbors and are unable to really respond to what is going on.

And there are those who recognize a wrong or injustice is just that, regardless of who is holding the reins of power.

[unapatriciated]

64. They have already found a way to profit more from the poor.

https://www.greendotonline.com/contents/login.aspx

[Pisces]

103. subprime lending will come back with a new name due to demand. The new altenative

loans will be better than subprime loans in the past because they will be more tightly regulated. This is my take anyway. There is no way that this much demand will not find a supplier.

[Waiting For Everyman]

9. Two suggestions

1) Contact the best federal representative you have, and demand a formal review of the modification process. Almost everyone is being wrongfully/illegally denied.

2) File a suit to stop the foreclosure disputing who the "real party in interest" is (see link below for info), required by law to initiate any foreclosure action. It's estimated that 85% of foreclosures do not identify the actual real party in interest (and therefore lack standing to sue), and/or cannot produce the original note, and/or lack proper recording of each and every assignment of the mortgage in the county courthouse as required. It's also questionable as to whether securitization voids the mortgage obligation. Also, the investors may have been paid in full from proceeds of CDOs, TARP, etc. And TILA and RESPA violations are commonplace, especially in loans from recent years. All of these are defenses (which work).

Homeowners are quietly winning these cases, all over in every state. These cases also result in modifications after being turned down previously.

http://livinglies.wordpress.com

I'm in this process myself. I've been turned down for a mod for 18 months, and just in the last few weeks I'm now under "active review" for one. I believe it's important for homeowners to keep fighting as long as possible, and in the courts if necessary, and self-represented if necessary (as I am).

BTW, I'm no lawyer and this post isn't advice, but most of the time if a bankruptcy is filed prior to the gavel coming down on a sale, it is stopped. BK Trustees have the power to pursue these legal counterclaims (above) as part of the BK process.

I hope this helps some.

[asdjrocky]

10. Thank you so much, this is great info and I'll use it.

I wish you all the luck I can with your troubles.

In solidarity.

[Waiting For Everyman]

14. Back to you, and one note...

The most recent articles are on the right hand side at the top. The site isn't organized very conveniently for quick reference, but a lot of good info is there, it just takes a lot of looking around to find what you need.

Some more good sources:

www.loanworkout.org

www.foreclosurefish.com

www.msfraud.org

http://4closurefraud.wordpress.com


Best of luck to you and your friends too! :hi: It's so cool of you to care, and to help them! (I mean by that, even though it isn't your own problem. Neighbors like you are solid gold.)

For solidarity! :fistbump:


edit: to add the most important site (if you don't have it already), on HAMP mod info and eligibility guidelines (which MUST be followed by servicers)...

www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov

For the Treasury's regulations on mods...

www.FinancialStability.gov

Treasury requires Fannie and Freddie to formally review mods which are wrongfully denied too. VA or FHA Guidelines may apply as well (the Chief Justice of my state in a written opinion called failure to follow these guidelines a "shield against foreclosure" Neal vs. Wells Fargo, MD Court of Spec. Appeals).

[asdjrocky]

16. I came back to where I grew up to make a difference.

In the last couple of years, this street, this neighborhood, has become my whole world.

Thank you for caring too, people need all the help they can get.

[ljm2002]

20. I may sound like a broken record here...

...but seriously, have him look into whether his bank can produce the note or not. If they cannot produce it, they cannot foreclose:

http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com/2008/06/19/produce-the-note-how-to/

[Waiting For Everyman]

24. +1 That's an excellent site.

Glad you posted it, I forgot about that one.

And I'll broken-record with you, because it works, it's the law. We homeowners have to stick together, and circulate info to educate ourselves on how to fight.

It's just possible that the local courts may be the only way out of this. Wouldn't that be ironic/surprising? (Well, it is to me a least.)

[cutlassmama]

39. Goldman Sachs and AIG...right there in a nutshell

[glowing]

101. Yep, We made "too" much to qualify for the Obama plan which is income before

taxes are removed, before ins. removed, before ss and medicare are removed... But we didn't make enough to try to modify the loan thru the bank. OUR loan is 100% federally guaranteed by the govt. The bank doesn't even have to worry about making their money back from the initial loan. AND they collect the interest. When does Obama open up a real Bank For America.. I'd rather pay my loan back thru a govt bank.. If we did this instead of having the Federal Reserve.. all that interest would make this country flush with money just on loans... No funky business with slicing and dicing on Wallstreet.

[Greyhound]

4. Hate to break it to you, but we are way down the list of priorities.

Top priority was protecting the banksters from any consequences for their felonies, that's done. Next is protecting the owners of the country from suffering any losses and unfortunately, much of their money is tied up in real estate so, since they are not in immediate danger it is more important to prop up the false valuations that created the first bubble than to help idiots like us.

We are ignoring the fundamental issue in the housing and coming commercial property market collapses, valuations have been pushed beyond our economy's ability to pay. There are only two solutions, street-level pay has to dramatically increase or valuations have to decrease, neither of which is acceptable to the people Obama & Co. work for.

[SammyWinstonJack]

85. They are too big to fail and we are too small to matter, except when it comes to collecting our tax

$$$ to pay for their failures.

Funny how that works,eh?

[AllentownJake]

6. Pretty much sums up what happened to downtown Allentown 30 years ago

The renters of course don't take as good care of their property and the landlords don't come into town to check on their tenants as much correct?

[asdjrocky]

12. Nail on the head Jake.

I'm watching a neighborhood I've known for 50 years being destroyed before my eyes.

I've seen some sad shit in my time, and so has my neighborhood, but this is the worse.

[n2doc]

8. They aren't going to get around to it

The rhetoric isn't matched to action. It is clear that, this far into Obama's administration, he works fast for his Wall Street buddies but very slow for the main street folks. The will just doesn't seem to be there. And the moment they can drop these efforts, such as they are, they will- in favor of "deficit reduction".

[saracat]

11. My neighborhood is starting to reflect this as well.

The houses next door to us and across the way are all for sale.Both are because the husbands can't find jobs.one moved out of state to take a job with family.and the other lost his job and his wife is divorcing him. The neighbor next door is living of his retirment because his business is non existent.We are raiding our retirement and home equity to survive.Our medical insurance and pharma alone are killing us.My husband has been trying to survive in real estate , which he went into when he was outsourced. LOL.

It really angers me when people try to paint rosy puctures to bolster a favorite politician.It is bad and it isn't getting any better.They had to let 50% of our police go.Most schools have lost a minimum of 25% of their teachers and have had them take pay cuts. Oddly, the $500,000 + school superintendent haven't had to take cuts. Funny how that works.

[asdjrocky]

13. Yeah, we don't even worry about the cops around here any more.

For the most part, if one of them bothers to down our street, he's coming after one of us.

I did find out something interesting at the planning commission meeting I went to last night on zoning for our medical marijuana dispensary, it seems in a town of 300,000 we have only 5 narcotics cops. One detective and four people under him. This is the meth and heroin capitol of California.

Yeah, it seems were are coming apart at the seems.

[KamaAina]

17. Ah yes, Stockton, the foreclosure capital of the U.S. of A.

Stockton's (and to a lesser extent, Modesto's) problems are actually spillover from the Bay Area, which has become so overpriced that people were taking two-hour commutes each way to find something they could afford out in the Central Valley. Then the bubble burst... :scared:

[asdjrocky]

23. But the problem is, these are locals.

No one from the Bay Area wants to live on this street, so it's even hitting the poor areas now.

[NoNothing]

18. Renters aren't "real people"?

Why the hate?

[asdjrocky]

21. Of course they are.

Don't mean any hate to renters at all. I've been a renter for most of my life and the home that I'm in now was my mother and fathers house for almost 50 years, it's one of the reasons I have a roof over my head.

I'll extend a hand of friendliness to whoever moves in on my street, it's just hard losing friends and neighbors that have been here since I came back.

No hate here for renters, sorry if it came off that way.

[Political Heretic]

22. I didn't take it like that, as a life-long renter.

I rent because I paid 60 thousand in student loans for an education with the knowledge that I'd probably be paying that off for thirty years instead of a mortgage. That's the choice I made and I don't regret it.

[asdjrocky]

54. Thanks PH, I didn't mean it like that.

But I can see someone getting the wrong impression, I am blowing off a little steam.

[Saturday]

19. Sorry to hear this. nt

[Echo In Light]

25. Ouch!

[earth mom]

26. So sorry to hear this....

I didn't think the bad economy had hit here until I found out on Zillow that the house across the street and a few others in my neighborhood are in foreclosure. :yoiks:

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

32. Obama sured worked "miracles" for --

the financial groups with that second TARP handout, and for PHARMA with that drug deal, and for the health insurance industry with the health "care" bill, and for the American auto industry...well, you get the picture.

But god forbid you be a small business owner trying to get some help from the governemnt, or a homeowner who is in trouble. You're pretty m uch on your own in that case.

[JuniperLea]

34. I am a homeowner in trouble...

But I'm a realist.

Things could have been a hell of a lot worse. Anyone who thinks Obama could have fixed all this alreay is beyond delusional.

You need to look at the big picture and understand it.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[asdjrocky]

48. What are you talking about?

Spell it out for me.

[JuniperLea]

49. I already did...

In plain English.

[asdjrocky]

50. Are you accusing me of racism for my criticism of the President?

Is that what you're saying?

Just say it if that's what you mean.

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[asdjrocky]

52. You want to let the remark stand then let it stand.

People will get it.

I've got nothing to be ashamed of, I just hurt today for a good friend.

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

100. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saracat]

53. Wow. So empathy is now whining? Really?No one was expecting miracles. Especially not this poster

who has jumped in to help his neighbors .That is something real Democrats do! But we do have the right to expect the president we elected to at least "try'. Some of us do not think he has done so. money was handed out to lending institutions without even a thought of regulation. meanwhile taxpayers can't even get loans that the banks were to assist them with. Wall Street remains unpunished and only the working man, who is no longer working BTW, suffers. We have the right to demand action. NOW. I don't know where you live but things show no sign at all of getting better where I live.If FDR could create jobs, so can Obama.The time for excuses is over.

[JuniperLea]

55. I think you should really go back and read what I've written here...

we are all in the same boat... I'm talking about attitude here, and how it can taint your life, and how it can obstruct your view.

[saracat]

57. Actually we all aren't in the same boat it seems. And you can damn well bet my

"attitude" has been tainted by what is being done or not done in DC. One would have to be brain dead to assume anything is being done to make things better for the people.There is a reason for my attitude and I didn't cause it. i am a realist and don't ascribe to the Secret." Now matter how much you believe, Tinker belle still dies and worse, Peter Pan completely forgets she ever existed".

[JuniperLea]

58. Wow... you are so far off base you cease making sense...

All I'm saying is that there are expectations, and then there are unrealistic expectations... and then there are those who cannot fathom exactly how near the brink of total disaster we were a year ago... amazing... simply amazing...

[saracat]

60. OMG. You actually believe we are in recovery! Wow."Tinkerbelle is still dead"

[JuniperLea]

65. Are you standing in a soup line with the rest of America?

That you can't see how badly things could have been is very sad... and if you lack the knowledge of how bad things could have been, you are clueless as to where we are right now.

You can keep your bumpersticker slogans... I'll stick with reality. Thanks.

[saracat]

69. I doubt you will recognize it when it bops you in the head.

[Spheric]

62. No, I think you should go back and read what you have written.

You are exactly right about attitude. Now, go back and read what you just wrote here and think about it. Really think about it.

A guy posts about his personal experience and you lay into him for disclosing the facts as he knows them. Facts about his own neighborhood. Who is it exactly that has an obstructed view?

For Christ's sake.

[JuniperLea]

66. That's not what happened...

Take the blinders off and read again.

[dionysus]

86. !!

:applause:

[Nikki Stone1]

97. It doesn't matter who does it....

It's racism, JuniperLea.

And Obama is the darling of Wall Street--and they're mostly white.

[lunatica]

28. There's at least one story like this every day in DU now

But I'm told I'm ignorant for being cynical about the so-called much vaunted 'improvement' in job losses.

I'm sorry to hear this.

[Starry Messenger]

29. I saw something horrible today

I'd heard about them but have never seen one. A foreclosure tour bus. It was a very clean black Mercedes bus, with "Foreclosure Tours!!" in big letters on the side. I almost rammed into him with my truck I was so pissed. I'm sure they charge money for those tours too. It's one thing to purchase a house from the county that's been foreclosed--driving by houses in the process of foreclosure with a busfull of yuppies should be a shooting offense.

[earth mom]

33. Good idea. I never liked yuppies in the first place.

:evilgrin:

[asdjrocky]

43. What the hell do you say to that?

I wonder if they serve drinks on the bus.

[saracat]

61. Ahem .There are those that would praise their entrepreneurial spirit as a sign of recovery!

:banghead: :puke:

[asdjrocky]

67. I know.

It's the middle class thinking they'll get rich off the poor. Just wait until the commercial real estate bust.

[Starry Messenger]

81. Exactly.

I'm so sorry about your friends. :hugs: What a sick place this is.

[asdjrocky]

82. Naw, there's too many good people around this place to make me think it's sick.

People like you.

That 1% is real good at pitting the rest of us against each other. Race, class, region, religion. They love the things they use to divide.

[unapatriciated]

68. Your right Saracat because they never learned their history.

My dad would call them carpetbaggers. He remembers his history. Why are the R's so in love with the word baggers

http://www.thecarpetbagger.com/history.htm

During the civil war Reconstruction Period (1865-1870) many people for the Northern States went South because it was so poor that there many opportunities for a person with money even a little money. For example you could own a farm by paying the past due taxes for as little as $25. These Opportunities attacked all sorts people from honest hard working farmers, to crooks, charlatans, con artist and of course crooked politicians. All these outsiders (identified by their Carpetbag) were called Carpetbaggers and still are in many places. It became the term to refer to a Yankee who moved to the south and usually meant a “damn Yankee and not to be trusted, a scoundrel”. Probably the worst Carpetbaggers were the politicians who used their positions in the corrupt Reconstruction Government to enrich themselves through bribes, graft and other despicable acts at the expense of native Southerners. Today the dictionary defines a Carpetbagger as “ an outsider involved in politics”.

I join you in your:banghead: :puke:

[Nikki Stone1]

30. K&R

.

[NDLiberal]

35. get it straight

why you bitter towards this white house when it was that idiot bush and his gang of war criminals who allowed all the excesses which led to the housing crash???? you should be leading the charge to throw out every republican who contributed to this mess instead of blaming Obama....

[AllentownJake]

36. because educated people

are not mad at what the President hasn't done, it is what he has done in his first year in office.

[LWolf]

37. Because it's this white house that is siding with

corporations at the expense of common people at every turn.

While I'm not the poster you are responding to, I think the Obama escalation of the war on public education is a damned good reason for me to be bitter. I'm a teacher.

But then, I saw this coming. I've been bitter since January of '08, when it became obvious that we'd be stuck with a damned corporatist/centrist/3rd way/"new" democrat if we managed to win the WH at all.

Welcome to DU.

[TornadoTN]

38. Completely agree with you. Here in TN, the war on teachers is getting started

My wife is a public school teacher and judging by her scores and reviews, a damned good one too.

Cut to a couple months ago and you could see the changes that were being made in the system to make it harder on teachers to be judged appropriately. My wife was a top tier teacher last year but under the new guidelines, she barely makes the cut. Considering her district is a mix of either extremely affluent or extremely poor, with parenting almost completely absent, they are tasking the teachers with even more responsibility of which they have no control.

We fully expect to see the next big "teachers fired" story to happen right here. The worst part, is that it's being pushed by the White House. Threatening the schools with cutting funding if they don't meet near impossible goals, with private companies sitting the wings ready to start up schools for profit.

It's disgusting and I'm sick and tired of hearing people tell us to shut up and to "he can't do everything!". He damn sure can do something about this nonsense in education, but he won't because he's part of it.

[LWolf]

45. Yes.

It's happening in L.A. and Boston; I hope it won't happen where you are, but I'm not optimistic.

Or in my state, as well. :(

[asdjrocky]

44. Thanks for the advice and yes, I've been paying attention.

Welcome to DU by the way.

[JI7]

40. they aren't all rich, many probably aren't rich at all

but many are people who did not buy a home before and now see "good deals" and taking advantage of it.

[asdjrocky]

46. They aren't buying houses to live in they are buying houses to rent out.

They are profiting form the loss of a family.

[unapatriciated]

72. They are carpetbaggers

Some of us learned our history and know what lies ahead if we don't start helping the working class.

During the civil war Reconstruction Period (1865-1870) many people for the Northern States went South because it was so poor that there many opportunities for a person with money even a little money. For example you could own a farm by paying the past due taxes for as little as $25. These Opportunities attacked all sorts people from honest hard working farmers, to crooks, charlatans, con artist and of course crooked politicians. All these outsiders (identified by their Carpetbag) were called Carpetbaggers and still are in many places. It became the term to refer to a Yankee who moved to the south and usually meant a “damn Yankee and not to be trusted, a scoundrel”. Probably the worst Carpetbaggers were the politicians who used their positions in the corrupt Reconstruction Government to enrich themselves through bribes, graft and other despicable acts at the expense of native Southerners. Today the dictionary defines a Carpetbagger as “ an outsider involved in politics”.

edit to add: It's sad so many in the southern red states don't see it.

[JI7]

89. yeah, but in this case many are working class who couldn't afford a home

and were just saving up trying to find one they could. and now they are taking advantage of these foreclosures.

[kiva]

91. You need to reconsider this definition and your

take on Reconstruction government. I don't know where you learned this part of American history, but this interpretation hasn't been considered valid for a few decades. I'll agree that some carpetbaggers were northerners who went south to seek their fortunes, but not all - check out this link to the PBS series to see a more common definition: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/carpetbagger/index.html

More importantly, though, is your criticism of the "corrupt Reconstruction Government" - this is a popular myth with people who opposed state governments controlled by non-Confederates and *GASP* blacks. This myth was a staple of Jefferson Davis and other southerners who wrote Civil War and Reconstruction history, and was popularized by Birth of a Nation.

[unapatriciated]

96. It was not all myth nor was the North met with open arms.

to say that none took advantage is also not true.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/carpetbagger/index.html
"Was there some corruption during Reconstruction? Yes, there was."

I learned this term from my father, who is a mid-west farm boy. He remembers the depression quite clearly. He saw many family farms lost to those that took advantage when many were at there lowest point.
He refereed to them as carpet baggers.

we saw modern day carpetbaggers during Katrina and today with all the foreclosures.

[taught_me_patience]

41. They've thrown trillions at the problem

trying to reinflate asset values. The FED has spent a trillion dollars buying mortgage backed securities and buying treasuries to keep the interest rates down. How much more do you want them to do?

[unapatriciated]

78. The problem is they threw very little of those trillions towards the working class

It was OUR taxpayer dollars that bailed them out. Too bad we can't charge the same rates they charge us.
The banks and the credit lenders don't play by the same rules that we have to abide by.
Usury Laws are a prime example.
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/credit-cards-trump-state-usury-law.aspx

[taught_me_patience]

80. Most of what I'm talking about went to the middle class

The 8,000 first time buyer tax credit
The FED driving down interest rates with "quantitative easing"
The FED and FANNIE buying mortgage backed securities, which is lowering the spread between the 10yr and interest rates.

This has costed the taxpayers probably close to a trillion dollars. The benefit is a mortgage rate that is probably a full point lower than the market rate should be. Without this "intervention" the market rate would be well over 6% for a 30yr mortgage. This is a HUGE benefit to the middle class.

What do you want the government to do?

[unapatriciated]

87. all of those things are in good.

But none of them addressed the issue for homeowners who were already in unrealistic loans (not all of them were flipping houses or buying above their means). There should have been a little more oversight regarding the bailout and in re-negotiating those loans. Many of the banks made empty promises because there was little or no conditions made on them.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/tarp-government-bailout-failed-reduce-foreclosures-unemployment-watchdog/story?id=9702600

'A case in point, says Barofsky: the administration's housing aid program "has only permanently modified a small fraction of eligible mortgages." To date, only 66,000 homeowners have finalized better mortgage terms to help them avoid foreclosure; the administration's program was designed to help 3 to 4 million.'

most of what you posted went to help new home buyers and shore up the housing market, not those who were and are facing foreclosure.

[Cleita]

59. Banks refuse to negotiate huh?

Maybe you need to rally your neighbors to start picketing the banks before more people get dropped through the cracks. It's about all you can do at this point until Washington starts doing something about it.

[asdjrocky]

63. I hear you.

It's a tough bunch to organize, a pretty tight lipped neighborhood and I usually don't hear about a real problem til it's too late and they've slipped far behind.

The sad thing is they are all hard working people and most of them actually feel shame. Can you believe that? Good people just trying to make it through the world and they feel shame while the banksters feel none.

[Cleita]

88. I know. They are the people the right wing accuse of

wanting a free ride. You may not be a leader. I know I'm not, but maybe while you guys are out on the weekend working on things, talk to your neighbors and try to find out how they feel.

[Juche]

93. The shame is a huge problem

I've been unemployed for 8 months and feel lots of shame (as well as anxiety and depression because of it). However a few days ago I was feeling ashamed and asked myself if I had personally collapsed the global economy and destroyed about 8 million jobs in the US (including mine). The answer was no, and I felt a little better. I got screwed over by people who feel no shame or concern, I liked my job and didn't want to be let go back when employers were letting off 800,000 a month.

You are right, the people who did this feel no shame. The people who collapsed the global economy aren't ashamed, and they are planning to do it again while all of us who have been victimized are too ashamed and depressed to even ask for help or tell anyone.

In a way what is happening economically is (psychologically) like sexual assault. The person who did it feels no remorse or shame while the victim feels tons of it (what did I do wrong, I shouldn't tell anyone because of what they will think, etc). While those of us who are unemployed, uninsured or foreclosed on sit in shame and rumination and blame ourselves, the capital class is lobbying congress to block legislation designed to regulate the financial industry or implement consumer protections.

I think a lot of rage about the abuses has been channeled into politics. On the left, people put tons of energy into Obama & the dems (which didn't work out) and on the right the rage goes into the tea party movement. However when both of those turn out to be dead ends, what happens to the rage and frustration? It will still be there. What happens as millions wake up from the shame and self imposed isolation and realize they aren't at fault, but the people who are still run things? I hope we get constructive outlets for those feelings.

[asdjrocky]

94. You make some really great points.

And no, it's not your fault and you're not alone, most of the people on my street are out of work.

What happens to the rage and frustration indeed.

[GreenTea]

70. And over 50 million people have no health insurance & millions more have inadequate insurance!!

[alcibiades_mystery]

71. "it's starting to make me real bitter..."

:rofl:

[saracat]

73. As expected a mocking answer to empathy. What is it with some people?

Does no one else matter ? Is it impossible to understand caring about others? I can only hope you never have to face the "bitterness" of knowing you aren't able to help your neighbors though you desperately want to.

[alcibiades_mystery]

75. Blah

fucking blah blah.

[saracat]

79. Thats you. How articulate you are!

[alcibiades_mystery]

83. Whatever

Fan club.

[Name removed]

110. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

106. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[asdjrocky]

74. Yeah, losing neighbors and friends is funny.

It's a laugh riot here all day long.

[Name removed]

76. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

77. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SammyWinstonJack]

84. K&R And THANK GOD IT PASSED!

:sarcasm: for those that don't get it.

[David Zephyr]

90. K&R.

Real world.

[asdjrocky]

92. Thanks David.

Sometimes there's nothing else to do but blow off some steam.

[live love laugh]

95. I'm in limbo--for two years I've paid a motgage for a home I don't live in

can't rent (it's complicated).

Suffice to say that the main reason I haven't been able to sell is that people haven't been able to buy.

Fucking banks aren't lending money and the greedy are preying on lesser folks with give-away level offers.

I don't qualify for modification programs because I relocated. This is the worst situation I recall having been in financially in my life. I swore that I would not hold on to the house another winter and still I have it. You'd think I would get credit for trying to keep up the payments for so long but no. And I can't claim a loss either because I haven't sold.

I listened to Thom Hartmann the other day and I talked to somebody else as well and got some advice about walking away. I am beginning the process for that so that I can move on with my life. Most of my belongings are in storage and I can't move to another residence of my own until I settle on the house.

It's crazy.

[Nikki Stone1]

98. California is ground zero for the mortgage crisis. We will soon only have

the very rich, a handful of middle class, and a huge majority of working poor.

[asdjrocky]

104. Hey Nikki.

That's exactly what we're seeing more of in Stockton. Soon I expect the rich will all live behind walls and gates with armed guards.

[Nikki Stone1]

111. That goes right along with the Friedmanization of CA a la Schock Doctrine that is happening now

That's Milton Friedman for anyone reading.

[BlueIris]

99. I have major criticisms of the Administration at this point, but even I can't really

fault Obama for not being able to do more for those who were the victims of predatory lending. So, so, so many people were screwed by the Great Mortgage Scams, I don't see how the Admin can do all that much to shore up the damage.

[1776Forever]

102. Been there - Neighborhoods are never the same after this - When this starts to happen crime goes up.

I know when our neighborhood in Florida, which was one of the hardest and first that were hit big, started to get people leaving because of the foreclosures most of the renters that started moving in were bad characters! We used to have a wonderful community but it all went down hill and the people who did stay are having to watch out for themselves more then ever. Crime rates went up and the beautiful manicured lawns and homes are becoming dumps now.

Sad! Very sad!:cry:

[femrap]

105. I believe it's all

part of their plan....to buy properties at auction at low prices. Then sock it to the renters.

[LibDemAlways]

107. I took my elderly mom to the bank - Wachovia - one day not long ago and

there was an older man arguing with the manager. He was trying to give the manager a cashier's check for two overdue mortgage payments on his house which, as he loudly explained, would only make him 30 days late. He needed another two weeks to come up with the rest of the money in order to get current. As far as I could tell he was trying to act in good faith and doing everything he could to save his house. The manager flatly refused to take the cashier's check, explaining that it was too late and that the man was in default and the foreclosure would continue. What a heartless bastard - representative of a totally shitful institution. Right then and there I persuaded my mom to take her considerable savings out of that lousy excuse for a bank and move it into a local credit union.

Obama has bent over backwards for the bankers. Ordinary people are totally at their mercy. It's a horrific situation and one that the government has the power to remedy - but, as in every other instance, it's apparently too much bother. Our "representatives" are failing us miserably.

[asdjrocky]

112. Exactly, I'd like to see Obama bend over backwards for the People.

How about a simple moratorium on foreclosures for 6 months or a year?

[LibDemAlways]

113. Along with an acknowledgement that the banks are responsible for

the irresponsible bait and switch lending that helped to create all of these foreclosures in the first place. A few years ago they were freely lending money on "no down payment" terms with adjustable mortgage rates on overpriced homes that had nowhere to go in value except down. They certainly helped create the mess, and have been nothing but rewarded for their misdeeds. Meantime the little guy loses his house and ends up with nothing.

[bertman]

108. I'm sorry to hear the bad news about your neighbor, Rocky. We should all be angry about this.

It's not all that complicated to decipher. The folks who control the money supply and the financial industry allow the Wall Street/Bankster types to sell whatever type of loan they can devise to fleece the "uninititiated" (that's most of the rest of us). Then they allow the Wall Street/Banksters to use even more controversial (and, until 1998, ILLEGAL) means such as credit default swaps, intentionally mis-rated mortgage bundles to make themselves many more billions in profits. Then, when the ponzi scheme starts falling apart and the big players are in danger of being exposed and brought down, their asshole buddies in D.C. (Congress, President Obama and Staff are you listening?) come up with Trillions of our tax dollars to save them. And by save them, I mean allow them to stay in business and to use our taxpayer largesse to give themselves Billions in reward money for their massive fraud.

So, they've made fortunes that are the size of the GDP/national budgets of mid-size nations in the first leg of the scam, then they get even more money and big rewards in the second (rescue) phase of the scam. Then in the third phase of the scam the people who are now some of the wealthiest on the planet get to buy up the foreclosed homes, property, and businesses of the working class who have been left to fend for themselves down at the bottom of the food chain.

Someone made an allusion to lots of poor, working-class, first-time home buyers being able to take advantage of these foreclosed properties so they could own their own homes. I'd love to see what percentage of foreclosure purchases these folks represent. To me, that's a bogus argument that should be lumped into the "cake for the rich, crumbs for the rest" category.

Rec.

[Bluenorthwest]

109. The Central Valley has been hit so hard

I have family in several towns there. It is like visiting another world these days. Good luck to you in Stockton, a town of great history and future. Your love of your neighborhood is evident and commendable.