Monday, December 24, 2007

Happy Holidays!

Then there's the LA Times Christmas Eve heart-tugger, front of the California section, "Foreclosure on Christmas" in Boyle Heights.

It has all the bubble elements. A 53-year-old grandmother, a long-time renter, was persuaded to buy with two loans at the peak of the market when a "a well-dressed man knocked on their door one day", a real estate agent. "'We were so happy. We never had our own house,'" Maria Debora said."

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a sad story The mortgage brokers that took advantage of her should rot in hell

Anonymous said...

Sorrow for that couple is a poke in the eye to all the honest people of LA. The sad story is how many HONEST families went without houses because of the criminal acts of this family and many like them. Reread the article with a critical eye.

1) The family obtained their house through fraud. Mr. Lopez even notes the nephew signed the loan documents [without intent to live there].

2) The woman cuts hair and sells shoes on the side. Does she have a license? Does she have a business permit? Is she paying taxes on the earnings? Do you think the LA Times would cut a brick and mortar business a 'huss' on operating without licenses, permits, paying taxes, workman's comp?

Where's the personal responsibility for the family's greed??? A real estate professional--not a mortgage broker--got them fired up to buy a place. BUT THIS COUPLE SOUGHT OUT THE LOAN AND SIGNED THE DOCUMENTS OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL--NOBODY PUT A GUN TO THEIR HEAD.

So quit perpetuating the myth these people are "victims." Their suffering is wholly their proceeds of criminal acts they freely and willingly committed and are personally responsible for.

I am so sick of hearing how such people are suffering--they wholly brought this upon themselves. When is the LA Times going to do an article on honest taxpayers who suffer because of such greedy people who commit crimes to obtain and retain a house they never should of bought in the first place. I say this as a renter in LA for I cannot afford to buy a house for my family right now after serving 20 years in the military with 4 deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan.

Mike S.

Anonymous said...

Mike S

i am with you.

please consider taking a look at places outside LA. In the middle of the USA there are plenty of nice places where you can buy a four bedroom house for $300k and send your kids to outstanding public schools

Anonymous said...

Mike, agreed. I'd love to see more articles that understand basic economics: If we bail out people who lied, everyone else suffers.

BTW: We appreciate your service!

(That said, #3 is right: LA is absurd compared to anywhere else. I enjoy it while single, but I'd probably move elsewhere with a family.)

Anonymous said...

"BUT THIS COUPLE SOUGHT OUT THE LOAN AND SIGNED THE DOCUMENTS OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL--NOBODY PUT A GUN TO THEIR HEAD. "

100% with you, Mike.

Jim Bursch said...

I'd like to interview you for WestsideToday.com, but I can't find your contact information. Can you contact me?

Thanks!

--
Jim Bursch
Executive Editor
Westside Today
email: jimbursch@westsidetoday.com
phone: 310.476.6397
mobile: 310.808.4985

Anonymous said...

regarding this federal bailout of sorts - one consequence I haven't heard anyone talking about is how it could potentially keep home prices artificially elevated. If we're operating under the assumption that the loose financing was largely responsible for creativing false demand, then bailing out bad loans will undermine a natural market correction, no? Am I on the right track with this line of thinking?

Westside Bubble said...

Agreed, Anon.

In addition, as Charles Hugh Smith and others have noted, Japan's resistance to writing off bad loans and letting real estate prices fall after 1990 has dragged out their recovery for over a decade.