The Credit You Deserve

In the Dallas/Fort Worth area, whole neighborhoods have sprung up on the back of bad paper loans. It is not uncommon to drive through these neighborhoods of $250K-$500K homes and witness cars on blocks and a goat roasting on the spit in the front yard--taking the definition of the American dream to a different level? These are the individuals who took loans and fully knew they could not make mortgage payments on these homes.

My grandfather (not an FDR fan, to put it very lightly) was and my uncles are Kansas farmers. I have an uncle who still has the first nickle he ever made. These people have worked for everything they have earned and paid back any loans taken EARLY.

It is outrageous to compare the two. Both types of people living in this country, knowing that one will have to continue to carry the other. How is this allowed to happen? It is sickening to see our so called lawmakers wad up the Constitution and try to use it as toilet paper.

If we wanted socialism, we would live in Europe.

For many years we Americans (those that drank the Kool aid) lived a lifestyle of "buy now pay later". This ideology was incubated and implemented by bankers and the ultimate goal is to make us forever slaves to the lenders. This concept was actually a disease, it breeds on irresponsibility, compulsiveness and lack of vision for the future. Those who were not disciplined and lacked the basic finance and budget skills set themselves up for failure. ADD the housing boom of the late 90's, the Clinton administration implementing a program that "every American should own a home", not establishing proper oversight and review if "every American CAN afford a home" which allowed every sleazy greedy broker and saw this as an opportunity to make money by giving mortgages aka "liar loans" with no documentation and/or false documents to people who had NO business applying and acquiring such a large financial responsibilities. Now add all those bad liar loans and bad sub prime loans that were repackaged and rewrapped and were masqueraded as good investments by the elite bankers (those who this 700 Billion bailout is for) and those started to default. Now add the war in Irag, Afghanistan rising oil prices and what is the end result??? The making of a perfect storm for the mess that we are in today.....

This has been along time comming, We as a country used to be able to raise our children with one stay at home parent. The government and banking industries have allowed us to live on plastic which has caused inflation/ As if we can borrow verses paying cash we will spend money that we do not have, so they can charge more. The government still gets sales tax for the transaction that should have never happened. And the banks get transaction fee's from the vender. While we stay broke. I decided to get out of debt years ago I buy, 4 year old cars that run very well, live in a nice but modest house. and pay cash for what I buy, when the wallet is empty I don't spend. Living this way has helped me build up savings. Maybe the big banks and government need to be broke for a while, the government is concerned that if we consumers just start spending what we have, they will not get as many tax dollars, maybe they need to cut back to.

We are currently under agreement to sell our home. Our buyers have been approved for their mortgage by their bank, and we are all set to close on October 20th. Should we be worried that the deal could fall apart?

We have our house under agreement and our buyers have been approved for their mortgage from their bank and our closing is set for Oct. 20th. Do you think we should be worried that the closing won't take place?

Most of the problem is in fact people who took out low interest rate adjustable mortagages thinking they could sell that house in the heat of the real estate boom and recover nicely. However, when it was time for the rate to adjust they still had the house on the market because ever body else also had houses on the market. Then there were the people that just wanted to have a home and even though they wouldn't be able to pay the mortgage once the rate adjusted banks {like WaMu} and mortgage companies {like Countrywide} would still offer them a mortgage knowing they weren't financially sound. That was greed and taking advantage of people that just didn't understand the terms of the mortgage they were getting into. For those people who live in states like Florida, where because of the hurricanes in 2004 and the real estate market boom, matters even got worse because now the insurance companies got an excuse to raise rates for home insurance basically declaring Florida uninsurable with rates skyrocketing and to cement every homeowners coffin the state raised property taxes from $1500 to $6000 in some cases. Where did they think all of this was going to take us? And Florida is not alone. The way we 'secure' loans needs to actually mean we 'secure' a loan. And property taxes need to be capped/stabilized. Has anyone in Florida see any changes for the better due to this increase in property taxes? Lets see: violent crime is rampant, schools have had so many cuts its like a work of origami, roads are as bad as before, etc. Where is all that money going to? Or, whose pocket is getting filled with that money?

As a Realtor in the RIchmond, VA area, I can say honestly that if you're thinking about buying a home, NOW'S THE TIME TO DO IT! ! Home prices have come down, rates are low, and financing's available. Even if your credit score is not in the 700's, but is in the 600's, FHA loans are the best option. Not only does the FHA have more flexibiltity with credit, it allows the borrower a smaller down payment - 2.25% now; 3.5% as of 1/1/09. In addition, the debt to income ratio is higher than conventional financing. And sellers can still provide closing cost assistance - up to 6% of the sales price. And that down payment? Can be a gift! In addtition, sellers are very anxious and, for the most part, cooperating on offers. Don't wait! Buy Now! Besides...where would you rather save your money? In a bank that may not be around in another 6 months? Under your mattress? Better to put it into a home purchase; the one investment that over time will realize appreciation for you!

No need to shout danvass. Did you understand that this $700 billion was not be be paid out at once? Did you know that the original payout wat to only be $250 billion? And the next $100 billion had to be certified as necessary by the president and could still be vetoed by congress? Who was to say that Bush would be in office when that next level was needed? Who is to say that it would have been needed?

I have worked in the financial services industy for 10 years now and I still have loans I can do with no documentation of income. If you have a 720+ credit you qualify. What this tells me is some of the banks still have not learned from there mistakes. These people often have too high debt to income ratio to qualify for a regular loan. The guys that are really getting hurt are the ones with a 600-680 score there credit is too good to have to go with a secondary lender but not good enough to get a loan with a prime lender. What i can tell people is that your local credit union is probably your best bet for a good loan and they do not have the trouble the big banks do. They typically will offer very low rates but a little shorter term. If you do not belong to a credit union there is one in your area you can join.

In light of this, Someone will now have to address the issues with Equifax and the other Credit Score Repositories. That system is alao failed and extremely SHADY.............

I AM GLAD BUT NOT SURPRISED THE $700 BAIL OUT FAILED. THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE IT TO HELP THOSE WHO LOST THEIR HOMES AND THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO. $700 BILLION. BAH HUMBUG. HERE IS A BETTER WAY TO SPEND THE MONEY. TAKE $500 MILLION AND GIVE A $450,000 VOUCHER TO PURCHASE A HOME, $100,000.00 TO START A BUSINESS IF UNEMPLOYED. $40,000.00 TO BUY A DOMESTIC CAR, TO AID DETROIT. AND $10,000 VOUCHER TO BUY CLOTHES OR FURNITURE. TOTAL TO EACH TAXPAYER/HEAD OF HOUSEHOULD WOULD BE $600,000.00. THE BALANCE OF THE MONEY WOULD GO TOWARD ADMINISTERING THE PROGRAM. IF YOU ACCEPT THIS MONEY YOU CANNOT QUIT YOUR JOB EXCEPT FOR MANDATORY RETIREMENT. THIS WOULD TURN AROUND THE ECONOMY AND SAVE $650 BILLION $.

I AM GLAD THE $700 BAILOUT FAILED. THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE IT TO HELP THOSE WHO LOST THEIR HOMES AND THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO. $700 BILLION. BAH HUMBUG. HERE IS A BETTER WAY TO SPEND THE MONEY. TAKE $500 MILLION AND GIVE A $450,000 VOUCHER TO PURCHASE A HOME, $100,000.00 TO START A BUSINESS IF UNEMPLOYED. $40,000.00 TO BUY A DOMESTIC CAR, TO AID DETROIT. AND $10,000 VOUCHER TO BUY CLOTHES OR FURNITURE. TOTAL TO EACH TAXPAYER/HEAD OF HOUSEHOULD WOULD BE $600,000.00. THE BALANCE OF THE MONEY WOULD GO TOWARD ADMINISTERING THE PROGRAM. IF YOU ACCEPT THIS MONEY YOU CANNOT QUIT YOUR JOB EXCEPT FOR MANDATORY RETIREMENT. THIS WOULD TURN AROUND THE ECONOMY AND SAVE $650 BILLION $.

Tina12345 and Jeweldone, I have never heard of stories like yours before and I am sorry that people like you who seem to be responsible and didn't take out loans you couldn't afford are now getting hurt. I just don't understand how that is possible to begin with.
I get that if people got interest only loans or adjustable rate loans on top of buying a house that was too big that they would end up in foreclosure and rightly so but to buy responsibly and then have to go under because of property taxes, that just seems insane and makes me never want to buy a house.
Thanks for posting another point of view. I am all about not bailing out people who were irresponsible but it seems that even those who were are getting hurt.

It's so sad that we as a nation have even gotten to this point. I just cannot grasp the idea of spending money that's not really there. I do not want to see people go under but, maybe if we stick to what we truely can afford things will get better. Some people have gotten used to living a certain way and maybe that needs to be adjusted. This is where things get tricky because individuals are for the most part greedy! Being asked to do
anything that's the least bit uncomfortable seems to set people into an uproar. Unfortunately we may need to melt down to reassess our lives, the way we spend, and why we place so much value on things that can so easily be taken away. I hope that people can set aside their sense of entitlement and are allowed to feel a
sense of humility. Wall Street, Main Street and all.

I have a fixed rate mortgage. However, my mortgage and escrow payments have jumped $700 in the last 3 years that I have been in my house. I could afford the original price that I was paying. I was even able to handle the 2 raises in property tax and slight increases in my home owners insurance. Until now. My home owners insurance jumped from $1200 to $5208 in six months. I dont live in a flood plane. I dont live on the coast. But I do live in Florida where the home owers insurerers are few and far between. I can now under stand how people are loosing their home. I used to say that they made bad disicions in going for some of these balloon mortages. Now I know better. How many of these people are in the same situation that I am in?