Posts Tagged ‘bank’
A state court helped subprime borrowers and homeowners with onerous mortgages, including Alt-A and jumbo mortgages. The help probably did more than restructuring and individual loan modifications have done thus far. This may mean real relief, rather than what we have seen from many mortgage companies. Just putting the past due amount on the end of a loan is not much help at all.
What are the long-term effects of excesses and duplicity in the housing market? Employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November 2008, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, dramatic proof the country is careening deeper into recession. Naive economists thought 330,000 jobs would go away, showing how over half a million is more serious than we thought.
I read the most outrageous headline “Citigroup’s $306 Billion Bailout Fueled by Pizza.” Citigroup has been in trouble for months. I compared my Citi statements and offerings to my Chase statements and concluded that Chase was in a stronger position. I didn’t comment on it because I am concerned speculation may contribute to Citi’s problem.
The bailout of Citigroup, which put the government at risk of hundreds of billions of dollars in losses, was finalized on Sunday. The following Tuesday my wife and I received a notice of change in terms from Citigroup. Take it or leave it, or pay off the account. Millions of credit card holders in the United States received similar notices. I cannot speak for anyone but me, but the timing angers me. The government continues to bail out credit card companies and banks that strongly oppose any credit card customer bill of rights.
Mortgage brokers are out and direct lending is in. Many of the major mortgage lenders that brokers dealt with nationwide have either gone out of business, been acquired or pulled back. Some are under indictment for mortgage fraud, while others – both mortgage brokers and mortgage wholesalers – are telling about sex, drugs, parties, and a general attitude of “mortgage whores.” The degree to which that describes the industry is unknown, but local mortgage brokers in our area disappeared like Jimmy Hoffa. Federal and state prosecutors are picking through the industry’s wreckage in search of criminal activity.