Nov 282012
 
Neighbors stealing from neighbors: HELOCs make a comeback

When people are victims of theft, they usually work to remedy the situation so the theft doesn’t happen again. If a thief breaks into someone’s house, the homeowner installs better locks or alarm systems to avoid a future loss of property or worse. However, when the crime is more complex than breaking-and-entering, or when the government is the facilitator of the crime, it can be much more difficult for the victims to protect themselves, but it’s just as necessary. The Big Steal I have written that Moral hazard is the central issue in the housing bust. My reasoning is simple. [Read More...]

Sep 212012
 
Here comes the kool aid: HELOC abuse projected to rise

Our economy depends on Ponzi borrowing to the point that the government actually encourages this behavior despite the fact that millions lost their homes because of it. The ability to freely access and spend home equity creates moral hazard. It encourages over-borrowing and overpaying. It was one of the primary contributors to the housing bubble. The desire for HELOC booty motivated the foolishness. Many people run up $10,000 to $15,000 per year in credit card debt because they are fiscally irresponsible and fail to live within their means. During the bubble, loan owners would go to the housing ATM machine, [Read More...]

Aug 012012
 
GSE regulator DeMarco says NO principal reduction

In what can only be described as the best decision of the housing bust a from regulator, Federal Housing Finance Agency’s head Edward DeMarco said there will be no principal reduction on Fannie and Freddie loans. He will be loudly criticized, particularly from left-wing panderers, but Mr. DeMarco understands that Moral hazard is the central issue in housing bust, and giving away free money to loan owners is never a good idea. Millions of loanowners will be crushed by this news. Everyone who doesn’t want to see their tax dollars squandered to bail them out will rejoice. Regulator says no to [Read More...]

Jul 252012
 
Second mortgages hold short sellers hostage

Why do short sales take so long? Basically, banks don’t want to take a loss, and short sales cause them to lose money — a lot of money. Short sales come in two basic varieties; properties with second mortgages and properties without. If a property does not have a second mortgage, short sales are generally quicker and easier to approve. The first mortgage is often covered by mortgage insurance, and as a percentage of the total loan amount, any losses are generally small. If a property has a second mortgage — and millions do — then the situation becomes much [Read More...]

Jul 242012
 
HELOC abusers and lenders face day of recast reckoning

Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) were the favored tools of Ponzis during the housing bubble. These were used like a credit card with an ever-expanding credit balance that didn’t need to be paid back because the house was paying for it. Most borrowers viewed this as truly free money, and they behaved accordingly. This influx of spending drove the economy during the first half of the 00s, and the elimination of this stimulus and the subsequent need to repay this debt is what’s causing our economic doldrums today. HELOCs are similar to other revolving lines of credit with a [Read More...]

Jun 292012
 
Are rising house prices and low-cost Ponzi debt necessary for an economic recovery?

Everyone is focused on making house prices go up. Banks need higher house prices to recover the capital they put into trillions of dollars of toxic mortgages. Loan owners need house prices to go up to avoid damaged credit from a short sale or foreclosure. Home owners want to see house prices go up to feel rich. And politicians need to see rising house prices to keep everyone happy and get reelected. Economists also play the game by promoting the “wealth effect” of housing. By cloaking what’s really going on with a comfortable euphemism, it becomes easy to ignore the [Read More...]

Jun 192012
 
Woman wins lottery, buys house, HELOCs $2M+, and spends it all

I have profiled many stories of the capricious nature of the housing bubble and how it impacted people for better and for worse. The daily HELOC abuse posts have covered the odious behavior of borrowers from all walks of life. Usually I relegate those stories to the bottom of the daily posts because they are so common they no longer rise to the definition of “news.” However, when I discovered today’s featured property I was astounded at the scale of the HELOC abuse. When I did a search on the name of the owner I came across an interesting back-story [Read More...]

Jun 122012
 
Profiles of the ordinary thieves of the housing bubble

People are basically honest and will do the right thing if given the chance. However, people are also opportunistic, and if encouraged and enabled to steal, many ordinarily good people will go down the wrong path. Lenders led many astray. During the housing bubble, lenders were desperate to loan money in what they thought were low-risk, high yielding investments. The advertising to entice homeowners to become loanowners was both effective and too-good-to-be-true. The housing bubble turned many good people into thieves. Most were petty thieves who merely gamed the system to get free money. This same group now feels completely [Read More...]

May 302012
 
Top ten ways to protect taxpayers against Ponzi mortgage theft

How do we taxpayers protect ourselves against Ponzi mortgage theft? Prior to the collapse of the housing bubble, when lenders gave free money to loan owners, it was theirs to give — and to lose. But when the losses overwhelmed our banking system, the government took conservatorship of the GSEs, and they backstopped the largest banks with our too-big-to-fail guarantees. With those two steps and the dramatically increased market share of the FHA, the government now assumes nearly all risk of loss in the US mortgage market. With taxpayers absorbing future losses through explicit and implicit guarantees, lenders have every [Read More...]

May 142012
 
Obama extolls HELOC abusing Ponzis as "responsible" homeowners

President Obama has lost his mind. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that Obama would embrace HELOC abuse as a good idea. After all, Obama HELOCed his home in Illinios before he became president. Personally, I find this outrageous. Our commander-in-chief, the leader of our nation, has embraced HELOC abuse as a noble behavior that should be encouraged by a taxpayer bailout. The dipshits who lose their home from excessive borrowing should be given a pass, and everyone who chose not to participate in the madness should pay for it. I think that sucks. Obama’s ‘Responsible’ Reno Homeowners: Are [Read More...]

Apr 232012
 
The fear of homelessness is the basis of America's economic system

Modern American culture can trace its roots on the North American continent to pioneering English settlers. Life on the frontier is harsh, and each family unit is self-reliant. In a frontier society, if people didn’t work, and if they didn’t produce their own food and shelter, then they died. Fear of death from starvation or exposure was very real, and anyone who wasn’t motivated to produce something of value to themselves or others faced the near certainty of painful death. In a frontier society, there are no bailouts. We have made much progress over the last four centuries, and the [Read More...]

Apr 122012
 
HELOC Abuse at twenty-six year low

Back in August of 2010, I noted that HELOC abuse had hit a record low. Since then, it has declined even further. A recent report from Fannie Mae puts mortgage equity withdrawal at a 26-year low. I guess when owners have no equity, it’s much harder to raid the piggy bank. Our national economy has become completely dependent upon loan owners. What will it take for us to kick the habit? 85 Percent of Refinancing Homeowners Maintain or Reduce Mortgage Debt in Fourth Quarter: 26-Year High Real Cash-Out Volume at 16-Year Low MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Freddie [Read More...]

Apr 052010
 
Desire for mortgage equity withdrawal inflated the housing bubble

We are all living in our own bubbles. Each of us has a tenuous grasp on reality, and with the steady flow of bullshit and propaganda that implants gross lies into our collective consciousness, our perception of reality becomes ever more distorted. It is a difficult and often time-consuming task to find Truth and Reality buried beneath obtuse writing and intentional obfuscation. Bubble thinking is rampant, and the primary reason for its persistence is that people want the free spending money houses provide. The huge financial reward each bubble participant received as they went to the housing ATM gave a spender’s high [Read More...]

Jan 062010
 
HELOC Abuse Grading System

There is a simple truth about the housing market; people are going to buy and sell homes when is suits their life’s circumstances. Unlike many of the readers of this blog, few base their decisions on market dynamics, and even when they do, each sets their own risk parameters. The main factor separating those who benefited from the housing bubble from those who did not was a Simple Twist of Fate; for some it was time to sell or buy, and Fate either enriched or destroyed them. I have often wondered if I had made different decisions during the bubble [Read More...]

Apr 232009
 

Rather than paraphrase, below is the full text of OC Progressive’s post: Housing Bubble Busts Every Local Budget – Get Ready for Extreme Makeovers In trying to follow local politics here in Orange County, I’ve been looking very closely at local government budgets, and there’ s one trend that seems to be emerging rapidly. We’re seeing a precipitous decline in local sales tax revenue. And this is not going to be a temporary problem, but rather one with serious long term impacts. I was absolutely floored by OCTA’s fiscal review that showed a difference over three years, in the projection [Read More...]