Banks Starting to Walk Away on Foreclosures

[groovedaddy]

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Mercy James thought she had lost her rental property here to foreclosure. A date for a sheriff’s sale had been set, and notices about the foreclosure process were piling up in her mailbox.

Ms. James had the tenants move out, and soon her white house at the corner of Thomas and Maple Streets fell into the hands of looters and vandals, and then, into disrepair. Dejected and broke, Ms. James said she salvaged but a lesson from her loss.

So imagine her surprise when the City of South Bend contacted her recently, demanding that she resume maintenance on the property. The sheriff’s sale had been canceled at the last minute, leaving the property title — and a world of trouble — in her name.

“I thought, ‘What kind of game is this?’ ” Ms. James, 41, said while picking at trash at the house, now so worthless the city plans to demolish it — another bill for which she will be liable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/us/30walkaway.html?th&emc=th

[liberal N proud]

1. Maybe the vandals are the bankers

[groovedaddy]

2. That may be closer to the truth than you think.

My brother once worked as a property caretaker for a very wealthy woman. She had no children but did have other relatives. When she passed away, the attorneys and bank trust officers were the first into her mini-mansion. The relatives seemed mainly interested in the money and real estate she left behind. The relatives were allowed to walk through the home and take whatever they wanted that had not been stipulated in her will. After they had gone through, the bank trust officers went through next and took whatever they wanted. They then told me brother take everything else to Good Will.

[tech3149]

3. Think about this perspective

As a corporation, the banks get to write off the loss for the entire value of the property if they walk away. If they do foreclose and manage to re-sell, they will probably only be able to claim a small percentage of the loss and will have higher expenses in order to deal with the property. Walk away and get the full value as a tax break or play property manager and only get a few cents on the dollar for the value of the property.

It might suck but that's the way these companies view the world. Who gives a shit if vacant properties run down property values in the community? It doesn't count on our balance sheets. Who cares if your employees can't afford to buy what you sell (unless they work 80 hrs a week).

I think more people need to investigate Catherine Austin Fitts and start thinking about local sustainable communities.
As was said by Princess Leah "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are our only hope". We're truly screwn if we don't get these "Masters of the Universe" out of our back pocket.

[CoffeeCat]

4. If the banks aren't careful...

...they are going to become modern-day villains that Americans hate with a white-hot passion.

First, they entice buyers into homes using "creative financing" that causes bankruptcies and home foreclosures (meanwhile,
the banks make trillions off of these loans).

Next, they package these loans into financial products and sell them to pension funds, other banks, insurance companies
and other financial companies--making all of these institutions vulnerable and collapsing our entire economy (meanwhile, the
banks have made additional money off of these sour financial products).

Now, when people can't stay in their homes--the banks kick people out, but then allow the property to be looted and destroyed. Then,
the banks abandon these homes and call the homeowner back--to pay for the demolition. Neighborhoods are decimated, and neighbors
lose values on their homes due to the banks abandoning these foreclosed homes.

Geez. It's as if someone institutionalized the personality of the Wicked Witch of the West and turned it into a company.

Kinda makes you wonder what will happen when Americans finally tune in and realize what is going on.

[groovedaddy]

6. It will be interesting to see how this plays out legally. I don't see how it can stand up in court

if a person gets an eviction notice, leaves, the place gets trashed and then the bank decides not to pursue the foreclosure. The courts will have to determine the legal weight of that eviction notice. I have a hunch that the notice takes the responsibility off the owner. Of course cities don't won't to be responsible for the cost and are going after the banks, then the apparent "former" homeowners.

[northernlights]

5. well, how about this perspective?

If they renegotiated the terms of the loan to something affordable, many owners could continue paying, they could continue collecting mortgage payments, and everybody could just go on living their lives. :think:

Of course, without their outrageous interest rates they might not be able to afford the special detailing on their new spiffy private jet. Never mind. Just fuck over the entire neighborhood, housing market and economy so we can all share in their misery. fuckheads.