By Nicholas Santiago on August 13th, 2010 3:20pm Eastern Time
Sometimes on Fridays I just have a feeling that I need to vent my thoughts to our viewers. Today I met someone that just told me they have not paid there mortgage in 18 months. The woman who was dressed very well volunteered her opinion while I was talking to the local grocer about how his local fruit market business was doing. She later said that she could afford the mortgage on the home which was built in 2005, however, she doubts that she could ever sell the house for what she paid and would just rather live comfortably in the house until the bank gives here a thirty day notice that she must leave. Ironically enough the woman says she works for a bank and doubts that they will ask her to leave anytime soon. She also said when she bought that home she was flipping houses and condos and this is the last property that she has that has not been repossessed yet. So she must know how the system works.
She then said anyone that is underwater on their home should just not pay the mortgage and live out the free time that the bank gives them. I said to her nicely, “isn't this stealing or doing something deceptive”? She said that the banks were giving here no doc loans anytime she asked for them and that some properties she closed on in less that three weeks when times were good. She then said to me was that practice by the bank not deceptive. I shook my head and wished her luck and went on my way with my bag of broccoli and cabbage.
While I was getting into my car I could not help but think about what is really going on in America. The whole system is broken and it cannot be fixed. This woman feels that the banks mislead her and the large major banks now know that they can hold the country hostage for their shameful lending practices. Please realize that these banks don't even have to lend money any longer to make money. They can simply borrow money from the Federal Reserve Bank at zero – quarter percent(basically free) and buy U.S. Treasuries and maintain their credit card business to make money. Let us not forget about their proprietary trading desks that they have as well. Meanwhile, they no longer have to show these so called default loans on their books due to the changes in the FASB(Financial Accounting Standards Board) accounting standards. These bad loans must no longer be marked down as a liability and categorized as an asset. What a racket.
Recently my wife who has been on the prowl for a new home with all the fixings has noticed that the foreclosed homes on the market are now priced much higher than they were last year. This must be because the banks are showing these homes as assets and not liabilities. Therefore, if the bank lists a house at $500,000 even though the most recent comparable sale in the same neighborhood is $250,000 then they can show it as an asset on the books. Again, what a racket!
Before I end this rant I just want to say I have no sympathy for the woman who is living in her house and not paying her mortgage. I also have no sympathy for people who took money out of their home and used it as an ATM machine and are now broke. You participated in the nations demise. As for the banks you should have all failed and went into bankruptcy. The courts could have then sold off the good pieces and let the rest of the institution fail. As for bailouts this party is over. The past forty years have been built on inflationary practices and bailouts. We are now living in a nation of entitlements and it keeps getting worse. Wake up America. That is my two cents.
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