Lori Polin, Part II

Lori Polin, Realtor
From Realtor Hall of Fame to Housing Bubble Hall of Shame.
Part I

Our realtor sweetheart is up to some bizarre trix. (Thanks, Mav)


2009-10-28: Agent accused of real estate fraud at center of bizarre condo foreclosure
Foreclosure proceedings on Alejandro Salazar's Tampa condo had dragged on so long he finally called the bank this summer to ask why.

Because, the bank told him, your attorney has been fighting us for a year.
...
In a bizarre case, Harlan confirms that he listed himself as Salazar's lawyer even though Salazar hadn't retained him. The person who did, Harlan acknowledges, was a real estate agent who had acquired the deed to Salazar's vacant condo, moved in and wanted to stall foreclosure because she hoped to buy the unit in a short sale.

The agent? Lori Polin, named by Florida's attorney general last year as a key player in an alleged $37 million mortgage fraud scheme.

FHA + 21 =

More foreclosures.

With a loan amount of $183,000, Miss Tejada should have gross earning of...

$183,000 x 36% = $65,000

for a responsible loan that can be properly serviced.

According to Scott Jagow:
She makes $2470 a month. 54% of her income goes to service the mortgage. Here’s what she says about that:

… I’m left with $1,142 per/month, which is plenty for me.


2009-10-22: Of 21 Year Old With The Underwater FHA Loan
Denise got an FHA loan to buy her home for $155,000. She took out a second loan (called a 203-K loan) to refurbish the place. The total loan amount is about $183,000. She says, “In total, I gave the bank $5,087 + $1,500 which were all deposit and closing costs.”

So her “down payment” was no more than 4% of the value of the home when she bought it. She will get all of that back and then some with the first-time home buyer tax credit.

In other words, thanks to the various government tax breaks, Denise put absolutely no money down on her home. If she has to default on her mortgage, she'll lose nothing except her credit rating. Of course, since she's only 21 years old, there's plenty of time to recover from that.
...
Don't you feel awesome for helping Tejada achieve the American dream?

Barney Frank, Part III

Barney "I tawt I taw a putie tat" Frank, United States Rep, Mass (D)

Part I
Part II

Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in an interview that the defaults were, in essence, worth it.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing that the bad loans occurred,” he said. “It was an effort to keep prices from falling too fast. That’s a policy.”

Raping America... it's a policy.

Everyone wants a piece of this SOB.

Denninger:
To The States: Should We Talk About Secession?
Government Violates The Citizens (Again)

Calculated Risk:
A Policy: Supporting House Prices

How is that "Policy" working?
U.S. Homeowners Cut Asking Prices $27.8 Billion
Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. homeowners cut their asking prices by $27.8 billion with some of the biggest reductions in Nevada and Florida, states hardest hit by the property slump, Trulia Inc. said.

FHA may be setting up repeat of housing bubble
The percentage of FHA loans that are delinquent or in foreclosure climbed to nearly 8% at the end of June, from about 5.5% in early 2006, according to the Mortgage Bankers Assn. And in the weeks ahead, its reserves for loan losses are projected to slip below federally mandated limits.

FHA Shortfall Seen at $54 Billion May Lead to Bailout
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Housing Administration, which insures mortgages with low down payments, may require a U.S. bailout because it has $54 billion more in losses than it can withstand, a former Fannie Mae executive said.

“It appears destined for a taxpayer bailout in the next 24 to 36 months,” consultant Edward Pinto said in testimony prepared for a House committee hearing in Washington today. Pinto was the chief credit officer from 1987 to 1989 for Fannie Mae, the mortgage-finance company that is now government-run.

First Failed State?

It's been very quiet on the California economic condition. Are we getting closer?

How about a 50% vacancy rate in Sunnyvale for office space?

2009-09-01: Empty office buildings dot Silicon Valley

Green Shoots, anyone?

On a side-note, but related, I'm noticing California municipal bond funds rising in price. This makes no sense to me. The risk of holding these bonds seems way to high.

Hat tip to 'Coming Economic Depression', for the link to the story.

2009-10-04: Will California become America's first failed state?
But the state that was once held up as the epitome of the boundless opportunities of America has collapsed. From its politics to its economy to its environment and way of life, California is like a patient on life support. At the start of summer the state government was so deeply in debt that it began to issue IOUs instead of wages. Its unemployment rate has soared to more than 12%, the highest figure in 70 years. Desperate to pay off a crippling budget deficit, California is slashing spending in education and healthcare, laying off vast numbers of workers and forcing others to take unpaid leave. In a state made up of sprawling suburbs the collapse of the housing bubble has impoverished millions and kicked tens of thousands of families out of their homes. Its political system is locked in paralysis and the two-term rule of former movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger is seen as a disaster – his approval ratings having sunk to levels that would make George W Bush blush. The crisis is so deep that Professor Kenneth Starr, who has written an acclaimed history of the state, recently declared: "California is on the verge of becoming the first failed state in America."