Philadelphia

Philadelphia
Yes, that's right. A whole city inducted into the Hall of Shame.

2008-03-28: Philadelphia suspends sales of foreclosed homes
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Authorities in Philadelphia will suspend foreclosure sales of homes whose owners have fallen behind on adjustable-rate subprime loan payments -- potential relief for tens of thousands of struggling debtors.

Sheriff John Green said on Friday he would halt sales of foreclosed properties in April and would seek a court order extending a moratorium for an unspecified period.
His action follows a nonbinding resolution passed unanimously by the Philadelphia City Council on Thursday calling on Green to stop the sales to give borrowers more time to seek a settlement that would prevent them from losing their homes.

Philadelphia becomes the first U.S. city to halt foreclosure sales in the current crisis, although Cleveland and Baltimore are considering similar measures, said ACORN, an advocacy group for low-income families.

New Century

New Century Financial, Subprime Lending Company
One of the first and largest subprime lenders to go bankrupt. As you might expect, stories surfaced about loose lending standards and the use of baseball bats to secure loan approvals. Funny how you didn't hear those stories while everyone was collecting a paycheck.

Baseball bats and Bad Accounting, it's all good!

Yvonne Cromer

Yvonne Cromer, Realtor/Investor/tiny-Trump®
If they have 17 properties, exactly how could they "lose" a few? Were these allowed to go back to the bank with no recourse? Does she possess equity that could be used to pay the bank(s)? This is probably the tip of the iceberg. I hope her husband is prepared to go back to managing hotels.
* Foolishness is no substitute for good financial sense. *

2004-05-24: Tycoon in the Making
...the Cromers began leveraging the equity in their first house to buy a second house, then leveraging their second house to buy a third, and so on. In all, they have acquired eight properties in three different states with an estimated value of $3.4 million.
The strategy requires a strong stomach for risk, not to mention a strong housing market. (We should emphasize...a strong housing market. AKA Housing Bubble)

"We have gotten lucky," said Robert. "But we've also done our homework and we've been willing to take risks." (It's called "gambling".)

Though the couple has more than $1 million in equity on their properties, they borrow as much as they can to still qualify for the best rates. "Then we ride the market until we can refinance with 20 percent equity," said Yvonne, adding that most of their loans are interest-only, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages. (Lions, and tigers, and Interest-only ARMs, Oh my!!)

2008-03-23: Investors are going bust
Robert and Yvonne Cromer began investing in real estate in 2000, when they tapped the equity in their College Area home to buy a nearby rental property.

Over the next few years, the San Diego County couple repeated the pattern, accumulating 17 properties in five states. In 2004, they were featured in a CNN Money article headlined “Tycoon in the Making.”

Since October, they have lost three homes in San Diego County to foreclosure – homes they bought for a combined $2.6 million, according to county deed records. They have lost three homes in other states to lenders, Yvonne Cromer said.

Bobbie Dust

Bobbie Dust, Realtor/Landlord
Being foreclosed upon? Were you renting your home? No problem; keep collecting the rent, even after you've handed the keys over to the bank.

Home sold on January 28th; February 8th, Ms. Dust asks for RENT!!!!

I think Bobbie took lessens from Landlord Pearl.

2008-03-20: Video
Bobbie Dust, well-known real estate agent defrauds client, tenants protest.

2008-03-20: House foreclosed, renters given little notice
Apparently the 1,400 a month Jennifer and Travis paid in rent never made it to the mortgage company. The home was sold to a bank on January 28. The Clark County Recorder's Office recorded the sale on February 5.

But three days later, no longer owner of the home, Bobbie Dust asked the couple to pay February rent. The request came in a text message. "It was on February 8th, in the morning," Travis explains. "Are you paying rent today?"

Travis wrote back:
Are you kidding me? We know you don't own this house anymore. We spoke to the bank. We're not stupid, we're not giving you one more nickel and as a matter of fact, you owe us $765 for the deposit and for fixing the refrigerator.

Bobbie wrote back:
Are you still living in my house? If so, no one lives for free.

Travis replied:
It's not your house. As of January 28th at 1 pm, the bank owns this house, not you.

Bobbie's final text:
Contrary to what you might think, it's mine until February 29th, don't get so cocky.

2008-03-23: Renters Beware

Pony Gang

Pony Gang, Mortgage Fraud

2008-03-19: Mortgage Fraud Case Calls for Tighter Regulations

"I haven't seen anything this extreme ever before," said Christina Tusan, the California deputy attorney general assigned to the civil case in which the web of companies is being sued for more than $20 million.

The group is accused of targeting unknowing homeowners whose homes had escalated in value by offering dreamlike mortgage refinancing offers, with promises of cash back and lower monthly payments, Bremner said.

Late Tuesday, the alleged ringleader in the scam, 25-year-old Eric Pony, and his sister, Paulette Pony, 23, turned themselves into police to face charges including conspiracy, grand theft, forgery and elder abuse. Five other suspects were also arrested.

The crackdown began with Eric Pony's company, Lifetime Financial Inc., and spread to others after Pony lost his real estate license last September and transferred his operations to other companies with active mortgage broker licenses, authorities said.

Paulette Pony had her commission as a notary revoked last December, after investigators uncovered a misdemeanor forgery conviction in 2003, more than a year before she became a legal notary. The pair, working with their mother, Wilma Pony, channeled most of their mortgage applications through New Century Mortgage Corp., which has since folded.

Bear Stearns

Bear Stearns
One of the original inductees to the Hall of Shame. Where are they today? See below! BWAHAHAHA

Buh-Bye, Bear!
2008-03-16: J.P. Morgan to Buy Bear Stearns
J.P. Morgan Chase agreed to buy Bear Stearns for $2 a share in a stock-swap transaction, people familiar with the matter say. J.P. Morgan will exchange 0.05473 shares of its common stock per one share of Bear Stearns stock. Both boards have approved the transaction.

They appear to have a systemic lying problem. LOL
March 15, 2007


Memo to Bear Stearns, YOU'RE FU**ED!!

Bear Stearns Asset Management Funds go bankrupt: High-Grade Credit Strategies fund, High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund
Aug. 7, '07: Bear Stearns Caymans Filing May Hurt Funds' Creditors
(Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos.' decision to liquidate two bankrupt hedge funds in the Cayman Islands instead of New York may limit creditors' and investors' ability to get their money back.

Aug. 1, 2007: Bear Stearns hedge funds file for bankruptcy
Take the money and run, Bear!! BWAHAHAHA

And here is the most damning piece of evidence that Bear Stearns was manipulating the market while they prepared for the bankruptcies.
March 15: Mortgage-backed securities problem is contained,...
no wait,...
June 22: Problem is NOT contained
And now we learn they were trying to "help" smaller investors. Oh, how generous.
Failed Bear Stearns funds invited smaller investors

Ok, what is Bear up to, now...
2008-02-08: Bear Stearns Is `Short' Subprime Mortgages $1 Billion
. . . . . . . . Rot in hell, Bear Stearns!

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, Bear Stearns... you bums!
2008-03-14: Bear Stearns bailed out by Fed, JPMorgan
NEW YORK - Bear Stearns Cos., one of Wall Street's venerable investment banks, received a bailout Friday by the federal government and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a surprise, last-ditch effort to save the 86-year old institution.

2008-03-14: Pathetic Bear Stearns Bailout: Who to Blame
Bear Stearns (BSC) has been forced to run hat in hand to the Fed and whimper that it's "too big to fail," the mewling is about to begin:
• It's not our fault! It's a run on the bank!
• We never could have seen this coming!
• Blame those jerks who stopped lending us money!
Give us a break. If Bear Stearns goes to zero, there will only be one party to blame: Bear Stearns management.

MMmmmm... Bear Stearns for lunch.

Standard & Poor's

We are a global leader in credit ratings and credit risk analysis, with ratings on approximately US$ 32 trillion of debt issued in 100+ countries. We analyze issuers and debt obligations of corporations, states and municipalities, financial institutions, insurance companies and sovereign governments. We also provide insight into the credit risk of structured finance deals, providing an independent view of credit risk associated with a growing array of debt-securitized instruments.

Leader in credit ratings and credit risk analysis?
Provide insight into the credit risk of "structured finance deals"?
BWAHAHAHA. Who could possibly believe these hacks.

They have an entire site dedicated to Subprime damage control.
S&P's Views on Subprime and Bond Insurers

Mark this date on your calendars: 2008-03-13
Lets check back on their prediction, regularly.
S&P forecasts end is near for asset write-downs
NEW YORK - Wall Street recovered from an early plunge Thursday to trade higher after Standard & Poor's predicted financial companies are nearing the end of the massive asset write-downs that devastated the stock and credit markets for months.

The S&P projection gave investors some optimism that the seemingly unrelenting fallout from the mortage and credit crisis might indeed come to an end. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services estimated that writedowns of subprime asset-backed securities could reach $285 billion globally, up from a previous $265 billion projection. Still, S&P's statement that "the end of write-downs is now in sight for large financial institutions" gave investors some hope.
--------------
2008-03-14: Bear Stearns Has Credit Ratings Slashed (1 DAY LATER!!)
Standard & Poor's lowered the securities firm's long-term counterparty rating three levels to BBB after Bear Stearns said it obtained financing from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the New York Federal Reserve. Moody's cut the rating two steps to Baa1 and Fitch Ratings reduced the firm four levels. All three firms are reviewing their ratings for another cut.

Ben Bernanke

Ben Shalom Bernanke, current Chairman of the Federal Reserve
He has been inducted for this simple reason:
The subprime fallout is 'likely to be contained'; no wait, subprime is not contained.

I think we're WAYYYYYY beyond contained now, ehhhhh, Ben.
2008-03-11: Fed to Lend $200 Billion, Accept Mortgage Securities
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve, struggling to contain a crisis of confidence in credit markets, will for the first time lend Treasuries in exchange for debt that includes mortgage-backed securities.

The Fed said in a statement in Washington it plans to make up to $200 billion available through weekly auctions. Officials told reporters on condition of anonymity that the program may be increased as needed. The Fed coordinated the effort with central banks in Europe and Canada, which plan to inject up to $45 billion into their banking systems.

John Tuccillo

John Tuccillo, former NAR Chief Economist, Ph.D Economics
Wow, what a surprise. Realtors with a sunny outlook. This guy is a total monkey.

2008-03-07: Realtors offer sunny outlook for 2008
"People think the market is down and the market will still go down. That's not the truth. The market is down, but it's not going down anymore," said John Tuccillo, former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. "I think it's because consumers focus on national news and not enough on local news."
AND
Housing brokers blame lenders, media for market's fall.

Realty Times

Realty Times
Total real estate whores. That's it, get that nose right up Yun's arse.


Here is a Realty Times video from December 31, 2007:

Real Estate Outlook: Will Housing Turn Around?
Two of the nation's most prominent real estate economists weighed in this subject recently and their end of the year forecasts aren't too far apart from one another.

Dr. David Seiders, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, had this to say: Our "housing forecast shows systematic improvements in home sales by the second quarter of 2008, improvement in home starts by the third quarter, maintenance of low levels of manufactured housing shipments throughout 2008, and modest declines in the real value of residential remodeling next year."

Now here's the outlook from Dr. Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors: "The broad trend over the coming year will be gradual rise in existing home sales, but because sales are exceptionally low for the final months of 2007, total sales for 2008 will only be modestly higher than for 2007."

Dr. Yun added that the key positive change underway has been that the "unusual mortgage disruptions that peaked in August were finalized in September and October," and now the trendline in pending home sales is up.

We'll check back and monitor the accuracy of both forecasts as the new year develops.
But let's be frank: After such a run of down and bad numbers through most of 2006 and 2007, will it really be a big surprise if housing demand and sales and new construction finally begin showing signs of recovery -- even modest recovery -- in the year ahead? (Yes, it will be a huge surprise, moron!)

We at Realty Times think it's a very good bet. (BWAHAHAHA)

Art Laffer

Art Laffer, Economist, B.A. Econ Yale '63, MBA/Ph.D. Econ Stanford '65/'71
His last name says it all--his views on the economy are a 'laffer'. I think he owes Peter a penny.

8/28/2006-Peter Schiff On Kudlow & Company
Laffer:
"The wealth of the average American household has been going UP."
"This economy is driven by good economic policy, by good monetary policy, by good trade policy, and it's working beatifully."

(Peter Schiff is shown; he is right on the money!)

Home Equity Loans

Behind the Meltdown: Equity plunge saps will to spend (Sac Bee Article)
* Economy suffers as homeowners in area lose $2 billion in wealth in '07.
Take $2 billion away from Sacramento's homeowners – money they could be spending on cars or plasma TVs or kitchen cabinets – and you begin to understand what the housing slump is doing to the region's economy.

The impact of the real estate downturn goes far beyond the thousands of construction and mortgage- industry layoffs, or the epidemic of foreclosures. The 25 percent drop in housing prices since 2005 means fewer homeowners are able to borrow against their equity. Even those who could still borrow are more nervous about doing so.

The result is a meaningful drop in housing's "wealth effect," making consumers less apt to spend money. Consumer spending is falling all over the country, not just in Sacramento, putting additional downward pressure on an economy that seems to grow more troubled by the hour.
The well is drying up, McMillionaires! You might actually have to pay cash for that vacation, or that Escalade, or that Lexus, or that Flat Panel TV that your lazy, fat ass had to have. Consumer spending is going to plummet, along with the stock market.

- - - - - - Your Home is Not an ATM! ! !
Should have saved some money, cuz things just might get ugly...

Tracy Byrnes

Tracy Byrnes, Fox Business News
Does this beeyatch have any idea what she talking about? I've had it; I'm tired of listening to her "RAH-RAH-RAH, nothing is wrong, the economy is strong" ranting. Now she's questioning why Peter Schiff lives in this country. And another thing--her voice bores a hole through my head.

Schiff 5, Realtors/Analysts 0

Video: Peter Schiff February 29 2008 Fox News
Tracy Quotes:
"They are just bringing armageddon on".
"Peter, I just don't understand sometimes why you live in the United States."
"The rest of Corporate America... there is still cash on the balance sheet."
"People are still working."
"There is no way people need to go sell their homes and move into their cars."

Sgt. First Class Nicklaus Skaggs

Sgt. First Class Nicklaus Skaggs, 'Walker'
Mr. Skaggs isn't really inducted into the Hall of Shame, but his action speaks volumes about the Housing Bubble. I wouldn't say it was wise to buy a home at the price he paid, but he and many others are now getting wise. What did he say?...

........... Owning is Throwing Money Away!

2008-02-29: Borrowers Abandon Mortgages as Prices Drop
Other borrowers are walking away in frustration because they can't arrange a workout with their lenders, says D.J. Enga, director of outreach services for Auriton Solutions, which counsels homeowners nationwide. Mr. Enga expects that 10% to 15% of the roughly 4,000 callers counseled this month by Auriton, of St. Paul, Minn., will walk away from their mortgages.

Sgt. First Class Nicklaus Skaggs is among those looking to walk away. Mr. Skaggs bought his home in April 2005 shortly after returning to California from a one-year tour of duty in Baghdad.

The $455,000 three-bedroom home he and his wife purchased in Vacaville, about one hour northeast of San Francisco, is worth an estimated $285,000 today, well below the $453,000 he owes on his mortgage. The monthly mortgage payment, which jumped after its interest rate increased, is now $4,000, up from $2,980 when he bought the house.

Mr. Skaggs expects to be redeployed to Iraq again later this year. But he can't sell his home, since there are few buyers, and he can't refinance because lenders require a large down payment he doesn't have. Now, the 18-year Army veteran has decided to walk away from his mortgage. He hopes in a few years lenders see his decision as a unique situation created by the housing meltdown. "I don't think that house is going to recover in value any time soon," said the 40-year-old. "I'd just be throwing the money away.

Joe Lents

Joe Lents, House Owner Renter Buyer ... ?
I'm not sure what this guy is, besides a total SOB, in my opinion. This story bothered me from the moment I read it, but after reading Calculated Risk's summary and research associated with this character, he has truly earned a spot here. He has also been blogged about at Patrick.net and Exurbannation, among others. The Calculated Risk article is worth reading. Why does it seem that the majority of people speaking to the mainstream media, shouldn't be speaking to the MSM.

2008-02-26: Lost Home Note (from Calculated Risk)

Lents is former CEO of Investco Inc., a Boca Raton, Florida-based developer of voice recognition software. In 2002, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned Lents and others for stock manipulation, according to the SEC Web site. He lost his job, was fined and his assets were frozen. That's the reason he couldn't pay his mortgage, he said.

2008-02-22: Deadbeat Homeowners
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Joe Lents hasn't made a payment on his $1.5 million mortgage since 2002.

"If you're going to take my house away from me, you better own the note,'' said Lents, 63, the former chief executive officer of a now-defunct voice recognition software company.

California Bubble Prices

I thought this was an interesting article. There's always a lot of debate about affordability, particularly in California. If you believe the plot (left), California clearly has a history of a higher median price for per capita income. But the recent bubble has taken the factor into ridiculous levels. At a minimum, it's not unreasonable to expect the data to return to 6x levels. If the economy goes into serious distress, who knows how low it could go. Time will tell.

2008-02-15: Homes in Bubble Regions Remain Wildly Overvalued

But the really bad news is that, even after a year of misery and falling prices, homes in many of these regions still aren't cheap. They remain wildly overvalued compared to average personal incomes.

There is a strong long-term correlation between the two figures. And in many regions, house prices would still have to fall a very long way to get back into line. Just to get down to seven times incomes, prices would have to fall 37% tomorrow.

How far? Try around a third in Florida and Arizona -- and closer to 40% in California.

Yvonne Herrara

Yvonne Herrara, House ATM User
Ya' know what, Yvonne, you and your jackass family blew through $300,000 on home improvements, a pool, expenses for your kids, and who knows what else. You had your fun, now it's time to GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT HOUSE! IT'S NO LONGER YOURS!

What is America going to do once they need CASH to buy what they NEED, rather than house "equity" to obtain what they WANT! Truly sickening!

2008-02-24: Many local homeowners are hurting HELOCing
Yvonne Herrera's blue-gray, two-bedroom family home on a quiet, dead-end road in Covina was astonishingly cheap when she and her husband bought it: only $129,000.

Ten years later, after refinancing several times and borrowing money against the home, Herrera and her husband pay $3,300 a month on a $430,000 mortgage.

"We used some of the money for home improvements and to put in a pool," Herrera said. "But also a lot for expenses when our kids were in high school."

She said she expected to sell the house for below its value to her mother-in-law and pay rent to her for a year or two. (Pardon me, but you fu**in' beeyatch, get the hell out of that house with your "plan".)

"It's the best solution we have because the bank won't work with us," said Herrera. "We put a lot of work into this house and it would break my heart to lose it." (Note to Yvonne: Unless you have household income of ~$130,000, there is nothing you or the bank can do.)

18820 E Laxford Rd, Covina, CA 91722-2004
3 beds, 2.0 baths, 1,122 sq ft
Sale History: 01/29/1998: $132,000

Lela Mazzeo

Lela Mazzeo, tiny-Trumps™
Let me guess... "We can do this!"
The average person should not speculate in real estate. To use it as a means to riches and early retirement is risky and foolish. Lela, you and your family did more than your fair share to inflate the Housing Bubble. I wonder if she is a graduate of Nouveau Riche University.

2008-02-21: Novice Foolish Landlords
The two-story house on a large lot in Casa de Oro -- on the less expensive side of the La Mesa border -- has been listed for sale for three months. The Mazzeos haven't lived in it since 2003, when they bought and moved into a home in Imperial Beach. They kept the Casa de Oro house, renting it at first to friends and then to long-term tenants. The last tenants moved out in December 2006, leaving the Mazzeos to 11 months and at least $75,000 of cleanup and renovating before they deemed it sellable.

But even when they had tenants, the rent the house garnered -- $2,000 to $2,100 -- fell far short of the nearly $4,000 the Mazzeos paid each month on its mortgage and upkeep. And since listing it for sale in November for $575,000, they've dropped the bottom of the asking price range to $499,000, less than they owe. They bought this house in 2001 and have accumulated four more properties, including the house in La Mesa where they live now. This home in Casa de Oro isn't appreciating the way it once did, the way they counted on it doing when they refinanced to buy other properties. And they can't get enough rent to sustain their payments in a down market.

Nancy Corazzi

Nancy Corazzi, House ATM User
What is wrong with people? Since when did house appreciation become wealth before you've sold your home? It's as though HELOCs have become a way of life. Check out Nancy's gourmet kitchen. Don't get too attached to it, Nancy, you're on your way out of your HELOC-home. Perhaps if people would live within their means we wouldn't be in this mess. Yet another woman in the USA unwilling to settle for less. A phrase comes to mind: "We can do this."

I coined this phrase a while back:
Livin' high on the hog HELOC.



9534 Westwood Dr, Ellicott City, MD
5 beds, 3.0 baths, 2,578 sq ft
Sale History: 10/05/1998: $178,800
From other blogs:
Nov '01 - Refi $213,600
Apr '02 - HELOC unknown amount
Dec '04 -Refi $375,000
Oct '06 - Refi $381,000
Oct '07 - HELOC opened for $95K (spent $50k before it was pulled)

2008-02-23: Homeowners Losing Equity Lines
In one brief phone call, Nancy Corazzi's lender yanked away what was left of the $95,000 home equity line of credit that she and her husband took out five months ago.

"I got off the phone and I was shaking," said Corazzi, who was using the money to pay preschool tuition for her twins ."I was near tears. We needed this credit line to get us through some tough times." (How was she planning on paying it back??? So, paying expensive tuition for pre-school is tough times? WTF!!!)

Corazzi initially used her line to consolidate debt. She and her husband took out the credit line in October because they thought her job was in jeopardy. (Job in jeopardy, take on more debt. Huh?)

Meanwhile, they are trying to open a new home equity line elsewhere, but chances are slim given the change in Nancy Corazzi's job status and the drop in their home's value. Five months ago, the Elliot City house was appraised at $560,000; the lender says it is now worth $469,100.

"I told them, 'You guys are wrong,' " Nancy Corazzi said. "They said, 'Sorry, this is what we're doing in the entire area.' " (Tell 'em, Nancy: You guys are wrong! I need this credit to sustain my artificially high standard of living!)

Corazzi said she was blindsided by what's happened. "I didn't know they could do that. I thought I was too smart to have something like this happen to me." (If she was so smart, why didn't she see the Housing Bubble? Does she read Housing Panic or Dr. Housing Bubble? Not too smart if you don't.)

F.B.I.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.)
The FBI just released most of America from there legal responsibility related to mortgage fraud. As long as your crime wasn't egregious, you'll be fine. Using your home to finance flat panel TVs, vacations, SUVs, etc, probably doesn't fall into the egregious category, so enjoy your loot you lazy, no good, sons-a-bitches.

2008-02-21: FBI Will Not Go After Borrowers Who Lied on Mortgage Applications
Borrowers who defrauded lenders by lying on their mortgage application could be thrown in prison for up to 30 years and forced to pay a $1 million fine under the current federal law. But the FBI says there is no intention to pursue borrowers at this time.

In 2006, the FBI studied three million mortgage loans and found that 30 to 70 percent of early payment defaults can be linked to misrepresentations in mortgage loan applications.

Although lying on a mortgage application is a federal crime, borrowers who committed mortgage fraud are low on the FBI's list of priorities. Joseph Schadler, an FBI spokesman, said investigators will be focusing on organized property flipping rings and bogus foreclosure rescue schemes instead of lying buyers.

'We're going to pick the ones that are the most egregious and have the greatest impact on the economy,' Schadler said. 'Fraud for property is less impactful on the economy than the speculative fraud where people are trying to flip homes for profit.'