Hot Compost
01-31-2009, 07:15 AM
it has taken me a while to figure out what financial derivatives, mortgage-backed securities, hedge funds, etc., all have to do with the "interesting news" that we've been hearing on the financial front.
basically, the banks stopped owning the mortages - they re-sold them in bundles of 1000 to investors worldwide. they also developed all sorts of "financial products" in the process, the alphabet soup that you hear in news articles on the subject -
MBS - mortgage-backed securities
CDO's - collateralized debt obligations
CDS's - credit default swaps
... etc.
the game was very profitable while real estate values were rising, in dollar-denominated terms.
THE SILVER LINING - these investments have been sliced & diced so much that in many cases, NOBODY KNOWS who owns the actual title to the homes being foreclosed upon !
an Ohio Democrat is encouraging her constituents to take advantage of the situation and to simply squat in their homes. this puts the ball in the court of the "financial services industry" - they have to prove ownership to continue with eviction proceedings, to sell the home, to do anything material with the home.
The Raw Story | Rep: Foreclosed owners should squat in their own homes (https://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rep_Foreclosed_owners_should_squat_in_0130.html)
"If you're poor and the bank is coming for your home, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has a plan for you.
Just squat, she says.
Yes, this Ohio Democrat is actually encouraging her financially distressed constituents whose homes have been foreclosed upon, to simply stay put.
In a Friday report, CNN's Drew Griffin explored the case of Ohioan Andrea Geiss, whose home was foreclosed upon in April.
"Behind in payments, out of work, a husband sick, she had nowhere to go," said Griffin. "So, she decided to follow the advice of her Congresswoman and go nowhere."
In Lucas County, Ohio, over 4,000 properties were foreclosed upon in 2008, reports CNN.
"So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes," said Congresswoman Kaptur before the House of Representatives. "Don't you leave."
She's called on all of her foreclosed-upon constituents to stay in their homes and refuse to leave without "an attorney and a fight," said CNN.
"If they've had no legal representation of a high quality, I tell them stay in their homes," Kaptur told Griffin.
Kaptur is a high-profile advocate of an increasingly popular mode of fighting foreclosures best known for it's key phrase: "Produce the note."
By telling a bank to "produce the note," a homeowner can delay foreclosure by forcing the lender to prove the suing institution is actually the same which owns the debt."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
it's hard to be aware of this combination of circumstances -
* people losing their jobs
* people losing their homes
* lots of vacant homes
* vacant homes being stripped for valuable materials
* US government becoming a homeowner-en-masse, via the assumption of "toxic" MBS & support of Fannie Freddie
without realizing that there is a natural solution - similar to that proposed by Congresswoman Kaptur.
you just let homeless people live in the empty homes !
voila ! live-in security guards to deter thieves from stripping the homes, people & families have a place to stay, etc.
basically, the banks stopped owning the mortages - they re-sold them in bundles of 1000 to investors worldwide. they also developed all sorts of "financial products" in the process, the alphabet soup that you hear in news articles on the subject -
MBS - mortgage-backed securities
CDO's - collateralized debt obligations
CDS's - credit default swaps
... etc.
the game was very profitable while real estate values were rising, in dollar-denominated terms.
THE SILVER LINING - these investments have been sliced & diced so much that in many cases, NOBODY KNOWS who owns the actual title to the homes being foreclosed upon !
an Ohio Democrat is encouraging her constituents to take advantage of the situation and to simply squat in their homes. this puts the ball in the court of the "financial services industry" - they have to prove ownership to continue with eviction proceedings, to sell the home, to do anything material with the home.
The Raw Story | Rep: Foreclosed owners should squat in their own homes (https://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rep_Foreclosed_owners_should_squat_in_0130.html)
"If you're poor and the bank is coming for your home, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has a plan for you.
Just squat, she says.
Yes, this Ohio Democrat is actually encouraging her financially distressed constituents whose homes have been foreclosed upon, to simply stay put.
In a Friday report, CNN's Drew Griffin explored the case of Ohioan Andrea Geiss, whose home was foreclosed upon in April.
"Behind in payments, out of work, a husband sick, she had nowhere to go," said Griffin. "So, she decided to follow the advice of her Congresswoman and go nowhere."
In Lucas County, Ohio, over 4,000 properties were foreclosed upon in 2008, reports CNN.
"So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes," said Congresswoman Kaptur before the House of Representatives. "Don't you leave."
She's called on all of her foreclosed-upon constituents to stay in their homes and refuse to leave without "an attorney and a fight," said CNN.
"If they've had no legal representation of a high quality, I tell them stay in their homes," Kaptur told Griffin.
Kaptur is a high-profile advocate of an increasingly popular mode of fighting foreclosures best known for it's key phrase: "Produce the note."
By telling a bank to "produce the note," a homeowner can delay foreclosure by forcing the lender to prove the suing institution is actually the same which owns the debt."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
it's hard to be aware of this combination of circumstances -
* people losing their jobs
* people losing their homes
* lots of vacant homes
* vacant homes being stripped for valuable materials
* US government becoming a homeowner-en-masse, via the assumption of "toxic" MBS & support of Fannie Freddie
without realizing that there is a natural solution - similar to that proposed by Congresswoman Kaptur.
you just let homeless people live in the empty homes !
voila ! live-in security guards to deter thieves from stripping the homes, people & families have a place to stay, etc.