foreclosure Archives
A Halloween party at the New York law firm of Steven J. Baum (known as a ‘foreclosure mill’) included costumes mocking people that lost their homes. Ana Kasparian, Cenk Uygur and Ben Mankiewicz discuss on The Young Turks. www.nytimes.com Subscribe to The Young Turks: bit.ly The Largest Online New Show in the World. Google+: www.gplus.to Facebook: www.facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com
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There’s frightening news that home foreclosure rates across the nation are spiking again. It’s caused Moodys to predict 2012 will set a new record for foreclosures. The White House understands that the ongoing foreclosure nightmare is choking economic recovery and hopes to be able to announce changes to its main refinancing program within weeks to allow more homeowners — perhaps millions more — to participate. While this is a step in the right direction and a clear signal President Obama is doing everything in his power to ease the strain on American homeowners, its not likely to have a transformative effect on the larger economy. What’s really needed is a far more ambitious proposal like the one offered by Martin Feldstein, a Harvard professor and top economic advisor to President Reagan of all people. His idea? Reduce the principal on the mortgages so that the loans are no more than 110% of the value of the properties. Banks would absorb half the cost of the principal reduction, and the government the rest. He figures the losses could amount to $350 billion. The reality is that a bold plan like this one has absolutely no chance of passing for at least another year because the Republican controlled House of Representatives refuses to even consider a plan to address the housing crisis. The GOP has instead chosen – from the day Obama was inaugurated – to create the worst possible economic conditions in the hope that voters will hold the President responsible for their …
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Fannie Mae is the nation’s largest owner of foreclosed homes and is selling the repossessed homes at 60 percent below their market value. As Elaine Quijano reports from Cleveland, these rock bottom re-sale prices are destroying the neighborhoods.