American Citizens Need to Give a Swift Kick to Louisiana State Government

Brad Pitt is working hard to get families back home, this is the site, click here.

This week there is a show on the television that shows how much the Louisiana State Government has neglected something long standing, and frankly an embarrassment to the entire country. Mike Holmes, a Canadian contractor and television personality, was asked by Brad Pitt to go and do something about this. While I know that Mike is one very excellent contractor, it begs the question, why?

There is FEMA monies sitting, waiting, in Louisiana to build or repair the homes in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, yet the State of Louisiana has done NOTHING to get those monies to those who really need it. The point here? If the United States wants to have an image of a “do something” country that can solve some of the problems around the world, what better place to showcase this than New Orleans?

7000 families are STILL in trailers, waiting after so many years, for their homes again. Why the hell is the State sitting on these monies? Time is running out here. If the monies are not used within this year, FEMA will take it back.

It is long overdue that some of the people living in the US call, annoy, insist, be persistent, and generally give the State of Louisiana a swift kick in the butt to get moving! These people are your national neighbours, with kids who need to get to schools, reaquaint themselves with friends, and begin to have some semblance of normalcy. Maybe, just maybe, if enough people email, call, visit, and make this point to the people in the state powers, some small things just might get done.

Mike Holmes went from Canada to build a home, a renewal for one family, and he was appalled at the situation people STILL have to deal with. I agree! This is appalling.

What the people of New Orleans do NOT need is some scammers coming in. Those people have suffered more than I probably ever will.There is a woman in Bernard Parish who has managed to repair 200 houses, with volunteers, and if she can get this many people moved back into their homes, then what the hell is the problem with the State here?

I am proud of Brad Pitt for taking this on. He did not have to, had nothing, really to gain, and yet he did call in INTERNATIONAL help to get some housing built. Why the hell do other countries have to go there to get this done when there are people within the US that can do this well, do it with integrity, and those same people are sitting around waiting, just like the families of New Orleans?

A question here for those in the government of Louisiana. Do you need people to come from Australia, Germany, England, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, India, Japan or any other place to come to New Orleans and get this done? If so, then put out the damn call and we will be there.

The City of New Orleans and the utility companies are sitting around instead of getting the utilities restored. What in hell is it going to take to get this done? Again, do you need some people from foreign countries to come and get this done?

I strongly suggest everyone get in touch with your federal representatives, Congressmen and Congresswomen, Senators, and raise hell until this state gets moving. This is a national sore that is still festering. Put some pressure on the State of Louisiana, the Federal Government, and the City of New Orleans to get moving! Time to heal New Orleans. If you need to have countries bring in people to do the job, then damn well call out for them.

Again, it is long overdue time to heal, repair and make New Orleans livable again for those families who went through hell.

One Place With No Bank Failures, Few Foreclosures, and Still Working

I am totally amazed at knowing this, but there is only ONE country in all of the developed group of nations that is not facing any bank crises, closures, or banking bailouts, as well as few mortgage foreclosures or personal bankruptcies. ONE

This country has strong legislation on banks that demands a much higher ratio to loans vs. deposits, so the money within the system is higher. In fact, these banks are posting profits, albeit lower than previous years.

This country has strong federal legislation over the ratio of down payments to the total mortgage amount, so that unless you have saved at least 20% of the purchase price of a house or condo, you cannot get it.  The lenders are NOT allowed to issue sub-prime mortgages, are NOT allowed to turn the mortgage papers over to others to be used in credit default swaps, and each bank must keep track of the mortgage within their books. Housing prices have dipped, not dropped, losing maybe 18% overall, with some markets remaining stable.

So, there is a solution for other countries to follow.

Add in the fact that this same country has a national health care system, and it is also one of the major trading nations in the G8 and the G20 and there is a huge number of people all over the world wondering how this one country managed to avoid the meltdown and crises affecting them.

Basically one country is a total anomaly to the whole financial mess. Weird but true. Yes, one or two of the banks within this country did get bitten by their transactions in the U.S., but only in a minor way and the deposits and other investments were more than enough to cover the losses.

Where is this place? Straight north of the U.S., Canada.

There are those who use the word “socialism” without knowing the truest meaning of that word, but for years Canada has been labelled as a socialistic society.  The government was seen as overbearing, intrusive, even too conservative to allow free markets to thrive. Taxes are only slightly higher in Canada than elsewhere.

If that is the picture of stability, then perhaps it is time some of the world governments and banks, investment houses and other agencies learned to be far more conservative, even boring.

Stimulus, Jobs, Federal Governments, Change

The stimulus bills all over the world, not just in the Americas, all are done to put tax money, literally, to work. Now, the question is, does it work?

With the cities and states and provinces all dealing with dramatic falls in tax income, the bridges, roads, hospitals, and other public buildings are also falling way behind in repair. One bridge here had a wooden under structure, and when someone used a fire to keep warm (at least that is the assumption here) the bridge caught fire and put hundreds of thousands of commuters out of a means to get to work.

There are literally hundreds of other bridges all over the world that need to be either replaced or repaired, so governments are putting money into these projects to make jobs and to get the building done.

There are other things that have been left to basically fall down until someone got hurt. Minnesota had one situation where the bridge collapsed too.

This is where governments are all focusing their stimulus. But, there has to be an integrity, a sense of “doing the job well” and certainly the people need to understand that shoddy workmanship is no longer acceptable.

Counting on any government to get the entire society out of this mess is foolish, at best. So … what to do?

If  I make kitchen cabinets, for example, then I need to step up my craftsmanship to make the best cabinets I know how, to push myself to making cabinets that will last 20 or 30 years. A lot of places did build shoddy products, thinking that there would always be enough money in customer pockets to buy more shoddy but pretty cabinets. Today, that has come home to roost with those who built crappy stuff, because the customers just flat don’t have the money to keep buying crap.

If I am a cook, then make damn good food, not just chemical soup, literally. Take the time to use food that is nutritious, tasty, and definitely far better quality.

I have worked in several industries, and the most valuable lesson I ever got was “go for the quality, do the absolute best you can” and you will learn to do it better and quicker. Too long have companies made things with built-in obsolescence and basically crappy products.

We don’t have the money or time to waste on these products any more. Would you rather buy furniture that you KNOW you can use for quite a while, that is made to be comfortable, and has covering that is easy to take care of, or junk that you buy every 3 to 5 years?

I have seen housing built that, within 3 years, needs to be repaired because the housing leaks badly. To me, that smells of a racket. I will not buy a house that is poorly constructed. Watching “Holmes on Homes” put that idea in my head when I saw the crappy workmanship and just flat out scamming that some “contractors” pulled. To hell with them!

Again, quality counts!

I worked in a furniture manufacturing facility where the boss insisted on speed over quality. Guess what? He is out of business, because the people working there were not interested in doing their jobs well, producing quality, and the furniture was rejected by the buyers!

If you are spending any money for goods that you need,  look for quality first. Yes, it probably means you spend a bit more for it, but when you look at how often you have to replace crappy stuff, then you actually do save money over time! Wal-Mart is NOT the place to buy durable goods, like furniture, appliances, clothing and especially goods you know MUST work when you need them.

The same principle goes when you are working, produce quality products. Even if your product is a haircut, waiting on tables, digging ditches, do it with quality and integrity.

Companies that ask us to make crap need a lesson too. To hell with companies that make poor quality products, so tell them with your wallet. Put the businesses that treat their employees like crap out of business, because there is a serious lack of integrity within the management there.

There have to be a lot of people out there that want to be their own bosses, want to do something they are good at, and want to make a real difference in their community. I am talking about those who are very good at dealing with people, dealing with machines or other goods like food.

Now may very well be the time for people who needed the time, to learn business procedures and to start making quality count. Go to the library, study on cash flow, tax law, business management and take that risk on you! Please, create businesses that are based on quality, integrity and best of all, create something worth buying!

If there is someone out there wanting to build housing, find out what it takes to make a home that is totally energy efficient! Learn about the innovations in hot water, solar heating and energy, windmills that produce power that can be used in residential housing, and about making houses that are high insulation value.  Build the houses with good quality and don’t buy crappy building products! People will put money into things they know are worth buying.

The most effective choices we can ever make is to do what we honestly enjoy doing, that just never does seem like work at all. Writers who get lost for hours writing, are working, but it is so much fun they never even notice the work in it! Woodworkers who spend hours in the shop, sanding, inspecting, sanding more and putting hours into polishing and finishing make furniture that draws awe from all of us, if we are lucky enough to see it. People who make simple clothing that fits, wears and washes like a dream are those who make the clothing because they enjoy the creation, the design, the feel of the fabric and love to see the clothing finished well.

No matter what you do in life, do it with quality. Push beyond mediocre and go for the best you can. We will spend our money, if you do that.

Producing goods with built-in obsolescence or that needs immediate repair is wasting more than just money, it shows us all contempt for the work we have to do to buy it, and ultimately shows just how little you value your own work.

President Obama may be one of the few international leaders that is showing the world that quality, integrity, and going that extra bit is worth doing. There are others out there, watch how they do what they do, then use those lessons to do your own best work.

I think it is high time those who were elected, all over the world, value our work, value our integrity, and above all, act with integrity, honesty, and value the position we elected them to. No more shoddy behaviour, no more “putting in the time for pension benefits” and certainly no more self-serving actions. Respect the neighbours and your international neighbours and the current mess will be one hell of a lot easier to live through. Do the opposite, create war and conflict and we all face a far more miserable future.

We need innovative thinking now, we need to have people who listen, who are willing to mentor those who have become lost, and we need people who make good decisions with honesty, integrity and above all, awareness that this planet is small, and choices ripple out to either raise the quality of life or swamp people and create disasters. Empathy is one of the most valuable assets we all have.

Going Down? How Long Do You Think This Will Last?

Books to read, and a previous post that should be referred to when devising any solutions. Click here

Jobs going out the window, literally. Companies going under, literally. Houses and foreclosures happening so often now the news services no longer cover this issue. Wow! Like watching a huge ship sink, except this is in very slow motion.

My question here is how long do you think this is going to last?  I thought it may last a couple of years, but when I look at this like an injury to a body, with the bleeding so profuse, and the cuts all over, the outlook for this patient is tentative at best.

So, what do you think? What treatments are out there to stop the bleeding, the damage still happening? The more minds working on this, the better, is my thinking here.

President Obama used words like “Catastrophe, disaster” and, by looking at the damage even now, I have to agree with this.

Solutions! We will work through this, there is no other choice. But how? Come on, give it a go!

My somewhat brief understanding of CDS and loans that sank the banks. Click here.

Ohio Uses State Monies to Deal with Mortgage Fraudsters and Foreclosures.

I had posted earlier that a lot of the mortgages were turned into Credit Default Swaps, which meant that the mortgages themselves were not held by financial companies, but split over and over into some very ugly, shady deals.

My earlier post on this issue, click here.

The State of Ohio has found grounds to agree with me, and they are actually going ahead with a plan to deal with the greedy jerks who perpetrated some pretty nasty frauds.

How significant is the foreclosure problem in Ohio?
It’s immense. One in 58 households [is] facing foreclosure. That’s one per neighborhood.

Why did you decide to address the mortgage problem by creating this team of lawyers?
The first thing we talked about was whether we could create mediation programs in the courts by asking the judges to encourage or force the servicers to at least sit down and talk to borrowers about an arrangement. But what we concluded was that there is a real inequality, because to file a mortgage foreclosure you have to be a lawyer. And homeowners—particularly those that are in default on their mortgage note—don’t have lawyers. They are at a real disadvantage in negotiating. So it was not good enough just to have mediation, but both parties in the mediation need to be represented by lawyers.

What will the lawyers do?
The lawyers will work with the borrowers to see if there are defenses to the actual foreclosure, whether there was fraud or unsuitability in the creation of the mortgage to begin with, and then to assist in two other ways: either to help litigate the case or to help structure a settlement.

What legal footing might you have to mount defenses against foreclosures?
With these complex mortgage products—the adjustable rates, the no-document loans that were out there—there are all types of things in the generation of loans that give rise to defenses. And with the fact that these loans then started to become sold seven, eight, nine, 10 times in the process, there are even legitimate legal issues as to whether or not the person filing the foreclosure has the legal right to file a foreclosure because they don’t have ownership of the mortgage note.

In Ohio, documents related to real estate have to be in writing; it’s called the statute of fraud. We just convinced a court of appeals—the 10th District Court of Appeals in Franklin County, Ohio—to find that you can’t bring a foreclosure action if you don’t have paper that proves that you own the house.

What percentage of struggling Ohio homeowners could mount a credible defense against foreclosure?
I think in probably 25 percent to 50 percent of the cases. If you look at the foreclosures, I use the following rules of thumb. About half of them are related to some form of financial catastrophe—a medical problem, loss of a job. Of the remaining half, about 25 percent are mortgages that involved outright fraud, where the buyer, the seller, the appraiser—everybody was cut in. So it’s that last 25 percent where people got in over their heads through buying a house that they simply couldn’t afford, or they got loans that they didn’t understand the terms of.

What percentage of home foreclosures do you think you might be able to prevent?
I think the vast majority of them. It would be in the best interest of the servicer and the borrower to try to find some accommodation.

But these contracts are between the borrower and the lender. Why should the government of Ohio be legally challenging them?
The fact is that the evidence is mounting that these wholesalers—and mortgage brokers who supplied them—targeted working-class, middle-class, unsophisticated consumers for generating these loans. So the fact is that there was a conscious effort to find people who wouldn’t be able to negotiate the contract at arm’s length. If a mortgage professional says, “Look, your payment is $500. I know this says it goes up in a year—don’t worry, we’ll come back and refinance you,” I think it’s very reasonable to think that it is not entirely the homeowner’s fault that the mortgage goes into default.

Yep. This is what my own point is, that some people got “snookered” by some people who made money off the backs of people who trusted in financial services, brokers and others.

Frankly, I would love to see these fraudsters charged, fined, lose their own property as “assets gained through illegal actions”. Yes, even the heads of banks, brokerages, real estate companies, developers should be dealt severely by the law.

For those living in Ohio, you need to be very glad you, at least, have someone willing to step up and do something effective.

Deflationary Opportunities for Legislators

There are some interesting opportunities for legislators in deflationary times. One of these, especially with the lowering of the values in property, is to obtain subsidized housing stock. Especially when there are so many families diving straight into povery, this is one way to ensure stable homes for kids who would otherwise be moving around because of rental increases. Giving those who NEED stability the most, the vulnerable, is one of the benefits here. When parents have a stable housing situation, it is a hell of a lot easier to plan out the future. It also benefits the schooling systems, keeping students in a steady path, allowing opportunity for the children to develop social skills, friendships, and giving the entire family a support system within the neighbourhood.

New Orleans is perhaps one of the most dramatic examples. Before the hurricanes hit, yes, there was crime, yes, there was poverty, but people lived in neighbourhoods, knew who was the best person to talk to, who was the person to avoid. Now, the entire city of New Orleans is becoming one of the strongest examples of what not to do. Instead of rebuilding the city, with improvements and better chances for people returning to some semblance of neighbourhoods, money designated for that has disappeared. Crime rates in New Orleans have risen, mostly because of desperation, poverty, instability, poor schooling, and definitely because those who were supposed to help just flat-out did not give a damn!

The one thing I would avoid when buying subsidized housing stock is creating ghettos or making entire neighbourhoods into pockets of poverty. The better choice is to buy up stock in various places, so that children and families are exposed to the opportunities, greater information on how to make a living, and certainly not straining schools with problems all in one area. Mixing those who are working with those who are not will often make connections for those looking for work. We all know that as networking, so why not do it within communities?

Another possibility here is to find materials at cheaper cost for repairing buildings, putting into those buildings that are currently plagued with cockroaches, rats, and mold, repairs that otherwise would be far more costly. Toronto is one of the cities that desperately needs this cost saving. The housing authority there has been so lax in repairing their buildings, some of them resemble third world housing.

With people losing jobs, and others trying to subsist on no work, this may well be the time to get those living on the welfare rolls into the job market by allowing recipients to keep a portion of the money they make. Yep, start at the bottom, the real bottom. Give those who have been so severely disadvantaged the hope, the opportunity, the idea that they actually matter in our society. This means getting over the attitude so common in the game of “poor bashing”.  Currently a lot of those receiving welfare find a job, then find out that, not only are their wages taken back, but that the costs of clothing, transportation, and day-care are coming out of the money left over. Basically those living on welfare (known as assistance in some places) end up in a deeper financial hole! Some incentive that is, NOT! If you think this is not true, think again.This is where the legislation needs to change, to provide a basic honouring of the worth of that work too.

Fleet purchases for some jurisdictions can be done now at a far better price. No, I am not talking about companies like Translink or the Toronto Transit Authority, who run mass transit companies and  provide cars for employees, I am talking about power authorities etc. who use vehicles to keep our power on, our roads in repair.

Computers can now be bought with fewer dollars too, and if you really want to save on money, use LInux, Ubuntu systems that are free, open for anyone, and have systems that do work with virtually all applications. Forget paying for your operating systems and put the money into better operating supervision and technical support. Computers can be made now for less than $200, and with a free operating system, that is good savings, along with basic monitors. Schools can do this, as can agencies who have to keep their systems running 24 hours a day.

These are but a few, but with some intelligence, some planning, and with a much more open mind, it is possible to put a lot into the neighbourhoods, the cities, the states and provinces, with a hell of a lot less cost.

President-Elect Obama Has A Job I Sure Would Not Want

Where, indeed, to begin, literally?

People often think of the President as a powerful post, and sometimes they are right. Barack Obama is taking on a daunting task here, and for once, I seriously would not want to be the president. It seems that there is a huge lineup at the door, all beggars, seeking monetary aid, bailouts, and all screaming over the other.

Barack Obama got it right in his campaign, putting the emphasis on the people. Without people, the government is an empty place. Government NEEDS people, people don’t NEED government.

Paulson finally woke up! All the toxic debts and CDS banks “invented” to circumvent laws are now going to stay with the banks, investment houses, and those who abused the financial system are just going to have to deal with the mess of their own making! Finally some common sense. Unfortunately, those banks “played” consumers, taking what should have been a simple contract called a mortgage and turning that into a splintered, then shattered, mess. Like I said previously, it would be worth a few hundred dollars to find out if banks et al breached those mortgage contracts. Re-selling and manipulating the housing markets by allowing “invisible” parties to endanger the entire world economy, personal mortgages, and then asking for the Fed to bail them out is ludicrous!

Obama has to deal with issues that are so complicated it takes at least 20 different people just to make the map, nevermind navigate it! Balancing the interests is tricky, at best. The two wars need to be mapped, understood, and navigated so that Iraq and Afghanistan both come out at least with some semblance of stability, otherwise the world may well end up going back in to restore them again. Not my idea of fun, trying to figure this out!

The banks and investment houses created a mess so large it has foundered the world economies! You can bet that anger is definitely NOT limited to the US, as most of the world is so very angry at those “fat cat” jackasses who tried to pull these scams off. Personally I would love to put on my steel-toed boots and give at least 20 of them a very well aimed kick in the ass! Then see all those “perks” they took taken back, liquidated, and the proceeds put into welfare programs, to enable families tossed about like “collateral damage” the lifeline of some food, clothing and, wow, even shelter! I have no problem with putting every bloody “fat cat” behind bars, say in Guantanamo Bay, for a while. Maybe then they would truly appreciate being alive and find a far more human set of priorities. This should start with the woman in Merrill Lynch who designed the base for CDS etc.

Obama has to figure out how to get a far “greener” path started, which means weaning the US off of wasteful behaviour. There are kits and instructions on the net for making wind turbines, solar panels, and lighting that is LED. Time for the common person to get busy saving things, remaking what used to be discarded into products again. Recycling soda cans, glass bottles, plastics, and using cloth bags, all would be a good start. This is where Obama may be able to lead by example. Install solar panels on the White House, use low wattage bulbs, and get a composting program going for the gardens.

Obama can lead his country well, if some of the petty, stupid games quit. I am amazed at how unbelievably childish some of the “adults” in Congress and the Senate are. Wow! “Gimme!” “I Want!” “No, you can’t play with my toys!” ” You cannot change things, because ‘that is the way things have always been'” Phooey! Grow UP! This is a new world here, things have changed, and get your head out of the bloody sand! In short, Obama can do a lot, but it DOES take us to help him out, not put childish, self-serving blocks in the way, “just because”.

The auto industry may have BEEN a major industrial engine, but the technology they use is from the last century, not pertinent now. Obama can tell car makers to get with the change. Take a look at the Tesla automobile! It is totally electric, can go like greased lightening, and has a range for driving that is as good as most people will ever need. Get rid of the hydro-carbon, gas guzzling technology and devise other choices.

President-Elect Obama, if you want to see a banking system that is the best in the world, I strongly suggest you check out the Canadian system. None of the banks there are even close to being in trouble, lending is going on, and they got hit in a very minor way with any of the CDS or other “funny-money” ways the US banks did. Look at the regulations! Those banks are NOT government owned, but they are regulated in ways that have allowed them to continue to work effectively! Amazing!

Health care, it needs to be changed. No question. People are dying, kids are getting sick and dying because the costs are far too high, the paperwork is eating up a huge chunk of the cost of doing business. What the hell? Paperwork accounts for a huge part of the costs? If anyone gets into an accident, it can mean death from untreated injury, or bankruptcy if the injury is treated. Talk about living between a rock and a hard place. I agree with Obama, get the costs down.  But it can be done by those who are not sick working to demand answers, demand better service, and certainly demand the FDA get off it’s butt and realize that most of the generic drugs coming from developed countries ARE made to high standards. Help the president by joining in, not making his job harder. It means demanding generic equivalents be prescribed by the doctors, hospitals, so all of the people get a better deal. Remember the “name brand” companies make huge, fantastic profits, and they have a vested interest in YOU buying them.

Jobs, and more jobs, the necessity for people to have meaningful work, we all need them. President-Elect Obama has the correct focus, here, but there is no way in hell he can do THIS ONE ALONE! This is where the recycling and reusing all those discarded materials could make work. It takes imagination, thinking, and yes, even work to find new uses for all those discarded things once used. For example, take plastic soda bottles and turn them into automated watering devices. It is as simple as filling the bottles with water, then turning the bottle upside down and pushing them into the soil around plants.  Start making solar panels, then put them on every house in town! Wind turbines work with even small breezes if they are made with a governor on them. There are some that can be made at home, and if at least 10% of the houses have them, the power grid is boosted! There are literally millions of ways to turn garbage going to landfills into useful things again, from braided rag rugs to vehicles. Help your president and your environment all in one! If nothing else, set up a recycling depot for local things.

International relationships need attention too. Wow, this list is getting long, but with help via the internet, it can be achieved! Talk to people around the world, listen and discuss issues with them. President-Elect Obama got that one right! He did go to the internet to talk and listen. Give the US the help in returning to a better international status by being a little more concerned about others, listening to other ideas. Why? Because maybe someone elsewhere in the world has the answer you need to solve your own problems, or you have the answer they are looking for!

Yep, the President-Elect has his work cut out, but with help from all of those in the world, maybe, just maybe, we all can lighten his load just a little bit.

Legal Solution to Housing Foreclosure Mess?

I decided to do some thinking on this, trying to see if there was a possible solution that is relatively simple. I came up with this one, although I am not familiar with all the legal bafflegab or laws, it may just work.

My understanding is that a mortgage is a contract, and under contract law, if one party breaks it, they can be liable. So, logically, if a bank puts out a mortgage that has the terms of repayment, and states that the bank is the holder of the mortgage, then if that bank “sells” off parts of the mortgage by “repackaging” it, the bank is in breach of contract, and possibly breach of trust.This puts others, such as investment houses, as party to the contract, without your knowledge or consent?

For example: I take out a mortgage on a home, and in the contract it states that I am to repay the bank on terms such as a monthly or weekly payment, and the bank is the sole holder of the mortgage, then if I find out my mortgage was, in fact, passed on to another entity such as a broker, then I am placed in a position of having no recourse. This is apparently what has happened with a lot of the mortgages. Banks made further contracts on my mortgage without my knowledge, agreement, or consent. This, logically, is a breach of contract and I could take that bank to court for putting my mortgage in jeopardy by parties I have no knowledge of, and without my consent. The reasoning I have here is that those unknown parties could well default, or in some other way, cause me to have my mortgage in jeopardy with, perhaps, the collapse of the bank that is holding my mortgage.

If I live in a neighbourhood where a bank and their brokers hold most of the mortgages, and those same mortgages were treated the same way, perhaps there is good grounds for a class action suit.

I do know that brokers, banks, investment houses, and others, all made separate contracts among themselves and with banks. This took the mortgages out of a contract basis between two aware parties and put the people in the houses in a position of being unable to renegotiate their mortgages. It is happening all over the US right now.

Common sense tells me the banks have, in fact, broken all those mortgage contracts unless they did put in clauses where the splitting of the mortgage was stated clearly and those who signed the mortgages knew about these clauses.

Theoretically, the class action suit could go up the chain to the top, including the owners of the banks, the corporations or companies that took part in the splits, and their executives.

I would be curious to see if any lawyer would even consider this idea, and if it is feasible. From what I do know of contract law, which is relatively simplified, I do think this would be one answer.

Personally, if I were put in any position like this, I would certainly try to find out. It may just be worth a few hundred dollars to get an answer here.

Housing Crisis and Financial Mess 3 Years Old!

Speaking of the FBI, housing crisis, and mismanagement of money, there is one that seems to be just fine when it comes to the governments and any oversight! Yes, it is now 3 years old, yet no-one seems to even give a damn! There were millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, that have apparently gone missing, yet no-one in the administration, federal, state or even city has done a damn thing to find out where that money went!

What am I talking about? Well, once upon a time, roughly 3 years ago, a storm hit and, in the words of President Bush, “those people in that place” faced death, destruction, homelessness, and even starvation. Starting to ring any bells yet? People from all over North America rallied, raised huge sums of money for relief, and those who had gone through hell, including children, were seen as worthy of any help!

Yeah, once upon a time, this happened. Today, those who are first responders, including the police, the firefighters, and those who were litterally washed out of their homes are living and working in pathetic trailers. The New Orleans Police Department is operating out of trailers now, and their ability to do their jobs is hampered with a severe lack of resources. Even the houses for first responders had to have someone from another country come down to help repair and restore a few of them. Why the hell does it take someone from another country to do this? Very little infrastructure is back to normal, some children and their parents are STILL living on the street, and others are STILL living in emergency housing.

Scammers have grabbed land, others are abusing the shortage of any decent housing to charge rents way out of proportion.

Yet, no investigation! NO authorities, state, city or federal are even looking for the money. NO investigation into the federal emergency aid monies or housing restoration has happened either! Hmmm maybe because those children and families are NOT white?

If President Obama wants a place to start with investigating, working on infrastructure, housing, and supporting citizens who just got caught in a whole series of lies about water, levees etc. then I would say New Orleans, Saint Bernard Parish IS the place to start.

Maybe I need to be a bit more blunt. IF a nation CANNOT restore a city where there ARE NO insurgents, then the credibility of the nation is basically shot. How can any nation propose to restore, rebuild and help others when THAT NATION REFUSES TO REPAIR ITSELF? This tells the whole world that the US cannot even manage to restore a part within the country and any promises to help other countries will likely end up with the same mess years later.

When the US is trying to get the world to help out in the two wars, and the stated objective is to restore Iraq and Afghanistan to democracies, perhaps the argument for restoring those countries would hold a hell of a lot more credence if the US could actually restore one small city. Until that happens, people around the entire world see the promises from the US as empty air.
Maybe now that more than just one small city with “those people in that area” are affected, somebody may actually pay attention now!

Mortgages, Foreclosures, Banking, Total Mess

I have spent some time reading all over the place to find out what is going on with all those mortgages, the foreclosures, and the banks. My conclusion? The financial world did not K.I.S.S (keep it simple, stupid!) and have created a mess that unwitting people all over the US got snared with. What is just as disturbing is the lack of any charges. What happened to the FBI investigations? I have seen nothing about this yet! Maybe because the investigation leads to companies like Wells Fargo, Fanny Mae, Goldman Sachs, and the company executives? Until there are charges or at least some grand juries convened, I have a feeling this is all just going to be wallpaper over cayuse crap. Those who knowingly defrauded, manipulated and created a huge problem need to be found and face the music. The Bush Administration has put some of the “old boys network” in the very positions where the investigations may well end up squelched.

The countries of the world elsewhere have K.I.S.S and that has allowed mortgages to be renegotiated directly with fewer foreclosures. What is the difference? “Securitized mortgages” where speculators, unscrupulous financial activity and banks all DELIBERATELY chose to “reduce risk” by cutting up the dealings to make far more money off housing.
There is obviously a HUGE problem with the U.S. regulations if this was even allowed to happen. Housing and other shelter lending should NEVER have been exposed to these practices.
What can be done now? First off, write a piece of legislation banning CDS, along with severe restrictions on shelter lending, whereby there is a simple process. Banks can ONLY lend directly to purchasers, period. The mortgages MUST be maintained within a single lender, and NO allowed contracts or other practices where there is ANYONE else allowed in. Keep It Simple, Stupid!
This may mean that the government now becomes the Master Servicer of mortgages, which is almost guaranteed to raise screams of protest from banks, and “investors” because this would put the government in the position of negotiator. For those who find their mortgages “repackaged” it would allow them the ability to renegotiate directly, simply, and probably effectively with the Master Servicer, the government.
Reform the shelter bankruptcy laws, along with an increased involvement of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac as the holder of the mortgages. This reform MUST change the way mortgages are renegotiated, change the way mortgages are written, and MUST CUT OUT any contractual access from any other person than the banks and the mortgagee. Get those bloody contracts out of the housing market, now! Those contracts are crippling the ability of the banks, the holders of mortgages and lending to even find a clean, simple way to get things resettled.
If a housing market has dropped the value on the properties, then it is up to the banks to “eat” the losses. Why? Because BANKS are the ones that sold off the mortgages to others, complicated the hell out of the whole thing in the first place!
One reason most people have not figured this out IS because of the “securitization” of mortgages, the underlying manipulation and speculations that made millionaires out of people who NEVER had a stake in the shelter market at all!
Personally if I do go into the US market and buy a house, I am going to make DAMN SURE that the lending institution WILL NOT, HAS NOT, AND WILL NEVER turn my mortgage over to speculators. I want to have a clause that allows me to sue the hell out of the bank if they do!
KEEP IT SIMPLE! STUPID!