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Minor Deity |
"Share Our Wealth Society" Adjust it for today's economy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_Our_Wealth
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Jolly and Bernard agree on something! (eta: don’t know about this proposal specifically, but Jolly has written approvingly of Long over the years)
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| Minor Deity |
OMG. The sky is falling. I stumbled upon SOW Society attempting to rebut a quote demeaning of welfare recipients that my cousin posted on FB.
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| Minor Deity |
I'm really ticked off today. I found out my neighbors across the street are losing their home. Repossessed by the bank. They had a variable rate mortgage and it's now beyond their means. I'm so angry. They both work full time jobs. He's a mechanic, not sure what she does but it's something to do with children. They obviously don't make a lot of money and they have had serious medical bills because their middle son (now 15 years old but wasn't expected to live to see his 1st birthday due to a condition in which the kidneys don't grow. Long story short, they finally started growing but he had surgeries and needs medications). They're not bums, they're productive people. Yet the bank is taking their home. It really pisses me off.
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
I don’t mean to be hardhearted, but they intentionally took that risk when they got an adjustable rate mortgage. They probably bought more house, or had more disposable income, than they’d have been able to have by getting a lower variable rate than the fixed rate. Everyone wants to think that the risk will never materialize. | |||
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| Pinta & the Santa Maria Has Achieved Nirvana  |
Or, an alternate view, they were suckered by a shady loan officer. I've seen it happen. Yes, they "should have known" about the ARM, but a (possibly) shady loan officer should have given them the full risk profile, if they didn't. (Note the unisex use of "they"  ) | |||
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| Minor Deity |
At a certain income level and below there are not a lot of choices. I think it's entirely reasonable to have an optimistic outlook--to think that one's mortgage payment, although it may go up, will not end up being more than double the original amount. Are they responsible? Sure, they took it. Under what circumstances? They remortgaged to save their son's life.
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| czarina Has Achieved Nirvana  |
That's absolutely horrible, Bernard. I have personal experience with banks trying to sucker homeowners with deals that end in them losing their house. Happened to some good friends of mine. They became local couch surfing refugees, at an age when they should have been enjoying their retirement--they are in their late 70s. They house sit and he is working for ten bucks an hour in a call center, and she is cleaning houses. He had been an optometrist and was even in the state legislature in his younger years. The only reason they aren't homeless is because their many friends have made sure they won't be. He was, admittedly, suckered by Bank of America offering him a good deal on refinancing their home. A year before I met them, BOA was calling and writing to me repeatedly trying to get me to take the same deal. It's only because of my reporting skills that I found out that everything they said to me on the phone was a lie. As a result, we paid off our mortgage so I wouldn't have to deal with them any more. It was clear to me that if there was the slightest slip up, they would foreclose. Monsters, truly.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
This may be totally an aside, but our legal system used to do a much better job of protecting consumers from unfair contract provisions. I'm not sure at what point the change happened, but it's certainly related to the internet and people clicking on their agreement to Terms of Service. | |||
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Minor Deity |
I would want to understand just how their variable rate was governed. It would seem interest rates have not risen enough yet to make THAT much of a difference, but it may not have been reasonably proportional. In any event my heart goes out to your neighbors.
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana  |
There has been an erosion over the last couple decades... corporate lawyers getting more clever, mandatory arbitration clauses, severability or lack thereof, and basically corporations using their wealth and power to seize more wealth and power and a few congresscritters. The GOP juggernaut to reduce or eliminate regulation of every industry has certainly benefitted corporations and hurt consumers. And only a small handful of people like Elizabeth Warren have been trying to push back. From the side of the legal system, how can you argue with a judge who says, "you signed the contract which indicates your read and understood the contract... it's your own darned fault if you are unhappy with the outcome"? Wells Fargo opening accounts without your authorization, Comcast adding on services you didn't agree to, or The Trump Organization unilaterally changing a contract after it's been signed is a different story. Deepest condolences to Bernard's neighbors. The answer, in my humble opinion, is the CFPB.
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
That was very common around 2008. Encountered it myself when a a mortgage broker told me I was being too conservative. Told her I was not going to buy bigger.
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Interesting how little time it took for the good people of Louisiana to go from Huey Long to Spanky. What made them change their convictions?
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Did he swear? | |||
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