BANK TOOK MY HOUSE
How many times I have heard that the BANK took my house without giving me any notice.
Did you think that maybe the Bank would do something when you stop making your house payment 9 months ago? Did the bank send you any literature on loan modificationand you chose to throw that mail away because it never works anyway? Did you happen to notice someone driving by your house taking pictures? Did you honestly think you could live in your house FREE forever?
THE BANK DIDN’T DO THIS TO YOU. Remember you signed a note promissioning you would pay so you could get the keys to your new home. You pledged your property with a deed of trust as collateral for the note.
Banks are a business, taking your home is their last resort. They would much rather be paid than have to sell property. It costs the bank lots of money to go through the foreclosure process, eviction process should the owner/tenant not move out. Many times the occupant is offered “cash for Keys” to move out so the house won’t get stripped and/or vandalized. After the bank gains possession, it has to now sell this property. Often the property is sold for a lot less than the loan. I’m sure the bank notified you long before the foreclosure happened.
ARE THE BANKS TO BLAME
This morning while I was having my coffee a friend came by to ask me a question about deficiency judgement. He had heard some attorney on FOX cable news tell listeners the foreclosures are and were caused by the banks. He wanted to know how can the banks get away with taking someones home without notice what does it mean by a non-definiency judgement state.
“Good Morning”I said. “Let me get you a cup of coffee after I call the office to tell them I will be a week late.”
“In my opinion, the banks are not the cause of foreclosures, the borrower not paying his mortgage payment is the cause of foreclosures. Mr. Buyer signed a promissory note promissing to pay the money back to the bank for letting him buy his American Dream Home. The bank in good faith lends him the money after having an appraisal to verify value of the property. Mr. Buyer is estatic when he gets the key to his new home.”
Life is GOOD, Time goes on. Real Estate market is up.
“Mr. Buyer gets a notice in the mail, he can borrow more money on the equity in his home at an even lower interest rate than when he purchased his home a year ago. With the extra money he can buy that new car, boat, furniture or what ever he wants. WOW! says Mr. Buyer; where do I sign? So Mr. Buyer signs another promissory note to pay.”
Life is GOOD, Time goes on. Real Estate market is up.
AND THEN THE BUBBLE BURSTS
Mr. Buyer finds out his American Dream is not as valuable as he thought. “Why would I want to pay for something that is losing me money. I could have sold my house for $300,000 last year and now I can’t even get what I owe on it. Its the banks fault! I am going to stop paying and give this back to the bank when they throw me out. I’m going to take all the new appliances, lite fixtures and plumbing because its the banks fault!”
Don’t get me wrong, I feel for the borrower who had to take a cut in pay while food & fuel prices go up and can barely make ends meet. Or the borrower who get very sick uses up his vacation pay, exhaust his savings or loses his job and with the job market as it is, can’t find another one. He used to be so timely paying his bills because he didn’t want to ruin his good credit standing. But family needs must come first and there isn’t enough money to pay the mortgage.
The bank calls, sends deliquency notices in vain because Mr. Borrower doesn’t have the money to pay. The bank offers to modify his loan but with little income, Mr. Borrower can’t qualify. Mr. Borrower has no choice but to let the house go into foreclosure. Was it the banks fault? NO The banks are a business not a charity. They have to do what they have to do to move on.
Because I couldn’t take a week off, I asked my friend to come back tomarrow to explain more.
FINES TO SETTLE NATIONAL DEBT
The local paper in our city did an interesting article from 50 years ago. I’m always most fascinated with this type of story since I wasn’t here to remember, they tend to be the most enlightening and entertaining.
It seems that the postmaster had complained to the local city government that too many men were spitting tobbaco on the floor. There were spitoons all around, but these uncouth city slickers had taken to spitting wherever and whenever they wanted, and since the postmaster was also the custodian of the post office this had to stop! Besides, it was a health issue.
Local laws had to be amended to make spitting on the floor of the post office a fineable offense. It could cost up to $4 if the offense was severe enough, and in 1911 $4 was a lot of money.
Well, the story got me thinking. What could people be fined a $4 fine today? Here’s a partial list:
Wearing pajamas anywhere but in your home – cha-ching! $4.00 please
Non-handicapped parking in handicapped only slots – cha-ching! $4.00
Wearing too much cologne anywhere – teary-eyed, sneezing cha-ching! $4.00
Driving 10 miles under the speed limit in the passing lane – cha-ching, cha-ching!
Talking loudly on your cell phone – we all have them – nobody is impressed – cha-ching! Hand over the $4.00 and use inside voices! Trying to impress me with your intellect while using bad grammer – cha-ching! That should be $8.00, but I did set a $4.00 limit. Your lucky day Sparky!Not returning important phone calls, emails or text messages – cha-ching! Ante up, $4.00.
Playing your music so loud in traffic that my car vibrates – cha-ccchhhhiiinnnnggggg! Butting in line anywhere – cha-ching! Back to the end of the line Bub. Oh yeah, $4.00 please.
You see my dilemma. There are just to many things to fine people $4.00 over. Of course we could use these fines to settle the national debt. What do you think, two weekends? We should be there in two weekends, maybe three. Anyway, what’s on your $4.00 fine list?