In a 2007 newsletter, I made the claim that in 2008 we would see real estate values drop by 40%. My colleagues thought I had lost my mind. But I was seeing all of the signs that the bubble was about to burst but you could not discuss this topic openly in mixed company for fear of being labeled crazy. It was then that I began to write my book, Defeat Foreclosure. As I began writing my book there were about 150 foreclosures in the county of Los Angeles. By November, 2008 there were 750 per day.
I live in one of the most affluent zip codes in Los Angeles and when I look over my daily foreclosure list it is shocking that I am surrounded by dozens of foreclosures and properties with major tax liens in some of the most luxurious high-rise property in Southern California. The sub-prime meltdown was believed to only affect the financial ignorant and irresponsible homeowners. Living beyond their means or those using their home like an ATM cash cow. But this crisis is proving to be an “equal opportunity” destroyer of lives and families. No one is immune to bad business investing and poor judgment, or worse, mortgage schemes.
If you believe that we have an oil shortage then you have succumb to the dumbing down in America. There is enough oil in Alaska and off shore in the United States to last 200 years. Equally abhorrent is how fast our government came up with $30 billion to rescue Bear Stearns but not $25 billion to save strapped homeowners. The $700 billion bail out only means that the same white color criminals, elected officials and mortgage bandits will be able to do it to us again. This betrayal of U.S. taxpayers revealed that our political leaders were more interested in saving Wall Street than Main Street.
If you are in an UpSideDown Mortgage in which you now owe far more than the property is worth then walk away! Yes, you read me right. If your lender or Loss Mitigation department will not answer your telephone calls, return messages and honestly negotiate a resolution to your problem mortgage, walk away! And tell your lender you will walk. We read in the newspapers that “lenders do not want your property;”…”it costs them an average of $60,000 to dispose of an empty house.” What they do not tell you is that most of those houses have been stripped of their sinks, bathtubs, toilets and anything that can be removed and sold from the structure. The really ugly aspect of and foreclosure transaction is that the unsuspecting buyer at a foreclosed sale may be left holding the bag on tax liens, mechanics leans or are left to rebuild the property at their expense. The foreclosed deal turns out to be a financial albatross to the new owner that can be financially pushed into yet another foreclosure in the immediate future.
Too many shortsighted lenders threaten homeowners and pretend they win in foreclosure but it usually cost them more to foreclose then to negotiate a reduction in the balance of your mortgage. Therefore, instead of begging and pleading you might consider threatening to walk away… it might bring about honest negotiating.
If your interest rate is going to continue to escalate through the ceiling…walk away! If your financial circumstances are going to be further complicated with late fees, and various penalties, then walk away. Irresponsible advice, maybe It might take the lender weeks or months to evict you but at least you will spend what little money you have left to get your life in order and stop playing the part of victim.
If tens of thousands of homeowners start walking, the problem will be solved quickly as Wall Street and corporate criminals cannot survive if you start out-smarting them and their mortgage schemes that were used to victimize you and your family in the first place – especially when these mortgage brokers knew full well that you did not qualify for the loan on which you would eventually default. They encouraged “Liar’s Loans” the insiders joking term used to describe a loan in which the borrower lied about their income, and did not need to show a pay stub or a tax return… and the lenders knew all along they were lying.
When tens of thousands of homeowners walk away from their mortgages and their credit card debt maybe our irresponsible government officials will start to uphold consumer laws already on the books that truly protect the consumers instead of giving lip service to the hoodlums in corporate America and Wall Street who continue to charge illegal “usury rates” of interest that suck the life-blood out of this economy and American consumers. For more information on how to stop foreclosure visit