Couple Lives In $1.3 Million, 4,900 Square Foot Home For Five Years Without Ever Making A Single Mortgage Payment

Couple Lives In $1.3 Million, 4,900 Square Foot Home For Five Years Without Making A Single Mortgage Payment (ZeroHedge, Mar 6, 2012):

Wonder how Americans can afford to buy millions of iGadgets, a second LCD TV for the shoe closet, and eat at restaurants more than almost any time in the past despite sliding personal income? Simple – increasingly fewer pay the biggest staple bill in a US household: their mortgage. The following story of Keith And Janet Ritter, who have lived in their Fort Washington, MD $1.29MM, 4,900 square foot McMansion for 5 years (which they purchase with no money down) without ever making a single mortgage payment, and who are not even close to being evicted, may explain much about the way US society currently operates, and why other perfectly responsible and hard-working taxpayers (who do have to pay for their mortgage) continue to fund tens of billions in Fannie and Freddie losses who are first on the hook to absorb the implicit losses by allowing families such as the Ritters to live in perpetuity without paying, and the banks to keep said mortgage on the books at par without any impairments.

The Washington Post has more on this absolute horror story of a case study of just how busted the USSA has become:

The eviction from their million-dollar home could come at any moment. Keith and Janet Ritter have been bracing for it — and battling against it — almost from the moment they moved into the five-bedroom, 4,900-square-foot manse along the Potomac River in Fort Washington.

In five years, they have never made a mortgage payment, a fact that amazes even the most seasoned veterans of the foreclosure crisis.

Read moreCouple Lives In $1.3 Million, 4,900 Square Foot Home For Five Years Without Ever Making A Single Mortgage Payment

‘Inside Job’ (Documentary On The Financial Crisis – Full Length HD) – Narrated by Matt Damon

Inside Job, Narrated by Matt Damon (Full Length HD) from jwrock on Vimeo.

Description:

‘Inside Job’ provides a comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhaustive research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics, the film traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia. It was made on location in the United States, Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China.

President Obama’s Mortgage Plan Is ‘Dead On Arrival’

As A Reminder, The President’s Mortgage Plan Is “Dead On Arrival” (ZeroHedge, Feb. 1, 2012):

Obama’s latest attempt to stimulate the housing sector and inflate home prices “before waiting for them to hit bottom” (which they never will as long as central planning tries to define what clearing prices are) is a noble reincarnation of now an annual, and completely ineffectual, theatrical gambit. There is, unfortunately, one major snag. It is Dead on Arrival (just like every single iteration of the Greek bailout), for the simple reason that it has to get congressional approval. Which it won’t. And that’s not just the view of biased political pundits. Wall Street agrees.

Courtesy of the WSJ, which summarizes the prevailing views on this topic:

Edward Mills, analyst, FBR Capital Markets: “We believe that this program would be dead on arrival in Congress, as congressional Republicans are opposed to additional intervention in the mortgage market and are philosophically opposed to a bank tax. This should be confirmation that the administration realizes that a mass-refinance program can only be achieved by legislation and not by regulatory fiat.”

Read morePresident Obama’s Mortgage Plan Is ‘Dead On Arrival’

Scandal: Freddie Mac Betting Against Struggling Homeowners

Freddie Mac Betting Against Struggling Homeowners (NPR, Jan. 30, 2012):

Freddie Mac, a taxpayer-owned mortgage company, is supposed to make homeownership easier. One thing that makes owning a home more affordable is getting a cheaper mortgage.

But Freddie Mac has invested billions of dollars betting that U.S. homeowners won’t be able to refinance their mortgages at today’s lower rates, according to an investigation by NPR and ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom.

Read moreScandal: Freddie Mac Betting Against Struggling Homeowners

Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Need Up To $215 Billion In Taxpayers Money Through 2013

The article below is from Oct. 21. This is from CNN Money, Nov. 15:

Fannie & Freddie Executives Score $100 Million Payday (Which Is Essentially Taxpayers Money – Fannie Mae Asked For Another $7.8 BILLION Of Taxpayers Money To Cover Its Losses In Third Quarter)


Fannie, Freddie Need More Money (FOX Business/Reuters, Oct. 21, 2011):

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need as much as $215 billion in additional capital from the Treasury through 2013 to offset losses and maintain a positive net worth, their federal regulator said on Thursday.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose programs fund the lion’s share of all new home loans, are at the center of debate as Congress sets to overhaul a U.S. mortgage finance system that contributed to the worst housing crisis since the 1930s.

The cumulative capital needs of the two housing finance giants, which were seized by the government in late 2008, will likely fall between $221 billion and $363 billion through 2013, the Federal Housing Finance Agency estimated.

Read moreFannie Mae And Freddie Mac Need Up To $215 Billion In Taxpayers Money Through 2013

Fannie & Freddie Executives Score $100 Million Payday (Which Is Essentially Taxpayers Money – Fannie Mae Asked For Another $7.8 BILLION Of Taxpayers Money To Cover Its Losses In Third Quarter)

See also:

Black Hole Fannie Mae Asks Taxpayers For Another $7.8 BILLION To Cover Its Losses In Third Quarter:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage giant Fannie Mae is asking the federal government for $7.8 billion in aid to cover its losses in the July-September quarter.


Fannie, Freddie execs score $100 million payday (CNN Money, Nov. 15, 2011):

NEW YORK — Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received the biggest federal bailout of the financial crisis. And nearly $100 million of those tax dollars went to lucrative pay packages for top executives, filings show.

The top five executives at Fannie Mae received $33.3 million in 2009 and 2010, while the top five at Freddie Mac received $28.1 million. And each company has set pay targets of as much as $17 million for its top managers for 2011.

That’s a total of $95.4 million, which will essentially be coming from taxpayers, who have been keeping the mortgage finance giants alive with regular quarterly cash infusions since the Federal Home Finance Agency (FHFA) took control of the companies in September 2008.

Fannie CEO Michael Williams and Freddie CEO Charles Halderman, each received about $5.5 million in pay for last year, and they could receive more when their final deferred compensation for 2010 is set. All the executives receive a significant portion of their pay in the year or years after they earn it.

Read moreFannie & Freddie Executives Score $100 Million Payday (Which Is Essentially Taxpayers Money – Fannie Mae Asked For Another $7.8 BILLION Of Taxpayers Money To Cover Its Losses In Third Quarter)

Thrive (Documentary – Full Length)

For your information.

The elitists vs. the people.



YouTube Added: 13.11.2011

For more information: Thrive

Ron Paul Highlights @ CNBC Michigan GOP Oakland University Debate – ‘We Will Most Likely Bail Out Europe, Which Will Be A Real Tragedy’ (Video)


YouTube Added: 09.11.2011

Black Hole Fannie Mae Asks Taxpayers For Another $7.8 BILLION To Cover Its Losses In Third Quarter

Consider this:

Fannie Mae Knew About Toxic Mortgages in 2003!

Former Assistant Secretary OF Housing Catherine Austin Fitts: ‘It’s Time to Bring Our Mortgages Home’

97 Percent Of All US Mortgages Are Backed By The Government

Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Worst Case Scenario Is $1 Trillion!

Tickerguy On Dylan Ratigan Show – Massive Fraud At The Highest Levels!

Report: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Bailouts Could Hit $363 Billion

Bank of America: Thrilled to Pay $3 Billion Penalty – Freddie Mac Putbacks Resolved for 1¢ on $

US Taxpayers on Hook for $5 Trillion of Fannie, Freddie Debt … No Matter What Barney Frank Says

Obama Administration Using Accounting Gimmicks That Would Make Enron ‘Blush,’ Says Republican Lawmaker


Fannie Mae loss widens, asks taxpayers for $7.8B (AP, Nov 8, 2011):

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage giant Fannie Mae is asking the federal government for $7.8 billion in aid to cover its losses in the July-September quarter.

The government-controlled company said Tuesday that it lost $7.6 billion in the third quarter. Low mortgage rates reduced profits and declining home prices caused more defaults on loans it had guaranteed.

The government rescued Fannie Mae and sibling company Freddie Mac in September 2008 to cover their losses on soured mortgage loans. Since then, a federal regulator has controlled their financial decisions.

Taxpayers have spent about $169 billion to rescue Fannie and Freddie, the most expensive bailout of the 2008 financial crisis. The government estimates that figure could reach up $220 billion to support the companies through 2014 after subtracting dividend payments.

Read moreBlack Hole Fannie Mae Asks Taxpayers For Another $7.8 BILLION To Cover Its Losses In Third Quarter

Fannie Mae Knew About Toxic Mortgages in 2003!

Could they have stopped the credit crunch? Fannie Mae knew about dodgy mortgages in 2003, says report (Daily Mail, Oct. 4, 2011):

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae knew about allegations of improper foreclosure practices by law firms as early as 2003 but did not act to stop them, a government watchdog has said.

But it wasn’t until mid-2010 before the company’s overseer began to scrutinise the conduct of some of the law firms when news reports emerged of dubious practices, a report revealed today.

An unnamed shareholder warned Fannie Mae of alleged foreclosure abuses in 2003, the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said in the report.

Fannie Mae responded by hiring a law firm to investigate the claims in 2005, which reported it had found foreclosure attorneys in Florida ‘routinely filing false pleadings and affidavits’ the following year.

Read moreFannie Mae Knew About Toxic Mortgages in 2003!

Underwater Mortgages Could Sink America Without A Trace

Flashback:

‘Welcome to the Recovery’: Why Another 11 Million Mortgages Will Go Bad

Welcome to the Recovery (New York Times, by Timothy Geithner, August 2, 2010)


If it doesn’t do something about its underwater mortgages, America could sink without trace (Guardian, Oct. 2 2011):

Stimulating the economy is all very well in the short term. But the national legacy of unpayable property debt will weigh the US down for years

It’s now more than six years since Alan Greenspan, in the days when he was still known as the “maestro” of the world economy, conceded that there might be a little “froth”, perhaps even a few “local bubbles”, in the American housing market.

Read moreUnderwater Mortgages Could Sink America Without A Trace

Neptunium-239 (Decays Into Plutonium-239) Potentially Detected In Saint Louis Radioactive Rainfall (09/14/2011)

For your information…


[MAXIMUM ALERT] Neptunium 239 Potentially Detected In Saint Louis 9/14/11 Radioactive Rainfall (Sep. 16, 2011):


YouTube

The source has a calculated average 2.4 day half life. The half life matches Neptunium 239. Np239 decays into Plutonium 239.

IF WE ARE LUCKY, the source will not be Americium 243 but rather Uranium 239 (in Fukushima); given the 2.4 day half life of Np 239, it is possible that source came directly across the jet-stream as Np-239. The result would be higher levels of Np-239 and Plutonium 239 the further west one went from Saint Louis.

Otherwise, the source would probably be Americium 243 created in the MOX fuel reactor at Fukushima Unit 3.

UPDATE 9/17/11:

The video below records raw data being taken from the 1.33 mR/hr radioactive rainfall which fell in Saint Louis, Mo on 9/14/11. This data was taken after shorter half life contamination had mostly burned off.

The data shown is from one hour total count readings taken of the radioactive source, and local background. The raw data from the later part of the video has yet to be fully analyzed.

YouTube

STAY OUT OF THE RAIN!

 

Full-Blown Civil War Erupts On Wall Street: As Reality Finally Hits The Financial Elite, They Start Turning On Each Other

Recommended ‘extensive roundup’ here:

Full-Blown Civil War Erupts On Wall Street: As Reality Finally Hits The Financial Elite, They Start Turning On Each Other (AmpedStatus, Sep 3, 2011):

Finally, after trillions in fraudulent activity, trillions in bailouts, trillions in printed money, billions in political bribing and billions in bonuses, the criminal cartel members on Wall Street are beginning to get what they deserve. As the Eurozone is coming apart at the seams and as the US economy grinds to a halt, the financial elite are starting to turn on each other. The lawsuits are piling up fast. Here’s an extensive roundup:

Bank of America ‘Called Grieving Widow 48 Times A Day To Remind Her Of Husband’s Debt’

Bank of America ‘called grieving widow 48 times a day to remind her of husband’s debt’ (Daily Mail, Sep 3, 2011):

Bank of America bombarded a grieving widow with calls up to 48 times a day to remind her that her recently deceased husband had missed a mortgage payment, it is claimed.

Deborah Crabtree, from Honolulu, Hawaii, is suing the bank after she said she was called by debt collectors as often as every 15 minutes including during the wake for her husband.

According to papers filed in Hawaii, Mrs Crabtree told the bank that she would pay the debt as soon as she received her husband’s life insurance pay out, but the bank continued to threaten to foreclose on her home.

The bank told the widow that it was unable to stop the calls until the debt was paid as they were computer generated.

Read moreBank of America ‘Called Grieving Widow 48 Times A Day To Remind Her Of Husband’s Debt’

Former Assistant Secretary OF Housing Catherine Austin Fitts: ‘It’s Time to Bring Our Mortgages Home’

It’s Time to Bring Our Mortgages Home – Your Municipality and Community Venture Fund is the Ideal Investor for Fannie, Freddie & FHA Defaulted Mortgages (Solari, August 29, 2011):

By Catherine Austin Fitts (in the first person) and Carolyn Betts

The Administration is now proposing the transfer of significant defaulted mortgages and foreclosed properties held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) to large national institutional investors.

A Huge Housing Bargain — but Not for You
The Street (18 Aug 11)

White House Seeks Ideas to Shrink Foreclosure Glut
Catherine, News & Commentary (11 Aug 11)

Enterprise/FHA REO Asset Disposition (PDF)
RFIFinal (10 Aug 11)

Such a transfer is not economic — other than for the large investors and to serve a wider agenda of social control and engineering, including gentrification of numerous areas whose former residents were fraudulently induced and evicted with the use of these mortgages.

I served as FHA Commissioner (See: Austin Fitts Better be Good With Hammer and Nails) during the first Bush Administration and then, several years later, my company, Hamilton Securities Group, served as the lead financial advisor to FHA, providing portfolio strategy advice with respect to $400 billion of financial liabilities and assets, including over 50,000 of foreclosed properties held by the government as the result of mortgage insurance claims for defaulted FHA-insured mortgages.

Read moreFormer Assistant Secretary OF Housing Catherine Austin Fitts: ‘It’s Time to Bring Our Mortgages Home’

Families In Modern Ireland Skip Food To Pay Their Mortgage

Flashback:

Former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Revolution is the Only Answer (For Greece, Ireland etc.)


Families in modern Ireland skip food to pay the mortgage (Irish Independent, August 28, 2011):

FAMILIES in modern Ireland are going without food to meet the demand of mortgage debt.

The arrival of the second wave of the economic crisis, giving rise for the first time in many decades to the spectre of hunger, has caused shock across the country.

The decision of homeowners to choose hunger over a fear of eviction helps expose as irrelevant the issue of “moral hazard”, the defence of policymakers who resist calls for debt forgiveness.

Read moreFamilies In Modern Ireland Skip Food To Pay Their Mortgage

Matt Taibbi: Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal (Rolling Stone)


Obama bin Bush: Mission accomplished!

Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal (Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone, August 24, 2011):

A power play is underway in the foreclosure arena, according to the New York Times.

On the one side is Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General, who is conducting his own investigation into the era of securitizations – the practice of chopping up assets like mortgages and converting them into saleable securities – that led up to the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

On the other side is the Obama administration, the banks, and all the other state attorneys general.

This second camp has cooked up a deal that would allow the banks to walk away with just a seriously discounted fine from a generation of fraud that led to millions of people losing their homes.

The idea behind this federally-guided “settlement” is to concentrate and centralize all the legal exposure accrued by this generation of grotesque banker corruption in one place, put one single price tag on it that everyone can live with, and then stuff the details into a titanium canister before shooting it into deep space.

Read moreMatt Taibbi: Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal (Rolling Stone)

‘Welcome to the Recovery’: Why Another 11 Million Mortgages Will Go Bad

Welcome to the Recovery (New York Times, by Timothy Geithner, August 2, 2010)


Laurie Goodman On Why Another 11 Million Mortgages Will Go Bad (Business Insider, July 26, 2011):

A major bear on the housing market, Amherst Securities’ Laurie Goodman has predicted since 2009 another housing crash as banks are forced to liquidate tons of bad loans.

Up to 11 million mortgages are likely to default, according to Goodman. This is a frightening figure, seeing as only several million have been liquidated since the crisis began. When it happens the market will be flooded with supply.

Goodman reached 11 million by projecting default rates for non-performing loans, re-performing loans, and underwater loans. Here’s a slide from a recent presentation (via The Atlantic):

66% Of Las Vegas Mortgages Are Underwater, 27.7% Of Total US Housing Debt Has Negative And Near-Negative Equity

66% Of Las Vegas Mortgages Are Underwater, 27.7% Of Total US Housing Debt Has Negative And Near-Negative Equity (ZeroHedge, June 7, 2011):

Following yesterday’s news out of Zillow of a 0.77% drop in April home values compared to March, today we get an update from CoreLogic which in turn looks at the latest trends on “underwater” (or negative equity) mortgages in the US. In summary: “10.9 million, or 22.7 percent, of all residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity at the end of the first quarter of 2011, down slightly from 11.1 million, or 23.1 percent, in the fourth quarter. An additional 2.4 million borrowers had less than five percent equity, referred to as near-negative equity, in the first quarter. Together, negative equity and near-negative equity mortgages accounted for 27.7 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide. In the fourth quarter, these two categories stood at 27.9 percent.The most impacted state is Nevada, which has 62.6% of all mortgages underwater (with another 4.8% in near-negative), followed by Arizona, Florida and Michigan. California is fifth with 30.9% of all homes underwater. We doubt these millions of “homeowners” are benefiting much from the wealth effect.

Most Outrageous Behavior From The Deutsche Bank Unit Accused Of Mortgage Fraud


Image: USDAO

Yesterday the DOJ announced it was suing Deutsche Bank and its its Mortgage IT Inc unit for $1 billion over civil mortgage fraud.

The DOJ accuses the German bank of “repeatedly” lying and of having put their stamp of approval on the documents “in blatant disregard” of whether or not borrowers could pay, according to the complaint.

Deutsche and MortgageIT then profited from the resale of the mortgages, even as thousands of the nation’s homeowners faced default and eviction, the complaint said.

One of the most blatant examples of disregard for those homeowners?

Apparently when an outside auditor found there were massive issues with MortgageIT’s loans and sent their findings to the unit to alert them, the staff literally stuffed the letters in a closet, Deal Journal discovered when reading through the suit.

TENA sent their discovery of series of underwriting violations to the bank in 2004.

No-one opened them.

Not only did they not open them, “employees stuffed the letters… in a closet in MortgageIT’s Manhattan headquarters.”

Read moreMost Outrageous Behavior From The Deutsche Bank Unit Accused Of Mortgage Fraud

US Underwater Mortgages Rise As Home Prices Fall

See also:

97 Percent Of All US Mortgages Are Backed By The Government



The number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth rose at the end of last year, preventing many people from selling their homes in an already weak housing market.)

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth rose at the end of last year, preventing many people from selling their homes in an already weak housing market.

About 11.1 million households, or 23.1 percent of all mortgaged homes, were underwater in the October-December quarter, according to report released Tuesday by housing data firm CoreLogic. That’s up from 22.5 percent, or 10.8 million households, in the July-September quarter.

The number of underwater mortgages had fallen in the previous three quarters. But that was mostly because more homes had fallen into foreclosure.

Underwater mortgages typically rise when home prices fall. Home prices in December hit their lowest point since the housing bust in 11 of 20 major U.S. metro areas. In a healthy housing market, about 5 percent of homeowners are underwater.

Roughly two-thirds of homeowners in Nevada with a mortgage had negative home equity, the worst in the country. Arizona, Florida, Michigan and California were next, with up to 50 percent of homeowners with mortgages in those states underwater.

Oklahoma had the smallest percentage of underwater homeowners in the October-December quarter, at 5.8 percent. Only nine states recorded percentages less than 10 percent.

In addition to the more than 11 million households that are underwater, another 2.4 million homeowners are nearing that point.

When a mortgage is underwater, the homeowner often can’t qualify for mortgage refinancing and has little recourse but to continue making payments in hopes the property eventually regains its value.

The slide in home prices began stabilizing last year. But prices are expected to continue falling in many markets due to still-high levels of foreclosure and unemployment.

That means homes purchased at the height of the real estate boom are unlikely to recover lost value for years.

Underwater mortgages also dampen home sales. Homeowners who might otherwise sell their home refuse to take a loss or can’t get the bank to agree to a short sale — when a lender lets a borrower sell their property for less than the amount owed on the mortgage.

Home sales have been weaker in areas where there are a large number of homeowners with negative equity.

Many banks are also requiring homebuyers to put as much as 20 percent of a home’s value as down payment and the Obama administration is pushing for a 10 percent down payment requirement on all conventional loans guaranteed by the ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Few homeowners in states hit hard by foreclosures, including Colorado, Georgia and Nevada, have 20 percent or more equity in their homes. Higher down payments make it increasingly difficult for those people to sell their homes.

The total amount of negative equity increased to $751 billion nationwide, up from $744 billion in the previous quarter.

Published: Tuesday, March 08, 2011, 11:05 AM Updated: Tuesday, March 08, 2011, 1:46 PM

Source: AP

Bank of America Segregates Almost Half of its Mortgages Into ‘Bad Bank’

Mar. 08 (Bloomberg) — Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the biggest U.S. lender by assets, is segregating almost half its 13.9 million mortgages into a “bad” bank comprised of its riskiest and worst-performing “legacy” loans, said Terry Laughlin, who is running the new unit.

“We are creating a classic good bank, bad bank structure,” Laughlin told investors at a meeting in New York today. He was promoted last month to manage the costs of resolving disputes stemming from the company’s 2008 purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp. “We’re going to get after this, we’re going to do it the right way and we’re going to put it to bed in the next 36 months,” he said.

Read moreBank of America Segregates Almost Half of its Mortgages Into ‘Bad Bank’