Last week, the Obama Administration and 49 state attorneys general announced a deal with the country’s five biggest mortgage banks on a $25 billion dollar foreclosure settlement. Community organizers working with victims of foreclosure, including National People’s Action, have criticized the deal as a paltry “drop in the bucket” that will do little to help the millions of families who have lost their homes or risk losing their homes because of the negligence and abuse of big banks.
The deal will help about a million families refinance the principle on their underwater homes. Those who have already lost their homes because of bank trickery or illegal robo-signing errors? About 750,000 such families will get a one-time check of $2,000.
That’s right: In exchange for Wall Street ripping off your home and ripping off our economy, the banks will compensate you a whopping $2,000. But don’t worry. Here are some housing options that families who have lost their homes can use their generous $2,000 check to buy.
A Pre-Fab Shed
Available from Home Depot for $1,789. Shipping not included. And some assembly required.
Two “Luxury” Dog Houses
Available for $949 at Wal-Mart. Each one, though, is probably only roomy enough for one adult or child per structure.
A Used Car
On Craigslist in Peoria, Illinois, someone is selling a used 1995 Ford F150 pickup truck for $2,000 on the button. It has over 147,000 miles on it, but if you’re going to just park it and use it as a home, that doesn’t really matter. And there’s room in the truck bed for the kids.
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Of course, none of these options include such luxuries as insulation or indoor plumbing but, hey, the banks can’t spend that extra money helping the victims of their reckless subprime schemes. They have multi-million dollar bonuses to pay! Sheesh…
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One Response to Crappy Mortgage Deal: Housing You Can Buy For $2,000
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I didn’t realize wall street was responsible for every foreclosure in the US. I should have known that it wasn’t my neighbor/friend/relatives fault for taking on a mortgage payment with little/zero down payment that they couldn’t afford. When we were looking for a house in 2006 I asked my mortgage broker how much I could borrow and his response was “How much do you need?” I was surprised by the response, yet I didn’t purchase a house that was out of my budget. Why is wall street responsible for the foreclosure and not the homeowner who is behind in their payments or not paying at all? I am in agreement that the banks should not have been given a “bailout” for their loose lending practices (though our govt. and the fed pushed such loose lending requirements through their cheap money monetary policies). However, further bailouts for irresponsible behavior are not the answer.
I’ve got many questions on the robo-signing issue as well. How many homeowners that were current on their payments were forced out of their homes? I don’t have an answer but would be interested seeing the figures. Suppose I was driving 80 miles an hour on a street with a speed limit of 30 and received a speeding ticket. If my ticket was thrown out due to improper paperwork that doesn’t change the fact that I was indeed speeding. It doesn’t change the fact that I was in violation. Any homeowner that was not violating the terms of their mortgage should be fully compensated for the banks sloppy bookkeeping but I find it hard to believe that the majority of those affected fall into that category. What exactly is bank trickery? I purchased a 5 yr ARM on our first house and was fully aware the rate was fixed for a set time horizon. I carefully read and researched the loan before signing it. Did the banks change the terms of the loan after the borrower agreed to it? What we need now are policies to promote responsible borrowing going forward. Instead, the govt is simply trying to re-inflate the real estate bubble…. Lets let the cards fall where they fall. If the banks don’t have the fed/govt as a backstop for failure they will lend in a more responsible manner and homeowners will also become more responsible with their purchasing decisions.