The Greatest Wealth In California
KHSL TV reports from California. “Chico’s housing market is slowly rebounding with more homes selling this year than last, but at lower prices. The City Finance Committee got an update on the market this week, with staff reporting that 47 percent of the total homes sold this year sold for less than the borrowers owed. And the demand is down, in part because it’s harder to qualify for a loan. Debbie Brodie is a State Director for the California Association of Realtors. She says, ‘In 2005 you could get into a house with no money down, no closing costs, no job. Those days are gone.’”
The Asian Journal. “Three years into the mortgage meltdown, California homeowners still have little relief from the foreclosure crisis. Increasingly, homeowners are taking matters into their own hands — stepping up pressure on banks, going after mortgage scammers and educating themselves about how to avoid becoming victims of foreclosure or fraud.”
“Peggy Mears has fought for three years to keep her three-bedroom house in Fontana, Calif. Mears, hoping to lower her monthly mortgage payments, contacted her lender OneWest Bank (formerly IndyMac Bank) to modify the terms of her home loan. Three years and three loan modifications later, Mears says she is still at risk of losing her home.”
“One trial modification lowered her monthly payment by $50, while another increased it by $300. All the while, Mears’ family lived under daily threat of losing their home, because her bank continued with foreclosure proceedings even as they worked with Mears to modify her home loan — a practice banks call ‘dual track.’”
“‘I was stressed out — I couldn’t sleep at night and my nerves were on end,’ Mears told a group of ethnic-media journalists at a news briefing in Los Angeles last Thursday. Mears eventually got fed-up and joined the Home Defenders League. Last December, Mears and two dozen other homeowners were arrested after holding a sit-in at a JP Morgan Chase Bank branch in downtown Los Angeles. They demanded that the bank halt foreclosures and work more effectively with homeowners to modify their loans.”
“‘We were making a statement: If you refuse to let us live in our homes, we will live in your home,’ Mears said.”
“‘It is embarrassing to say, ‘I’m losing my home,’ she said. ‘It hurts, especially after you’ve lived there for 20 years and you’ve worked hard all your life and done everything that you are supposed to do.’ Mears said homeowners facing foreclosure feel ashamed and don’t want to speak out about the prospect of losing their homes, which she called ‘your greatest wealth.’”
The Ventura County Star. “California homeowners and some former homeowners can take heart from this week’s announcement of a crackdown on mortgage fraud in the Golden State. The Attorney General’s Office said it has created a task force to investigate and prosecute some of the unfair practices that let down homeowners, cost some families their homes and trashed the housing market.”
“State Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office cited estimates that the foreclosure crisis has cost California homeowners as much as $640 billion in equity.”
From KABC. “Harris and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the creation of a 25-person task force to target businesses that Harris says helped cause the downfall of the housing market and put thousands of houses into foreclosure. ‘California, as the biggest state in the country, was hit the hardest,’ said Harris. ‘Last year alone there were nearly 550,000 foreclosure filings against California homes.’”
“‘The American Dream — for most of us, home ownership is a pillar of that dream, and too many people in this city have lost that dream,’ said Villaraigosa at Monday’s news conference.”
“‘Where there is the evidence to prove a crime, you can be sure those crimes will be prosecuted,’ said Harris.”
The Record Searchlight. “A continued stream of Shasta County foreclosures early this year meant opportunity for first-time homebuyers chasing record affordability and investors looking for predictable returns. Area real estate agents say banks are doing a good job of manipulating the market by not flooding the area with foreclosures, which would drive down values more.”
“‘If you were … building a monster subdivision, say 200 homes, you have a choice of building the houses and putting them all on the market at the same time, which would cause your own prices to decline, or release the homes as demand would allow. Which would you choose?’ said Josh Barker of ReMax Town & Country in Redding.”
The Modesto Bee. “Stanislaus County’s median home price remained fairly flat during April, sticking at $130,000. That’s the same as March and about what it has been the past two years. Lenders own thousands of those homes. Foreclosure-Radar estimates banks own 2,289 homes in Stanislaus, 3,218 in San Joaquin and 1,232 in Merced. More foreclosures are in the works.”
The Merced Sun Star. “Rep. Dennis Cardoza gave the following reaction to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s comments that the U.S. has ’several more years to go’ before the housing market recovers, and ‘it’s going to take time still to heal.’”
“‘This Administration’s hands-off approach to the housing crisis is stunning, and Mr. Geithner’s laissez-faire remarks show they have no intention of seriously attacking the central cause of our current economic downturn,’ Cardoza said in a news release. ‘The half-baked federal housing programs created thus far have failed to stem the crisis. In fact, more Americans will go into foreclosure this year than in any year since the housing crisis began. How many more families must needlessly lose their homes before this Administration wakes up?’”
The Daily Bulletin. “Apparently the foreclosure crisis is finally being reflected in Inland Valley population figures - which, unusually for this fast-growing area, show a big drop. Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga, for example, fell by 10,000 residents each from 2010, according to estimates by the state Department of Finance, and most of our other cities also emptied by a few thousand residents.”
‘Perhaps the cruelest blow was to Pomona. Its population was said to have withered by 14,000 in one year to fall below 150,000. Instead of being outstripped only by L.A., Long Beach, Glendale and Santa Clarita, Pomona is now smaller than Lancaster and Palmdale too. Meanwhile, Lancaster (157,795) and Palmdale (153,334) both grew year-over-year, Lancaster by 10,000 and Palmdale by 700. People are flocking to Lancaster? Huh. Were they priced out of Fresno?”
“Foreclosures certainly played a large part in the lower numbers, although how much is hard to say, demographic specialist Dan Sheya of the Finance Department told me. ‘People had to go somewhere and they didn’t always stay in the same area,’ Sheya said.”
“‘Pomona wasn’t the only one to drop,’ Sheya noted. “Every large city in California got hit hard. Los Angeles was 360,000 lower. San Jose, San Diego, San Francisco, they all got hit hard. But the city of Pomona especially hard, the city of Oakland especially hard.”
NBC Los Angeles. “In the past decade, California has lost nearly a quarter-million of its youngest residents, those aged 5 to 9 years, according to a census analysis co-authored by USC’s Edward Flores and Dowell Myers. That’s more than an 8-percent decline. The problem is even worse in L.A. County, where the numbers show the decline in young children is 21 percent. The loss of children reflects the difficult living conditions for families facing high housing costs and diminishing job opportunities, Flores and Myers say.”
“Myers, a renowned author and demographer, says this loss of our young population is unprecedented in California. ‘We’re heading into uncharted territory,’ he said.”
LA Weekly. “We are ground zero of the ‘missing children’ of California,’ Myers has said. Myers says part of the reason for the decline is that tough economic conditions have driven families with young kids away in hopes of finding more affordable housing and better job prospects. As of March, California had the third worst job market in the nation.”
“The result of this exodus, claims Myers, is that there will be ‘fewer workers to support the retiring Baby Boomers.’”
The Mercury News. “There’s no easy fix to the housing crisis, but many South Bay experts say one of the most promising is a ’short sale’ — selling the home for less than the loan balance. More than 40 percent of attempted short sales fail to close, according to a recent survey by the California Association of Realtors. DataQuick estimates that there were about 15,839 short sales in California in the first quarter of this year, which suggests another 10,000 failed to close.”
“Another stumbling block is the second mortgage, which often has no underlying equity. Katie Haslam, with Zip Realty in Palo Alto, recently saw the short sale of a home in San Jose’s East Foothills fall apart at the last moment. The problem was that the primary and secondary lenders couldn’t agree on how much the lender holding the second mortgage would receive. With no equity underlying the $75,000 second, the bank holding the first mortgage offered $10,000. The second mortgage holder held out for $20,000, and the sale collapsed. The house was auctioned as a foreclosure in April. There were no offers.”
“‘It’s bad for the neighborhood because property values are going to go down; bad for the economy, and bad for the lender because they are going to sell it for less,’ said Jackie Walker, the Coldwell Banker agent who represented the sellers.”
The Desert Sun. “Home sales dipped slightly in the Coachella Valley during April but fared better than in Riverside County, the state and the nation, new data show. The swing in sales numbers — and prices — hasn’t been dramatic, but it illustrates the road to recovery remains uneven when it comes to the local housing market, said Greg Berkemer, executive VP of the California Desert Association of Realtors.”
“‘Although the market has yet to hit a consistent rhythm, available inventory, interest rates and attractive prices still make the dream possible — in a beautiful desert where rising rivers and tornadoes won’t take it away,’ Berkemer said.”
The Bakersfield Californian. “McAllister Ranch, the iconic failed housing development of the foreclosure crisis, has found new life. It will become Kern County’s newest water bank, owned and managed jointly by the Rosedale Rio Bravo and Buena Vista water storage districts.”
“The 2,070 acre development in extreme southwest Bakersfield was once expected to boast 6,000 homes, a golf course and man made lake. Now, the majority of it will remain undeveloped, according to Eric Averett, Rosedale’s general manager. ‘It’s an exciting project,’ he said. The water bank will be used to enhance local supplies, he said, instead of ‘buying into the very expensive state project.’”
“‘It’s an ideal water banking property,’ Averett said. ‘We didn’t think there were many opportunities like this left.’”
And the demand is down, in part because it’s harder to qualify for a loan. Debbie Brodie is a State Director for the California Association of Realtors. She says, ‘In 2005 you could get into a house with no money down, no closing costs, no job. Those days are gone.’”
Those days should have NEVER HAPPENED!
+100
So, demand isn’t down. Reality is UP.
“‘I was stressed out — I couldn’t sleep at night and my nerves were on end,’ Mears told a group of ethnic-media journalists at a news briefing in Los Angeles last Thursday.
ethnic-media journalists????
Any of these ethnic-media journalists ask Mears if she took out any home equity loans? Ask where did the money go? Ask if she could afford the house in the first place? Ask if she was just going to sell it to a greater fool?
Ask if she signed a contract and now wants to get out of it? Ask is it fair that she gets “something for nothing” while renters and current homeowners get nothing?
Don’t forget:
“‘It is embarrassing to say, ‘I’m losing my home,’ she said. ‘It hurts, especially after you’ve lived there for 20 years and you’ve worked hard all your life and done everything that you are supposed to do.’”
If after 20 years you’re losing your house, you did not do everything you’re supposed to do, like pay off your mortgage. There must have been cash out refinancing or something involved.
Yup… another no-questions-asked MSM story about cash-out re-fi “victims”.
A few years ago, my credit union hosted HELOC parties in the lobby. Complete with popcorn.
I was so disgusted by the spectacle that I didn’t even accept the offer of free popcorn. I’m usually a sucker for free popcorn.
Now, as we all know, there was a time when HELOCs were reserved for fixing up the house. And that was it. Then they morphed into this source of spending spree money that we revile on the HBB to this day.
Sad to say this, but we HBB-ers are not typical. We’re the types who’d be disgusted by free popcorn HELOC parties while the other credit union members are flocking to the popcorn machine.
I’ll end this rant with a question: How do we get our point of view out to the general public so they don’t keep falling for this HELOC popcorn party stuff?
Disgusted? Slim, I would sit back, eat the free popcorn and enjoy watching the sheep being led to the shearing.
What ever happened to Neal btw?
Disgusted? Slim, I would sit back, eat the free popcorn and enjoy watching the sheep being led to the shearing.
Only trouble with eating the free popcorn was that it was being ladled out by credit union employees who were signing people up for HELOCs. And I wanted no part of that.
Slim, did you ever frequent bicycling forums? I did, about 8-9 years ago, and there were always these posts, “what bike should I buy?.” Guy would have some cash coming, and wife had agreed he could get a new bike, just had to sign some papers…etc. Back then I could never figure out what was going on, but now I guess it was the ol’ married couple “you can buy X if I can buy Z” heloc trick. It was probably going on at the gun, tool, motorcycle, guitar forums too.
Slim, did you ever frequent bicycling forums?
I sure do frequent bicycling forums! In fact, I’m a real comment-a-holic on a local bicycling blog.
As for this HELOC trick, oh, brother. If that’s what’s keeping couples together, I feel sorry for them.
but now I guess it was the ol’ married couple “you can buy X if I can buy Z” heloc trick.
Ha, yeah, my stupid officemate did that a few years ago with a CAR. His wife supposedly needed a new one, so he decided he had to have one too. He also has a $900k mortgage (or rather, 1st and 2nd combined) on a $150k income. I’m just waiting for him to crash and burn.
… got popcorn?
“State Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office cited estimates that the foreclosure crisis has cost California homeowners as much as $640 billion in equity.”
It was NEVER there in the FIRST PLACE.
It was a pipe dream based on FRAUD on every level.
Including your own office!
“…cost…$640 billion in equity.”
13,680,081: The total number of housing units in the Golden State
Approximate lost equity per housing unit (based on the above figures) =
$640,000,000,000 / 13,680,081 = $46,783 = more than a year’s worth of take home pay for the median CA household
“‘Where there is the evidence to prove a crime, you can be sure those crimes will be prosecuted,’ said Harris.”
The Goldman Sach’s, BOA, Countrywide, Indymac, JPM offices are right over there…
Too big to prosecute!
“‘Pomona wasn’t the only one to drop,’ Sheya noted. “Every large city in California got hit hard. Los Angeles was 360,000 lower. San Jose, San Diego, San Francisco, they all got hit hard. But the city of Pomona especially hard, the city of Oakland especially hard.”
Well - where are all these people going?
Hint - they are LEAVING California.
The next question is why?
You gotta pay big to live in the Sunshine State!
no jobs, higher taxes on the way, poor schools…
LA Weekly. “We are ground zero of the ‘missing children’ of California,’ Myers has said. Myers says part of the reason for the decline is that tough economic conditions have driven families with young kids away in hopes of finding more affordable housing and better job prospects. As of March, California had the third worst job market in the nation.”
“The result of this exodus, claims Myers, is that there will be ‘fewer workers to support the retiring Baby Boomers.’”
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..
Socialism only works until you run out of other people’s money.
Just wait until the public union pensions implode.
“We are ground zero of the ‘missing children’ of California”
Could it be these are the children of undocumented workers? Won’t this be a boon for the hospitals and schools? No need to build more schools. Let’s cut some police and firemen while we are at it too.
“Could it be these are the children of undocumented workers? Won’t this be a boon for the hospitals and schools? No need to build more schools. Let’s cut some police and firemen while we are at it too.”
Precisely. California needs to be attractive to skilled workers, not necessarily to people that want to have children. You need skilled workers to support retiring workers and the state in general, not just things that add to public expenses.
California, with a stable or slightly shrinking population skewed toward skilled workers instead of children of the undocumented, could be a much better place to live.
I would venture to guess that a lot of CA’s missing children are the offspring of those who, ahem, entered this country in ways that were/are not legally sanctioned.
Where are they now? Well, I can tell you from what I see firsthand that they’re not flocking to Arizona. We’ve had quite an exodus from our state too.
Perhaps they’re heading back south of the border. Where they’re not going to have the easiest time.
Why? Because the adults will have been in this country long enough that they act more like Americans than Mexicans. And that doesn’t go over very well in Mexico.
As for the kids, more than a few of them aren’t fluent enough in Spanish to handle Mexican classroom instruction. They don’t do bilingual ed down there. Either you entiende espanol or you don’t understand what’s going on in class.
“Where are they now? Well, I can tell you from what I see firsthand that they’re not flocking to Arizona. We’ve had quite an exodus from our state too.”
I thought more than a few had ended up in the Phoenix area, though not necessarily other parts of Arizona. Perhaps they’re now moving on to other places as jobs decline?
I heard recently from an educator here in Socal that their best info indicated that the illegal workers have sent the wife and kids back home to Mexico/etc. and can therefore pile like cord wood into apartments or houses and live on peanuts, thus still remaining able to remit monies home despite the meager work available.
Arizona Slim
What’s your take of this mornings news that the Supreme Court
upheld Arizona’s immigration hiring law?
Immediate impact? Long term? Effect on Real Estate?
Back in late 2007, when this bill was signed into law by then-Governor Janet Napolitano, an interesting thing started happening. Right in my own nabe, in fact.
The people next door, who used to have all manner of fiestas on their front patio, stopped doing so. It was as if something had pulled the party plug on them.
By mid-2008, I figured that the employer sanctions law had something to do with it. Meaning that their fiesta amigos/amigas had moved on to other places.
To this day, their fiesta quotient is way down.
I’ve also read that Tucson and Phoenix area businesses that cater to Hispanics have really been hard hit. Because a lot of their customers just up and left. Likewise, apartment complexes on this city’s South Side. A lot of them have lost tenants.
Both the drops in business at the stores and in the apartment complexes predate the 2010 enactment of SB-1070.
As for the long term, I think that Arizona may finally be shaking off its obsession with population growth/real estate development. That was this state’s business model for about 50 years. And it didn’t really do much for the average Arizonan.
“Because the adults will have been in this country long enough that they act more like Americans than Mexicans.”
Not where we live. The Mexican “culture” is alive and thriving.
Agreed. I don’t see much assimilation from the illegal crowd. They’re living like Mexicans in America.
SocialismCapitalism only works until yourun out of other people’sconcentrate all the money.BUSINESS
MAY 26, 2011
California and Illinois Expand Foreclosure Probes
By RUTH SIMON And NICK TIMIRAOS
Attorneys general in California and Illinois said they issued subpoenas to two companies that help mortgage servicers manage home loans, in the latest sign state officials are stepping up pressure on the mortgage industry.
…
On Tuesday, state attorneys general, responding to the banks’ $5 billion proposal, told five of the nation’s largest banks in private meetings that they could face at least $17 billion in civil lawsuits from the states if a settlement isn’t reached, people familiar with the discussions said. The figures don’t include potential claims from federal government agencies, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice.
Wednesday’s move represents a fresh threat from some state attorneys general. Ms. Madigan said in an interview the information gathered by her office, if indicative of wrongdoing, could be used to bring charges against the two companies or in lawsuits against the mortgage servicers involved in negotiations if banks and state officials can’t agree on a settlement.
If a settlement isn’t attainable, “we want to make sure we have tied down all the information we would need,” Ms. Madigan said. “The credible threat is always that there are powerful, resource-rich states that will pursue this through a litigation strategy.”
Ms. Madigan said her office has been conducting detailed reviews of foreclosures filed in Cook County Circuit Court and that “the vast majority of them have been signed by known robo-signers,” among other problems.
In a statement, Ms. Harris called investigating “robo-signing and the potential for inaccurate or unjust foreclosures” a key step in aiding homeowners who “have been exposed to fraud and crime at every step of the mortgage process.” On Monday, Ms. Harris announced the creation of a 25-person “mortgage fraud strike force” that will prosecute violations at each step of the mortgage process.
In a separate move, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff sent Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Brian Moynihan a letter last week warning him that the bank’s ReconTrust unit was conducting illegal foreclosures. The letter asks Bank of America to respond within 30 days, adding that the attorney general “intends to enforce Utah’s statutes.”
A Bank of America spokeswoman said, “ReconTrust will continue to handle foreclosures in compliance with applicable laws.”
In another letter sent to Mr. Moynihan last week, Connecticut Attorney General George C. Jepsen said his office “continues to receive numerous complaints” from borrowers whose loans are serviced by Bank of America and that the bank doesn’t appear to be doing enough to help financially troubled homeowners.
The Bank of America spokeswoman noted the company recently announced plans to more than triple its customer-assistance centers and “will continue to work with the attorney general to address his concerns.”
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, above, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said they had issued subpoenas as part of their ongoing investigation of questionable foreclosure practices, including robo-signing, or approving legal documents without proper review.
As the foreclosure crisis has mushroomed, fees generated from the servicing of delinquent mortgages, known as “default servicing,” have turned the once-obscure corner of the mortgage market into a billion-dollar industry.
LPS says its software is used by banks to track the majority of U.S. residential mortgages. Until early 2010, a unit of the company reviewed and signed documents used in foreclosure proceedings. State and federal authorities have been investigating LPS’s document-preparation practices and its relationship with foreclosure attorneys, the company said in a securities filing.
Nationwide Title doesn’t typically prepare foreclosure documents and instead provides a range of document-tracking and -recording services. Many banks have authorized the firm’s employees to sign assignments of mortgages on the banks’ behalf. The company, based in Palm Harbor, Fla., is one of the largest third-party processors of such assignments.
“Three years into the mortgage meltdown, California homeowners still have little relief from the foreclosure crisis.”
The mortgage crisis started with the meltdown of the subprime ABX indexes in December 2006. Ergo 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, half of 2011:
I count 4 1/2 years.
I count from Aug 9 2007 but what do I know. Most people were still in la-la land until 2008.
“Three years into the mortgage meltdown, California homeowners still have little relief from the foreclosure crisis.”
The crisis was never the foreclosures, it was always the excessively expensive housing relative to wages. The foreclosures are merely a symptom. If one wants the adverse symptoms to go away, it’s much better to address the cause of those symptoms.
Compared to AZ CA is a older state, lots of toy stores in Phoenix and stuff for kids to do, here in Ventura Co. no. Lots of older people ( older than 50) with dogs, even dogs in baby carriages ,
How the CA governer Jerry Brown can get more taxes for schools with less and less kids ? And many of the kids are from the poorest families.
good luck
Public sector union pensions go up and up and up no matter how many/few kids get educated…
cactus
Go to NASA/JPL Open Hse next year w/ the kids. It’s free and a great way to spend the day. Hubby and Nephew love the robotics and movies.
Nat’l Train Day -Union Station downtown L A
Day before Mother’s Day every year. Free and fun.
Take the Orange Bus from Canoga & Victory (free day parking with cop station there)to the Redline (hooks up to the subway) to Union Station. Then, after Nat’l Train Day go to Olvera St and China Town. Pick up Goldline at China Town to Pasadena (Memorial Park exit/subway) is 1 block from Old Town shops and restaurants.
Mission St (Museum is cute) is also a great stop. Goldline is above ground. Day Pass is $6-ea for all the trains.
“In the past decade, California has lost nearly a quarter-million of its youngest residents, those aged 5 to 9 years, according to a census analysis co-authored by USC’s Edward Flores and Dowell Myers. That’s more than an 8-percent decline. The problem is even worse in L.A. County, where the numbers show the decline in young children is 21 percent. ”
I don’t think they “lost” them. They weren’t there to begin with. There was a baby boom. And then a huge baby bust.
Then the baby boomers started having children, and though they had fewer per woman, the large number of baby boomers caused a baby boom “echo” which drove up school enrollments. Now that is over, as Gen Y/Millenials exit school and there are fewer children — the children of Gen X — to take their place.
My children are at the back end of the baby boom echo, just as I was at the back and of the baby boom. And thus screwed.
“In the past decade, California has lost nearly a quarter-million of its youngest residents, those aged 5 to 9 years, according to a census analysis co-authored by USC’s Edward Flores and Dowell Myers.”
More evidence here of mysterious activity by alien invaders from outer space?
“In the past decade, California has lost nearly a quarter-million of its youngest residents, those aged 5 to 9 years, according to a census analysis co-authored by USC’s Edward Flores and Dowell Myers. That’s more than an 8-percent decline. The problem is even worse in L.A. County, where the numbers show the decline in young children is 21 percent. The loss of children reflects the difficult living conditions for families facing high housing costs and diminishing job opportunities, Flores and Myers say.”
A lot of that had already happened in L.A. in the 1990’s. There were still pockets of a middle class with children, but not much. It was quite a contrast in San Diego in the late 1990’s because there still was a sizable middle class with children. More than a few left or cashed out during the housing bubble depending upon whether they owned or not. Housing still hasn’t fallen enough to make a difference. San Diego still appears to be headed in the direction of Los Angeles of less and less middle class and not many with children.
Given the declines in L.A. County in the past decade and the preceding exodus of the middle class in the 1990’s, I’d have to guess the poor/undocumented are having fewer children too.
I don’t think it’s necessarily all grim for California. There are still many reasons why it’s still a desirable place for working adults. If you can keep skilled workers while paying less for the overhead of education, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. True, it’s cost shifting to other states or countries , but California has long paid far more in federal taxes than it gets back and has absorbed a lot of immigration-related expenses in the past three decades.
So then laying off EXCESS teachers admin, and schools.. is not such a big deal…right?
——————————
The problem is even worse in L.A. County, where the numbers show the decline in young children is 21 percent.
“Another stumbling block is the second mortgage, which often has no underlying equity.”
I love the use of the definite article here, as if everyone has a second mortgage.
Public servants…gotta love them
Any wonder why Illinois is broke?
Maybe we should give them a Federal Bailout…
————————-
Kickin’ Back with Tax Payer Money
NPR | 5/25/2011 | David Rubinstein
After 34 years of teaching sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, I recently retired at age 64 at 80 percent of my pay for life. This calculation was based on a salary spiked by summer teaching, and since I no longer pay into the retirement fund, I now receive significantly more than when I “worked.” But that’s not all: There’s a generous health insurance plan, a guaranteed 3 percent annual cost of living increase and a few other perquisites. Having overinvested in my retirement annuity, I received a fat refund and — when it rains, it pours — another for unused sick leave. I was also offered the opportunity to teach as an emeritus for three years, receiving $8,000 per course, double the pay for adjuncts, which works out to over $200 an hour. Another going-away present was summer pay, one ninth of my salary, with no teaching obligation.
I haven’t done the math but I suspect that, given a normal life span, these benefits nearly doubled my salary. And in Illinois these benefits are constitutionally guaranteed, up there with freedom of religion and speech.
Why do I put “worked” in quotation marks? Because my main task as a university professor was self-cultivation: reading and writing about topics that interested me. Maybe this counts as work. But here I am today — like many of my retired colleagues — doing pretty much what I have done since the day I began graduate school, albeit with less intensity.
Before retiring, I carried a teaching load of two courses per semester: six hours of lecture a week. I usually scheduled classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays: The rest of the week was mine. Colleagues who pursued grants taught less, some rarely seeing a classroom. The gaps this left in the department’s course offerings were filled by adjuncts, hired with little scrutiny and subject to little supervision and paid little.
“Public servants…gotta love them”
The university professor occupation is open for anyone who wants to pay the price of earning a PhD and competing for a position. What is stopping you, if you think it is the path to easy riches?
‘Last year alone there were nearly 550,000 foreclosure filings against California homes.’
What happened to all these homes with foreclosure filings? Did aliens come down from outer space and disapperate them? I sure don’t see much evidence of an additional 550,000 used homes for sale since last year…
I am wondering if a re-classification happened due to the Ca Foreclosure Prevention act. I see very few REO’s in my area too, PB.
I am seeing a few “occupied” REO’s in my local MLS. Living free until the sold sign goes up, collecting the $3,000-, and then the buyer hopes they move at the COE. I’m just saying.
On the other hand, if it is taking over a year in many cases to process a foreclosure, it could be that the homes which recently entered the foreclosure pipeline will soon be leaving the other end at an increasing rate. I am completely unconvinced that most of coastal Cali has seen anything like capitulation just yet; by way of contrast, other markets, such as Vegas and Detroit, have clearly capitulated already.
“All the while, Mears’ family lived under daily threat of losing their home, because her bank continued with foreclosure proceedings even as they worked with Mears to modify her home loan — a practice banks call ‘dual track.’”
Catch-22, bankster style:
- To qualify for a modification, a homeowner has to miss payments.
- Missed payments also qualify the homeowner for a notice of default.
“McAllister Ranch, the iconic failed housing development of the foreclosure crisis, has found new life. It will become Kern County’s newest water bank, owned and managed jointly by the Rosedale Rio Bravo and Buena Vista water storage districts.”
How ironic. After fifty years of screwing with the ecosystem — and billion$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in taxpayer subsidies, Lake San Joaquin, once the largest freshwater body of water west of the Great Lakes will revert to…a lake.
Bakersplat….
And there was much rejoicing!