If someone thought that the Spanish property market couldn’t go down any further they are mistaken – 2013, will see drastic reduction in prices. Here’s why.

In 2012, this was how it worked: You purchased a property with a mortgage of 80% for urban or 70% for rural properties. The mortgage was calculated, not on the purchasing price, but on the banks estemate of the value, which usually was higher than the actual price. This ment, that most people could get 100% financing on their homes. Then you paid around 8% purchasing tax, based on the [...]

Money Is A Form Of Social Control And Most Of Us Spend Our Entire Lives Trapped In An Endless Cycle of Debt That We Never Escape Until We Die, Those That Own Our Debts Keep Getting Richer!

by Michael

Is America really “the land of the free”?  Most people think of money as simply a medium of exchange that makes economic transactions more convenient, but the truth is that it is much more than that.  Money is also a form of social control.  Just think about it.  What did you do this morning?  Well, if you are like most Americans, you either got up and went to work [...]

The NY Fed secretly bailed out Bank of America last Summer, and it’s just coming to light now.

The NY Fed secretly bailed out Bank of America last Summer, and it’s just coming to light now.

Don’t Blink, Or You’ll Miss Another Bailout

New York Times

By Gretchen Morgenson

Many people became rightfully upset about bailouts given to big banks during the mortgage crisis.  But it turns out that they are still going on, if more quietly, through the back door.

The existence of one such secret deal, struck in July between the Federal [...]

12 States Where Homeowners Are Deep Underwater On Their Mortgages

1.4 million borrowers moved to positive equity (where homeowners owe less on their mortgage than their home is worth) in the year through the end of Q3.  This is according to CoreLogic’s latest negative equity report. 

But a whopping 10.7 million or 22 percent of all residential properties with mortgages were underwater by the end of Q3.

“The substantive gain in house prices made in 2012, partly due to tight inventory caused [...]

BUSTED: French bank caught using parody hitler video to motivate employees

A slightly embarrassing incident for French bank BNP Paribas.

According to France24, the bank made a version of the famous “Downfall” parody, where Hitler is shown reacting to a series of modern day setbacks (his mortgage is underwater, his iPhone antenna doesn’t work, etc.).

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/busted-french-bank-showed-parody-hitler-video-to-motivate-top-employees-2012-12#ixzz2FtWI8L3k

REPORT: Mgrs. at Fannie, Freddie earned $200K

WASHINGTON – A government report finds median pay for nearly 2,000 senior managers at government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exceeded $200,000 last year.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the two mortgage giants, also did an inadequate job monitoring pay, according to the report released Monday from the inspector general for the FHFA.

The median figure means that half the managers received salaries above $200,000 and half received less.

Those managers represent [...]

NJ Residents Say Sandy Was Bad, But The Insurance Companies Are Even Worse

As people begin to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Sandy, the big question on most people’s minds is whether insurance will kick in or if they will be ignored.

When we spoke to residents of Little Ferry on Thursday after the storm, they were not optimistic about their insurance. When we returned on Sunday, some had gotten through to insurance but were still not sure what would and wouldn’t be covered.

Residents [...]

Combat Cops Evict Homeowner in Colorado

Protest for the woman being evicted, near the woman’s private drive

Militarized cops in full combat gear were called to evict a woman from her house in Idaho Springs, Colorado, on October 30.

“The homeowner facing eviction was apparently underwater on her mortgage with US Bank. She says she told the bank that all she was asking was for another 30 days in the home before an eviction. She needed an extra [...]

Housing Alert: Short Sales May Be in Big Trouble

As lenders plow through a backlog of over five million delinquent mortgages, short sales are becoming an ever more popular escape route. A short sale is when the bank allows a home to be sold for less than the value of the mortgage. The bank takes the loss, but that loss is generally less than a more costly foreclosure.

The government has been pushing more short sales at Fannie Mae and [...]

The four big factors that determine your credit score

From Money Crashers:

In 2000, I left America to study abroad, and thought I was being responsible by closing a few credit card accounts that I wasn’t planning on using.

Big mistake.

Not only did closing credit accounts lower my credit score – and cost me thousands of dollars when I got a mortgage years later – but it also made it harder for me to get credit when I came back home.

The [...]

10 states where homeowners are deep underwater

1.3 million homeowners emerged from negative equity, which occurs when borrowers owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth, in the first half of the year, according to CoreLogic’s latest foreclosure report.

 

But 10.8 million or 22.3 percent of all residential mortgages were still in negative equity in the second quarter.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/states-with-highest-negative-equity-2012-9?op=1#ixzz26degktzz

Sing It: Mr. Scam Man – Where Is Your Dream? I Thought My Life Would Be All Peaches and Cream.

Mac Slavo
September 8th, 2012
SHTFplan.com

 

Musician Dan Roberts sings a parody of the oldies hit Mr. Sand Man:

 

 

“Mr. Scam Man, where is your dream?
I thought my life would be all peaches and cream.
Now I don’t have a job and I’m out of money,
And moving forward doesn’t look too sunny.

Scam Man, I’m so alone,
Don’t have a mortgage to call my own.
So much for the roses and clover,
I’m using food stamps to feed ole Rover

Lyrics via Godfather Politics“

 

Hat tip Crossfire [...]

WELLS FARGO Loses All Of Retired Couple’s Possessions After Mistakenly Foreclosing Home

 

TWENTYNINE PALMS (CBSLA.com) —  The owners of a modest home near Twentynine Palms lost their cherished possessions after a bank mistakenly foreclosed their residence.

A crew broke into Alvin and Pat Tjosaas’ desert home and took everything after being directed by Wells Fargo to secure the structure.

The couple, however, didn’t have a mortgage on the home.

Alvin said the deputy sheriff said, “Good news, we know who took (your possessions)…Wells Fargo. Bad news, [...]

Chris Whalen: ‘Bank Of America Will Split And Merrill Lynch Will Have $30 Billion+ Of Litigation Exposure For The Mortgage Mess, Just By Themselves’

“The big banks will split and NOT because of regulation…”

 

Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

dailybail.com

BofA’s Surge in Refund Claims Said Tied to Non-Countrywide Loans

BofA’s Surge in Refund Claims Said Tied to Non-Countrywide Loans

Bank of America Corp. (BAC)’s surging claims for refunds on faulty mortgages in the second quarter stemmed mostly from loans made by the bank and its Merrill Lynch unit, rather than the company’s Countrywide subsidiary, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The backlog of new claims (BAC) from private investors probably will increase in the months ahead, according to the people, [...]

GEITHNER: ‘Economy Is Not Growing Fast Enough’

“I’ll tell you my general view on this,” Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner said about the economy in his testimony to Congress. “The economy is not growing fast enough. Unemployment is very high. There’s a huge amount of damage left in the housing market. Americans are living with the scars of this crisis.”

“The institutions with authority should be doing everything they can to try to make economic growth stronger,” Geithner [...]

Mark Zuckerberg Has A Mortgage. Is He Really Rich?

The Facebook Inc. founder refinanced a $5.95 million mortgage on his Palo Alto, California, home with a 30-year adjustable-rate loan starting at 1.05 percent, according to public records for the property.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Zuckerberg-s-1-05-Loan-Shows-How-Wealthy-Stay-3709617.php

UNPRECEDENTED!!! EU LAWMAKERS APPROVE AMENDMENT TO END USE OF CREDIT RATINGS

Why are we not surprised? The EU has just voted to scrap the use of ratings agencies in the next step on the road to a ban of all policy criticism. Via Bloomberg,

*EU LAWMAKERS APPROVE AMENDMENT TO END USE OF CREDIT RATINGS

It seems just a few years ago, when these very same ratings agencies were raising ratings and supporting banking systems, mortgage provision, and sovereign-inclusions-into-monetary-unions, that the political elite could [...]

Once Again, Sovereign Citizens Making Life Difficult for Sane People

“I’ve written before about the “sovereign citizens” movement – a group of people who claim not to recognize the authority of the federal government. These beliefs are usually backed up by some incredibly bizarre legal theories – claims that capitalizing one’s name in a court document makes the document invalid, claiming that a flag in a courtroom with a gold fringe signifies that it’s an “admiralty court” which has no jurisdiction over [...]

Britain to give banks $200 billion to kick-start economy

The Bank of England is to offer money to high-street banks to kick-start mortgage and small business lending to prevent loans being rationed for many families and entrepreneurs, the Chancellor announced.

It comes after sharp rises in the costs of mortgages and other loans in recent months as banks struggle to raise money in the midst of the single currency crisis.

Sir Mervyn King, the Bank of England Governor, said that the [...]

Hedge Funder Who Bet $100 Million On The Facebook IPO Just Called And Boy Was He Furious

We just got off the phone with a hedge fund manager who says his fund owns Facebook stock “in excess of a $100 million.”

 

The fund bought the stock Friday, after the IPO.

This source spoke to us because he is very angry about the Facebook IPO—particularly the way NASDAQ has handled it.

His allegations/claims/opinions:

NASDAQ knew its systems were broken before the Facebook IPO, and instead of aborting the offering and facing huge embarrassment, it [...]

Obama worth up to $10 million and has up to $1 million with JPMORGAN

Three things are apparent from President Obama’s annual financial disclosure statement, released today:

He is a wealthy man, with assets of as much as $10 million.

He has a hefty stake in JPMorgan Chase, the megabank that just made a bad $2 billion bet. Obama has an account worth between $500,000 and $1 million.

Despite the nation’s $15.6 trillion debt, he is a believer in government paper. More than half of his assets [...]

RT@WSJ: Half of young college grads are unemployed or have jobs below their skill level.

From WSJ:

SOUTH PARK, Pa.

Mitt Romney pointed to high unemployment among young people Monday as an indication the president’s economic policies have failed.

“I saw a report this morning that just about half of all the kids coming out of college can’t find work or are underemployed,” Mr. Romney told voters at a campaign stop here. “Can you imagine?”

Mr. Romney was referencing an Associated Press report that said, among young college graduates, half are either [...]

Santelli: Why Doesn’t Obama Go After APPLE’s Profits?

RCP

CNBC’s Rick Santelli: “If I broke my right arm, am I going to pick a fight with the neighbor? No. If I’m two months behind on my mortgage, am I going to go complain to the bank? Probably not. But let’s see, with gasoline approaching $5 a gallon, isn’t this just a supreme time to pick a war with the energy people that are bringing us what already seems to [...]

The five big things preventing a full-blown real estate recovery

From Charles Hugh Smith:

Central Planning has crippled the real estate market to “save” their core constituency, the banks.

If you were head of Central Planning (howdy, Ben!) and were tasked with crippling the real estate market, here’s what you would recommend.

1. Choke the market and banking sector with zombie banks. Central Planning creates zombie banks in one easy step: it allows insolvent banks to mark their impaired “real estate owned” to [...]

If you were head of Central Planning (howdy, Ben!) and were tasked with crippling the real estate market, here’s what you would recommend.

by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds

How To Cripple the Real Estate Market in Five Easy Steps

Central Planning has crippled the real estate market to “save” their core constituency, the banks.

If you were head of Central Planning (howdy, Ben!) and were tasked with crippling the real estate market, here’s what you would recommend.

1. Choke the market and banking sector with zombie banks. Central Planning creates zombie banks in one easy step: [...]

“If the US income distribution today had remained unchanged from 1969, by 2009 the average American household would have had an income of $86,479 instead of $49,777″

Total US national income per person rose by 99.3% over the 30 years from 1969 to 2009.[24]  Why then have incomes for most Americans been stagnant or falling?  Why do American families now need two incomes to have the standard of living they used to have with just one?  Why aren’t today’s young adults making twice as much as their parents did were when they first entered the labor market [...]

Is this America’s youngest landlord? The 14-year-old Lady Gaga fan who spent $12,000 on foreclosed home to get on property ladder

A 14-year-old girl has laid claim to being America’s youngest landlord – after she splashed out $12,000 to take her first step onto the property ladder.

Willow Tufano raised half of the cash by clearing out and auctioning junk from foreclosed Florida properties her real estate agent mother, who contributed the remaining share, was selling.

The two-bedroom concrete block home had been on the market for $100,000 at the peak of the [...]

Rent a Home for $2,800 or Buy It for $600,000?

I am happy to see that there is now a healthier debate between renting and buying in today’s market. Instead of mindlessly buying a home because it is the “right thing” to do people are being more apt to run the numbers before diving in.

A mortgage can become an albatross especially when we have a decade of nonexistent home appreciation. Buying a home is a much easier decision when home prices rise every year [...]

By The Time You Hit 50, You’ll Blow Nearly $2 Million On Living Expenses

by Noelia de la Cruz

Living to 100 will cost you a shocking $3.5 million over your lifetime, reportsSmartMoney’s Jonnelle Marte.

Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Marte revealed that nearly half of that $3.5 million will be spent by your 50th birthday.

Boomers in their 60s will spend the most as they transition into retirement, mostly on housing.

Nearly $155,50 will go to their mortgage, utilities and home decor.

But while 60-somethings will spend [...]

OWN A HOUSE OR RENT? THAT IS THE QUESTION

I think the problem many homeowners are facing is similar to mine. If you are a home owner, your wealth is largely tied up in your homes’ equity.  Like a dog wining on a board nail, we know we are in an uncomfortable position, but not enough to get up and move.

We have 3 options which I will explain

1. We can stay put and change the terms of our mortgage into [...]

Internet Bubble, Housing Bubble, and Education Bubble: No one in America takes responsibility for your bad investments

Internet Bubble: How hard was it not buy AOL when it was going up 50% a year? Don’t people know all bubbles end badly?
- That was stupid
Housing Bubble: How hard was it not buy a house with 0% down, on a 1 year ARM, with a mortgage you couldn’t afford unless your it appreciated 20% in a year?
- That was stupid
Education Bubble: Not just law school but the entire for [...]

NEW FED DEAL: $154 MILLION WINNER

 

Warren Buffett’s stake in Bank of America Corp. increased in value by $154 million after President Obama and the U.S. Justice Department announced a $25 billion foreclosure abuse settlement with the five largest U.S. banks Thursday, records show.

Buffett invested $5 billion in Bank of America (BofA) on Aug. 25, 2011. As part of his investment deal, Buffett gained warrants that allow him to buy 700 million shares of Bank of America stock [...]

Thick as a Brick.

James Howard Kunstlers irresistable  weekly rant linked me The Naked Capitalist where I read

They (the Banks) will reduce the minimum payment due when a borrower (Mortgage) is close to being officially delinquent, and tell them to send a small amount and declare the loan current. Or they simply increase the credit line on the home equity line and let the borrower pay them with new funds lent to them. Neat, eh?

Now I am as thick as two short [...]

Harry’s Law | Video Clip – Civil Disobedience Isn’t Just a Right, It’s a Duty, Wake Up America!

A women who lost her house due to the mortgage crisis, and her bank screwing her over with refusing to work something out, and makes a statement by robbing her bank.

The DA wants to give her 20 years for stealing a relatively meager sum of $60,000, despite the fact that she didn’t hurt anyone, didn’t kill anyone, and didn’t even disguise herself, because she wanted to make a point.

But is [...]