Subprime Tent City

[Wheezer]

Victims? They are not victims at all. Noone forced them to take out these subprime loans and buy houses they couldn't afford.
I make 6 figures and have several hundred K saved, and I am living in an apartment, because housing is still overpriced.
Their problem is they knowingly (they had a responsibility to know what they were signing) overstretched themselves to live in a house they could not afford comfortably, making a stupid assumption that housing prices would keep going up, and they are paying the price. But they are no victims. Idiots is more like it.

Exactly.....it's gonna be kinda hard for these morons to flip a tent.

A majority of these people watched too much HGTV and thought..."huh, I've installed a sink, I've installed a light bulb, I have done some painting.....therefore I can start flipping houses and make BIG MONEY!!!....WOOO!!!! FVCK THE LOTTERY!!! THIS IS A SURE THING!!!!!"

Then reality sets in and people can't afford or simply don't want their over priced pieces of crap or they put too much money into it and now the bank is knocking at the door wanting their first payment......so what do they do?

"You tricked me!....I didn't know what I was getting into!"

"You want me to pay you back!?....that's unfair lending practices!"

I really don't feel bad for too many of them...I feel for the kids though...they are homeless and have only a couple of idiots for parents to look up to...."my mommy and daddy are financial morons who showed me how to loose a house without even trying and blame everyone else!"

We might eventually get out of it, but in reality this will happen again.....the cycle will continue because some people just don't learn....those that do...cover their asses.

 

[ericlp]

There is always two parts to this... One Buyers Stretching on the assumption that they can flip a home in a few years as realestate is the #1 investment you can make... Then there is the banks...... Loaning out huge amounts of cash to people The Banks know can not pay back or know that the people are are just floating above water..... Funny how we will bail out the rich fat bank's but not the people that these banks knowingly loaned the cash too, where is the regulation??? And why should we bail out the banks? If they were stupid enough to loan out on a bad loan that's the risks but this country is geared more to help the rich then the poor....

As for these people in tent city... I see no reason for it. Yeah some may have LOST everything....... But I assume that the majority probably got 10-20K for their home... Why not pack your shit, and go to Indiana or Ohio Plenty of homes in the 5-10k dollar range. We all make are own beds life .... Now you gotta sleep in them.. I don't feel sorry for them hanging around in a back yard of a church... I wouldn't do it. I'd go get a friggen fast food job and a 10K dollar house any day.

That's my 2 cents worth....

 

[senseamp]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: senseamp
Victims? They are not victims at all. Noone forced them to take out these subprime loans and buy houses they couldn't afford.
I make 6 figures and have several hundred K saved, and I am living in an apartment, because housing is still overpriced.
Their problem is they knowingly (they had a responsibility to know what they were signing) overstretched themselves to live in a house they could not afford comfortably, making a stupid assumption that housing prices would keep going up, and they are paying the price. But they are no victims. Idiots is more like it.

And you drive a Mazda3. I mean this with honest respect, you are the poster child of financial responsibility. Most folks I know around here making 6 digits are driving AMG, /M, Aston, etc.

Well, it's low 6 figures, I still pay payroll taxes till September, so I am not quite in the Aston territory
Of course If I had a dollar for every time someone asks me why I don't buy a Bimmer, I could swing for one And if I had another dollar for every time those same guys b!tch about their car payment, I could get a Rolls Royce
I could afford one, but coming from a pretty destitute childhood, I am "low maintenance" (or "cheap bastard" )
Also, while I am a bit of a car nut, I don't really like owning expensive cars, just like I don't like owning expensive artwork even though I like going to museums. It's just headache I don't need.
Plus I mostly bike to work, so Mazda3 is a good car for me, easy to park in SF when I go there, or I can toss my bike in the back and drive up to Skyline. Nice handling, looks good, I don't worry about it because it's so cheap It's perfect.

Anyways, back to these "victims." Unemployment/sickness happens, that's why I keep a nice cushion and don't go into debt up to my eyeballs. The comfort of knowing that I will be OK for a year or more even if you lose my job is worth a lot more to me than a nice car. I will buy a house once values come in line with salaries in my area, but for now I am short real estate.

 

[Dari]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Dari

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Dari

Originally posted by: Vic
"They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say let 'em crash."

What about Wall Street? Are they better than these people?

You don't read the news? Wall Street isn't profiting from the housing bust. Bear Stearns just about went bye-bye this morning in fact.

The Feds is trying its hardest to bail them out. Lending them hundreds of billions of dollars to save them from their own mistakes. Double standards FTW.

And I say let 'em crash.

Do you have a reading comprehension problem?

That's what you wrote. WHere in there do you see yourself supporting the banks going under?

 

[senseamp]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Dari

Originally posted by: Vic
"They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say let 'em crash."

What about Wall Street? Are they better than these people?

You don't read the news? Wall Street isn't profiting from the housing bust. Bear Stearns just about went bye-bye this morning in fact.

Doesn't mean the "leadership" of those companies didn't make a killing in the process.
Yeah, the shareholders are getting hosed. Sounds like a dream job, you reap the rewards, the shareholders take on the risk.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Yeah, the shareholders are getting hosed. Sounds like a dream job, you reap the rewards, the shareholders take on the risk.

Funny, I don't recall the shareholders or speculators or house flippers or real estate agents or appraisers or mortgage brokers or individuals using their homes as virtual ATM machines complaining during the the rise of the bubble market.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Dari

Originally posted by: Vic
"They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say let 'em crash."

What about Wall Street? Are they better than these people?

You don't read the news? Wall Street isn't profiting from the housing bust. Bear Stearns just about went bye-bye this morning in fact.

Doesn't mean the "leadership" of those companies didn't make a killing in the process.
Yeah, the shareholders are getting hosed. Sounds like a dream job, you reap the rewards, the shareholders take on the risk.

I'm sure you weren't complaining about your portfolio during the boom.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: Vic
"They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say let 'em crash."

...and they also helped drive up the prices for everyone else, including responsible people who concluded that housing prices had gone insane and that it was more prudent to continue renting.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: techs
Technically they are called "Bushvilles" after the American tradition started when Hoover was President and the Republicans crashed the economy and people started to live in tents called "Hoovervilles.

Term added to lexicon.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: senseamp
Victims? They are not victims at all. Noone forced them to take out these subprime loans and buy houses they couldn't afford.
I make 6 figures and have several hundred K saved, and I am living in an apartment, because housing is still overpriced.
Their problem is they knowingly (they had a responsibility to know what they were signing) overstretched themselves to live in a house they could not afford comfortably, making a stupid assumption that housing prices would keep going up, and they are paying the price. But they are no victims. Idiots is more like it.

QFT

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: senseamp
Victims? They are not victims at all. Noone forced them to take out these subprime loans and buy houses they couldn't afford.
I make 6 figures and have several hundred K saved, and I am living in an apartment, because housing is still overpriced.
Their problem is they knowingly (they had a responsibility to know what they were signing) overstretched themselves to live in a house they could not afford comfortably, making a stupid assumption that housing prices would keep going up, and they are paying the price. But they are no victims. Idiots is more like it.

And you drive a Mazda3. I mean this with honest respect, you are the poster child of financial responsibility. Most folks I know around here making 6 digits are driving AMG, /M, Aston, etc.

Depends on where he lives. There are places in the US where 100k is barely getting by.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: Dari

Originally posted by: Vic
"They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say let 'em crash."

What about Wall Street? Are they better than these people?

There is no better or worse. There is only responsibility, and its the borrowers. Have you ever bought a house? If so do you remember all the disclosures? It very clearly lays out the volitility of interest rates and effect on payment. They signed it anyway. Sure, there may be a fraction of lenders who didnt disclose properly, but the mortgage industry is heaviliy regulated, and most lenders dont take a chance. There's ALWAYS someone who takes advantage. But the number is small. It's STILL the borrowers responsibilty to read something as important as a mortgage contract.

Just because lenders make something available, and people take it, doesnt make it the lender's fault. It's the borrowers. It's no different than teaser credit card rates that spell out if you are one day late your interest rate jumps to 24%. It's not the CC company's fault you paid late.

 

[Moonbeam]

I hate the poor and the suffering. They make me feel like a pig. OK OK, what they really do is push me closer to becoming conscious of how I already feel like a pig.

 

[rpanic]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
I hate the poor and the suffering. They make me feel like a pig. OK OK, what they really do is push me closer to becoming conscious of how I already feel like a pig.

oink oink

 

[abaez]

Hold on - where is this? I really don't think this is in greater L.A. These simply look like homeless people.

I see airplanes landing, but there are like 8 airports all around L.A.

 

[Rainsford]

You know, I hate to interrupt the always amusing "attack the poor people" rants, but is the current housing crisis REALLY all that obvious except in retrospect? It's easy to say NOW that the various mortgage schemes were a dumb idea...but only because we know how they turned out. If there were people 3 or 4 or 5 years ago who were saying that this was going to happen, that's one thing...but I don't remember too many voices saying so. Some people avoided the mess anyways because they are financially conservative, but I don't think anyone was looking into their crystal ball and saw what might happen.

 

[Rio Rebel]

Like some of our conservative members (which I am NOT), I don't see how this is a "victim" situation, and I have a hard time understanding how you go from a house to the street, just by getting an ARM. Are apartments not an option? Am I missing something? Unless these folks lost their jobs, why can't they find housing (albeit much cheaper than what they had)?

And this phrase "predatory lending" is mostly bullshit. Maybe there are some lending institutions out there which need scrutiny, but the bulk of this problem is not deceptive lending, it's bad decision making. And the government can't protect us from that, nor should it try. (And now, by making it taxpayer-funded, any "relief" effort punishes those who made GOOD decisions and have been living within their means.)

I know this doesn't sound like a Democrat, but it's the truth.

 

[rpanic]

Originally posted by: abaez
Hold on - where is this? I really don't think this is in greater L.A. These simply look like homeless people.

I see airplanes landing, but there are like 8 airports all around L.A.

I think its land that belongs to the airport/city in Ontario, and that they have to prove they lived in the area prior to being homeless to camp out there.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: Rainsford
You know, I hate to interrupt the always amusing "attack the poor people" rants, but is the current housing crisis REALLY all that obvious except in retrospect? It's easy to say NOW that the various mortgage schemes were a dumb idea...but only because we know how they turned out. If there were people 3 or 4 or 5 years ago who were saying that this was going to happen, that's one thing...but I don't remember too many voices saying so. Some people avoided the mess anyways because they are financially conservative, but I don't think anyone was looking into their crystal ball and saw what might happen.

Well, before I was in networking, I was in banking. In fact I still have my series 6, 63, and 7 license. Anyhow, this was int he late 80's and early 90's, and of course knew the mortgage guys well. There were arms then, and all the mortage guys I knew hated writing them because of the lax credit requirements, and the volitility of the loans. The general consensus was "Good thing they arent too common". All that happened was they got more common, and the average "spend more than I make"American fell into their own trap.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
Like some of our conservative members (which I am NOT), I don't see how this is a "victim" situation, and I have a hard time understanding how you go from a house to the street, just by getting an ARM. Are apartments not an option? Am I missing something? Unless these folks lost their jobs, why can't they find housing (albeit much cheaper than what they had)?

And this phrase "predatory lending" is mostly bullshit. Maybe there are some lending institutions out there which need scrutiny, but the bulk of this problem is not deceptive lending, it's bad decision making. And the government can't protect us from that, nor should it try. (And now, by making it taxpayer-funded, any "relief" effort punishes those who made GOOD decisions and have been living within their means.)

I know this doesn't sound like a Democrat, but it's the truth.

Pretty much.

 

[Moonbeam]

Maybe the homeless and the poor can live on reservations like wild Indians and eat buffalo and do beads.

 

[rpanic]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Maybe the homeless and the poor can live on reservations like wild Indians and eat buffalo and do beads.

Sounds like a good plan, and then maybe they can open some casinos.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Maybe the homeless and the poor can live on reservations like wild Indians and eat buffalo and do beads.

Or maybe you can invite them into your home and give them work training? Maybe you can actually contribute to the good of society?

 

[dualsmp]

Thought I'd bump this thread.. Saw this video the other day. Parking lots are now opening up for people to get a nights sleep in their car.

California Mother Forced to Live in Car with Dogs
http://www.vloggingtheapocalyp..._LIVE_IN_CAR_WITH_DOGS

Some others:
Tent cities spring up in LA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CnnOOo6tRs8

America's "Tent city" of failure
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WvyubNLbbjo