I think there is too much incentive for under-the-table payments to the current homeowner, aka short sale fraud.

OTOH: It's probably not as scary as running a no min auction.

Congressman Introduces Mortgage E-Verify Act for GSE and FHA Mods

Seems like some Realtor licenses need to get revoked.

Jim is downright bitter! Why is that even great purveyors of Schadenfreude like Jim still have the on? Even after giving us classic clips of copper stripping in million dollar houses! Get that man some Hoffman lenses.

biochemist wrote:
If these mark to market clowns can't beat that, then I'm sorry, I'm just gonna have to rough it out at my parents house for the time being.
Even if you were on a food-service worker's income... with no family to support and your parents paying bills, room and board, it should not be hard to live minimally and save up a sizable cash horde. Suck up the social stigma (it's going to go away by necessity anyway) of living with the folks, and save for a better day.

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

What we need is a viable alternative TO health insurance, then, if the problem isn't the private/public interest. Any suggestions? (non-Northrop SM-62)

The doctor say he's comin', but you gotta pay him cash.

Pay cash, plus catastrophic insurance, what we should have had all along.

Paying a paper pusher at your insurance company to pay a pharmacy paper pusher for a $50 prescription is insanity.

I was under the impression that all the cheaters were in Greece...

Friend of mine went to refinance last week. Loan person asked for a retirement account statement (a new twist). Yo bank person, we're state workers, do you really need to count evaporating pennies??

Whatever happened to fiduciary duty? Don't agents have one with respect to the seller - whether its an individual or a bank?

Speaking of which fiduciary doody was one of my favorite handles on the old haloscan.

This was interesting from last thread and I just wanted to add a

Between 2010 and 2014, about $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans will reach the
end of their terms. Nearly half are at present ―underwater

YouTube - The Beatles - Yellow Submarine

"Suck up the social stigma (it's going to go away by necessity anyway) of living with the folks, and save for a better day"

Oh that is not even an issue, sleeping in a public restroom crowding around a heater with total strangers, while trying to ignore the sssssssstststsssstsss hiss of crack pipes to get some sleep tends to make you appreciate the little things.

biochemist wrote:
Oh that is not even an issue, sleeping in a public restroom crowding around a heater with total strangers, while trying to ignore the sssssssstststsssstsss hiss of crack pipes to get some sleep tends to make you appreciate the little things.
LOL, cool. This gives you a major advantage on your peers who were sold the culturally-toxic American debt dream

Technically it should be the owner/guarantor of the mortgage who picks the realtor. In many cases that would be Fannie/Freddie/FHA, not the servicer.

...and into a dream!

CR,Real Estate In California has a number of serious Agency problems.A "buyers agent" is legally a sub-agent of the listing broker...who has a "supervisory duty" fro the sales agents who work for the broker.Supervision is a very bad joke,agents and brokers who act unethically make more money and pay no penalty for their transgressions.Jim the Realtor is right,and there is no chance in hell he will have a shot at that board and no one who is like him has a chance either.just the way it is...

OT: uhoh... Angela Merkel dashes Greek hopes of rescue bid: "German chancellor refuses to rescue Greece's ailing economy amid Berlin's domestic austerity"  (Guardian UK)

EDIT: Woops, sorry Barley! kcoop: Is there a way to be told ahead of time whether a link has already been posted in preview mode?

I am freezing. We have this nice glow reflecting off the snow in the backyard, which is still coming down...my crazy photographer wife decided, hey we got the kids to bed so let's go outside and try some neat night snow photos. Did I mention I am freezing. She did get some nice shots of some rabbits. Did I mention I am freezing. Still snowing hard too. Shoveled the driveway earlier, can't tell. Even the snow man we made this morning is drowning in snow now. Hope she gets a snow day tomorrow.

A comment form that link, by patrickdodds

"
The BBC reported today that actual financial help from one country in the zone to another is illegal under European Treaty law. Under these circumstances it is hard to imagine how the windy waffle of a Eurosummit is going to change anything - "standing by" a country, what does that actually mean? Cold hard cash is what is required if the PIIGS aren't going to be turned out into the cold to revert to their currencies leaving France and Germany to share the euro. Interesting.
"

Everyone have a good night tonight, I am off for a hot shower to warm up. Thinking about Dan Fogelberg tonight, miss ole Danny boy...can't find a good version online..but one of my favorite set of lyrics: Empty Cages

Waiting in the wings
Your courage sings before
you falter...
It's just another way to say
What's there but never
shows.
It's just another day to lay
Your sins before the altar.
And where it's going to end
this time around
Nobody knows.
Every time it seems that you
Have gained an understanding
Those devils at your heels
Reach up and try to tip the scales.
Waking from a dream
You see it's all been
Done without you.
And every vain attempt to
make it stay
Is destined to fail.
Chorus
Fury rages through your
restless days
Shades of time that's gone
before
Empty cages where the
prisoner plays
'Til the door swings closed
behind for evermore...
Evermore...
Evermore...
Long before we come of
Age we yearn to leave
The garden
And wrestle with a myth
The hand of fate
Has faintly drawn.
But somewhere on the way
We feel our hearts begin
to harden
And see just as we learn
to turn around
The garden is gone.
Fury rages through your
restless days
Shades of time that's gone
before
Empty cages where the
prisoner plays
'Til the door swings closed
behind for evermore...
Evermore...
Evermore...

Let's see. ..
No keysafe
Dirty house
Fat slob husband always in underwear farting when he comes to the door
Toilets backed up
Big mean dog
Green pool
Appointment times only 9a-9:30a except weekends when no one can come

It can get pretty easy to drag these things out if you want.

robert wrote:

ALL programs will eventually be gamed.

Goldman Sachs faces 'Robin Hood tax' vote-rigging claims - Telegraph

This is NOT an agency problem - it's a fraud ENFORCEMENT problem. The banks are complicit in their own robbery, more laws won't help if we don't enforce existing law.

I can't tell you how many foreclosures I've looked at that had "owner occupied" mortgages, and were clearly investment properties. The banks were complicit in this, and the banks are allowing the scammers to rule the roost again, since NO ONE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT CARES!, and the mortgages are guaranteed by fannie and freddie.

At the beginning of this whole foreclosure mess, I was mad at the borrowers - after watching this stuff unfold, I really can't fault the scammers for getting free ponies - no one has made any effort to stop the looting.

I can't believe we have billions of dollars for "homeland security", but no money to spend 5 minutes reviewing each government insured mortgage for fraud. I'm not specially trained, these are public records available online with just a few clicks, that prove fraud on the part of the buyer, and show a damming case against the banks.

Hi guys, did I miss any juicy

Reid Tosses Bloated Bipartisan Jobs Bill For Something Leaner

The new bill drops disaster assistance and extensions of unemployment insurance and COBRA helath-insurance subsidies, all Democratic priorities which will need to be addressed before they expire within the next few weeks.

But Reid also ditched one of K Street's highest priorities, an extension of soon-to-expire tax breaks that are highly beneficial to major corporations, known as tax extenders, as well as other corporate giveaways that had been designed to win GOP support.

Hi Liz, my friend that looked at three houses, bid on the last one, but lost the bidding war. 5 days on market, and offers above asking I believe. Damn!

I would not be surprised if bank employees are already facilitating these scams....I would not be surprised one bit.

Tell me, tell me.

lawyerliz wrote:

Believe me, they can't tell when a relative--with a different last
name and good credit--buys an REO with the intent that the old
owner live in it.

How would a bank determine who is related and who isn't? I can imagine this isn't on their radar, even if it should be.

"Believe me, they can't tell when a relative--with a different last
name and good credit--buys an REO with the intent that the old
owner live in it."

Buying properties for relatives was surprisingly common in FL during the bubble, too.

Then when the loan went bad, we would call the borrower, and they would ADMIT they bought it for their Mom/Sister/etc, but they couldn't pay the loan anymore and the Mom/Sister/etc didn't live there anymore anyway.

Mind boggling.

Where are you? I thought it had stopped.

The New York Post is a scumrag. Rupert Murdoch is a slime.

tg wrote:

Goldman Sachs faces 'Robin Hood tax' vote-rigging claims - Telegraph

Rogue software engineer?

REBear wrote:

Rogue software engineer?

proprietary voting

Yep, I'm bitter. The public deserves better, and the Board of Realtors is in a position to clean it up, but does nothing.

P.S. This lady represents Indymac REO listings too.

NPR reported that Lennar (!) had bought a lot of FDIC mtges.

To discount them for borrowers like that other corp?

Are they that smart? Where did they get the money?

Hmmmmm

Senate sets sights on limited jobs measure | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

" Allow issuers of bonds for certain school and energy projects to continue providing bond holders a federal tax credit in lieu of an interest payment or convert them to a direct payment available under the Build America Bond program."

Goldman is a top underwriter of municipal bonds and the No. 1 underwriter of Build America Bonds. "These are a new type of municipal bond, part of the Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus plan. Cities, states, universities and government entities use BABs, as they're known, to finance infrastructure projects. This is a potential $50 billion annual market, Whitney says, and Goldman currently holds a 25 percent share," reports a Fortune article.

Hmmmm......... time for this really sucks icon! Furthermore, after Treasury pulls the plug on <BS manipulation and the trillion tossed at Wall street, the next joke is to use shit like this to suggest that we have a recovery....

I better do some work ... this makes me sick!

barfly wrote:

but we don't need to collapse it to fix it

I'm not so sure. Existing structures have powerful constituencies that resist any and all change, and yet those structures must change in order for a true fix to happen.

lawyerliz wrote:

Assuming you are the real Jim the Realtor, and not a phony. What's the password.

It's him alright. He's as unique and genuine as you are, liz.

RiF, I certainly agree there's lots of room for improvement. And robert is right; no matter what we do, someone will try to game the system. It's going to require ever diligent vigilance.

OT: Gold and Investment Strategies.
For those who are less engaged with those they see in the mirror than Eric and Rob Dawg, here's a lesson taken from an article in zero hedge. This poster is talking imo the truth. When it came to the low range, last week and early this, in gold, it was time to get in, and I posted such. It's still time to get in, now upping the ante to 60% of one's desired core position. Trading positions are not sure winners, but the weak hands are gone and the shorts are trapped.

" Oscar Wilde said he could resist anything but temptation. But doing something you know you shouldn't is easier if you can convince yourself that this will be the last time you indulge, that you won't do it again. So we convince ourselves that since we'll be strong in the future, we can still indulge today. Whether it?s smoking, eating too much or going to the pub instead of the gym, we delude ourselves into thinking that we will take the more difficult path next time.

A few years ago, two economists actually looked at the issue using gym membership data. They found that in a club in which non-members could pay a no-strings fee of $10 per visit, people preferred to pay the $70 per month for unlimited access. And since members only attended 4.3 times a month on average, they ended up paying an average $17 per visit. The authors concluded this to be clear evidence of "overconfidence about future self control."

Investors understand the affliction all too well: a stock trades at £10 and we tell ourselves that we?re buyers at £8. But how many of us buy when it gets to £8? Some of us do, but most of us don't. Most of us (I can?t be the only one!) convince ourselves that it's going lower still: “I’ll buy at £7” becomes “I’ll buy at £6” and by the time it's back at £8 we're “waiting for a pullback” Each investor has their own way of circumventing this problem. But at root, such poor decision-making is a consequence of our fundamental underestimation today of the discipline and even courage we will require in the future."

Just How Ugly Is The Sovereign Default Truth? How Self Delusions Prevent Recognition Of Reality
Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/11/2010 13:55 -0500

Just How Ugly Is The Sovereign Default Truth? How Self Delusions Prevent Recognition Of Reality | zero hedge 

Jim the Realtor wrote:

The public deserves better
Have you tried calling Yun?

The surge in home sales was driven by buyers responding strongly to the tax credit combined with record-low mortgage interest rates," said Lawrence Yun

Apparently BofA can manage to foreclose on homes they don't actually hold mortgages on. You really can't make this stuff up...

Bank of America forecloses on house that couple had paid cash for - St. Petersburg Times

The Massachusetts couple paid for their future retirement home in Spring Hill with cash in 2005, five years before agents for Bank of America seized the house, removed belongings and changed the locks on the doors, according to a lawsuit the couple have filed in federal court.

Early last month, Charlie Cardoso had to drive to Florida to get his home back, the complaint filed in Massachusetts on Jan. 20 states.

The bank had an incorrect address on foreclosure documents — the house it meant to seize is across the street and about 10 doors down — but the Cardosos and a Realtor employed by Bank of America were unable to convince the company that it had the wrong house, the suit states.

Slumdog wrote:

For those who are less engaged with those they see in the mirror than Eric and Rob Dawg,..

Physician heal thyself.

Why don't they lend me a mere million, no interest, I will
discount the hell out of them!!

EconomicDisconnect wrote:

Any insightful long term ideas welcome, short term fixes not so much.

Too many people don't consider "letting the chips fall where they may" to be a valid long-term idea. Certainly the politicians don't.

Goldman Sachs faces 'Robin Hood tax' vote-rigging claims - Telegraph 

rigging.....no secret here.

shill wrote:

rigging.....no secret here.

YouTube - Sex Pistols - Friggin in the Riggin

The NPR folks also interviewed a couple of lawyers and
such about the dysfunctional congress.

One wanted a constitutional convention. (And that wouldn't
be bought too?)

Another had a good idea. If you are willing to accept contributions of
only 100 bucks or less, your donations are quadupled. Sad to think
of taxpayer funding, but it might eliminate the contribution/bribery thing.

There prolly is a way of gaming this but at the moment, I am too tired
to think of how.

EconomicDisconnect wrote:

When will we (if ever?) come to grips with the fact that home prices (not rents) are way off base and just accept that rather than try all these stupid games?

The government has massively intervened in the housing market since the Great Depression. Why would they stop now?

comment in the marketwatch article on Lennar buying bad mortgages...

I'm getting a sweet deal from JP Morgan Chase. I havent paid them a nickel on my mortgage in 2yrs and they've agreed to reinstate my mortgage at a reduced payment with extended term from $2000 to $1500, so I'll make a few payments to make sure the modification sticks, then default again for another 2yrs of rent free living Up yers banksters.

here's a anchor steam lager to you sir....

barfly wrote:

Not really feasable where whole societies are involved.

Why?

OT: Some might find this interesting, maybe not, but I thought I'd post my experience with HARP (Home Affordable Refinance Program). I'm one of those people with an ARM that floats on June 1st, 2011. My wife and I late last year started getting nervous about interest rates going back up, and the fact that the housing prices, although they had slowed their decline substantially, were still trending downward. Chase services our mortgage so we went into a Chase branch to discuss our refinance options. We were told that our loan was "owned" by Fannie Mae, which was a bit of a shock as I had no idea and had assumed naively that Chase was holding the mortgage. We had put 20% down when we bought the house. If memory serves, I think the mortgage was originated at WAMU. Anyway, our home was now appraising a few thousand above the amount owed on the loan. To make a long story short, HARP was our only choice. We were able to refi our loan to a 30yr fixed @ 5.375%, the same rate we were paying on the ARM. Fees were minimal. They did not require a full appraisal (it was some sort of computer based appraisal), and in total we filled out 4 documents via email. Talking to our refi representative, he seemed very busy, so I think they are doing quite a bit of HARP business. The worst part of this whole business, besides evaporating equity, is knowing your loan is backstopped by the Government and you can't do anything about it. Well, except for selling the house and we have no plans to do that.

barfly wrote:

Not really feasable where whole societies are involved.

You prefer the current approach wherein the only chips falling are on those without connections?

Too many good comments to reply to...
I guess I am just a simpleton and figure the best way forward is to "let the chips fall where they may".

I think we can get over this, not without pain, but I believe we can. Why not try it instead of all this crap which just makes people want to riot like in Greece?

Another report from Crush Your Creditors(tm)

Talked with somebody with a brain from SLS tonight. They got my offer, and they wanted a little more paperwork. They seemed hot to trot with the paperwork. Accused me of being a lawyer- nope married to one, consulted with one on how do the negotiations, but not a lawyer. Told him upfront that anything produce will be run by my attorney. Faxed them the latest from the first, and will call back on Monday, after I do my ski trip tomorrow.

Offer is for 17 cents on the dollar. He went off script after I called bushwa on the "We will pursue you for collections should you default." I said, "Did you get my offer letter?"- "Yes," he replied. "Well, then, you have the full offer, cash or deed in lieu- if they won't deal, I am willing to default on the first and leave them with nothing." Wanted the full tax returns. Told him pound sand, I have a prenup, and the wife refuses to divulge. Gave him the option of the last two years of Schedule E with redactions.

Wanted the final paperwork so he could run it past management for approval on Monday- in other words, they want the cash, and they understand I am serious. Looks like a deal is coming.

I will believe it when they FedEx me the docs.

Had lunch with an old friend who the recession has smacked down hard. She barely made 20k last year, and tried to carry 60k in credit card insanity from when she made much more. Asked her if she had filed yet for BK- she wanted to wait until she got a better job!! I said- NO way- file NOW!! Wipe the slate clean, and in a few years you can buy a house!

Someday this war's gonna end...

It's in Florida, liz should give them a call!

EconomicDisconnect wrote:

Why not try it instead of all this crap which just makes people want to riot like in Greece?

Either way we may still have Greece-like fires. J6P has been sold on "bread and circuses" and will NOT like facing reality.

I am going to leave the whole society re chips fall comment alone. Anyone with an ounce of science background knows that the more you reward oor behavior you get more of it.

A committee on real estate ethics... meh.

Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.

I dont agree, if the ones that got us into this mess were given their just reward and the rest of the country had to suffer and go on I think we would; pretending otherwise is an insult and shows a lack of faith.

barfly wrote:

TJ, I prefer fixing the recognizable problems through effective regulation with as little collateral damage as possible.

I'd agree, except we're well past that point. As others have pointed out repeatedly, Wile E's already run off the cliff.

I just noticed at the end of the article it mentions that this is becoming common in Florida. And people wonder why the process can't be sped up...pffft. They can't accommodate the current foreclosures without screwing it up.

Jim the Realtor wrote:

Yep, I'm bitter. The public deserves better, and the Board of Realtors is in a position to clean it up, but does nothing.

I think what surprises me the most about that statement, as well as the statement in the video, is that you, Jim, expect that the Board of Realtors will actually do anything at all.

So far a I can tell from the outside looking in, they are no better than DRE when it comes to disciplining members.

Have to work in the AM...

Comrade Kristina wrote:

Have to work in the AM

People where you work start drinking before noon ? Must be a productive crowd.

Interesting Times, I had mentioned that we made a reasonable offer on a short sale in 2007, and the lender countered with a price higher than list. The whole deal was like that, they couldn't have been more obstructionist, and we ended up walking away.

But now that I think of it, strangely, that house went off the market, no sale documented anywhere, and has not been for sale since. I'll have to drive by and see if anyone is living in it. Maybe they rented it out, but they couldn't have rented it for what they owed on it, so, weird.

Mind you, that was 3 yrs. ago now. As CR had mentioned, lenders have probably gotten their acts together since then.

If you're still reading Jim-
Thanks for this (and previous) rants. I hope you succeed wildly in your campaign to straighten out some of the crap that is occurring.
JP

Oh, yes. Well, not gotten their acts together, but
much more cooperative.

Why don't you check the tax records and see who owns
it. Maybe the house is languishing in foreclosure oblivion?

cclt
heres some more about lennar
New homebuilder comes to Atlanta  | ajc.com

Case-Shiller strongly implies that it's going to vary locally. 50% off in AZ might be a high bid, but 50% off in Chicago or Dallas might just be too low.

If you're in a position to try, you could do something like offer Case-Schiller minus an additional 20% off or so to give yourself some margin.

I haven't been to a sheriff's auction in at least two years. I should start going again. Cheaper than a movie.

broward wrote:

bearly bitching about productivity again.

LOL!

Go ahead and insult him. What can you lose? What is the
mtg balance?

DFW area, there were articles in the Dallas Morning News and other Texas papers, but I can't find anything at the moment. You can imagine WAMU and foreclosure has a lot of hits, and I can't quite fine tune the search to find it.

I just checked the property tax records online, and the owner still owns the house.

I'm driving by tomorrow, because I know the owner had moved to NC when we put our offer in.

Assuming you are the real Jim the Realtor, and not a phony. What's the password.

Password?

I remember about a year ago when you asked here if I ever sell anything.

broward wrote:

still can't figure it out

I admit. I need a primer on the benefits of being progressively less productive and maybe some case studies on how being less productive leads to success.

Outsider wrote:

Mind you, that was 3 yrs. ago now. As CR had mentioned, lenders have probably gotten their acts together since then.

I don't think that many lenders have gotten their acts together, but they have finally dispensed with the notion that "your offer is laughable; I'll hold it for another year until the market comes back."

A year later, when contacted about that offer, they learned that it was no longer operative.

After another year, they were willing to consider other numbers, but by then the unpaid taxes (based on the fantasy valuation of times gone by) had to be deducted and, well, that doesn't leave much.

So in the third year, have they learned anything other than what fools they've been all along?

Of all the JTR videos (I am a subscriber on YouTube) the one I like best is where Jim has loaded his old 70's pickup full of loot from an abandoned house and is driving away with bicycles piled on top... Do you still have that old pickup Jim? I see you are driving the Benz in the rant video...

Obviously you do!!

One of the clerks at the tax assessors office in Miami
said that he has investors coming in to ask him about properties.

He says a bunch of them are waiting on the sidelines.

Also I had a client come in that just happens to work for the Trump
towers. Said a lot of them are owned by Russians or South'Americans
who never seem to show up. In 2 of the towers. He is not in a position to
really know about the finances of the towers, I don't think.

bearly wrote:

I need a primer on the benefits of being progressively less productive

Ask and ye shall receive.

HA! That is the most myopic analysys I have ever seen. Where does the case when a new need or product appears ? This imaginary universe assumes a lot of permanently stationary objects.

Accompanied by a petty rainbow.

http://realmeme.com/roller/page/realmeme?entry=rainbow

RIF you should be ashamed. Bearly, I would expect that nonsense from.

You union bashers should work for the fucking government for a while before you spout off. But I support your right to free speech, the same right which allows me to bargain collectively. Fascists and Communists hate unions.

Mortgage docs are not recorded online where you are?

Canada has some pretty heavy privacy laws.... I don't think we have those online.

There might be other avenues to get that info. Personally, I think the poker game is much harder in Canada... They have a lot more to lose since banks rarely give in. And I know a senior banker who tells me this all the time....

There is no chance the U.S. economy will see a so-called Double Dip recession, so worries about another downturn are — for the moment — unfounded, Commerce Bank financial analyst Scott Colbert told an audience yesterday during the bank’s annual investment and economic update at Reynolds Alumni Center.

“We are firing fewer and fewer people faster and faster,” Colbert said. But, he warned, if there’s not positive employment growth this month or next, the chances of a double-dip recession grow.

When things start to sound this stupid, go short.

1 currency now -yogi wrote:

the same right which allows me to bargain collectively

Remind me... what amendment to the Constitution was that one?

Not arguing the legal right per se, just pointing out that it's far from the same.

ShadowInventory wrote:

Do you still have that old pickup Jim?

Ask him about the 'Vette motor.

Thanks again. I'll let the forum know if I pull the trigger and give him a low ball offer and how it progresses. I still feel that even at 330k it's

Freedom of speech and of assembly. Number fucking one.

1 currency now -yogi wrote:

Freedom of speech and of assembly. Number fucking one.

Oh, I thought we were talking about collective bargaining, which is something else entirely. Sorry.

For some reason Jim the Realtor sounds like what I imagine Frank Bascombe would sound like. And if I were to meet them, I feel like I'd like them both.

Thanks, Outsider, I'll watch it now.

Perhaps I'm not making myself clear. It's not about rewarding "poor behavior". It's about supporting the less fortunate and weaker members of society who have fallen on hard times for whatever reason, most often through no fault of their own. It's a poor society that neglects that duty.

mock turtle wrote:

there are good unions and their are bad unions

Yep, just like there are good corps and bad corps, good people and bad people, etc.

That's right, I lose it when I hear such crap on an intelligent forum like this.

Sportsfan, you said you would die for the First Amendment. It makes the US a better place to live than China will ever be. A union is an assembly of humans. It's easy to believe in free speech when everyone says what you want to hear. You don't need a Constitution for that.

Fed in Talks With Money Market Funds to Help Drain $1 Trillion

Maybe so. But they're also doing this to prevent the drain out of money market mutual funds, because investors are worried about more breaking the buck.

Total U.S. money market mutual fund assets peaked exactly a year ago at $3.9 trillion.

Dropping like a stone, to $3.2 trillion now.

Pretty stunning drop, and unprecedented since money market mutual funds were invented in 1970.

Jim the Realtor wrote:

The '66 Chevy feature starts at 2:55:

LMAO: Chick magnet.

mock turtle wrote:

before there were unions there was no sick leave, vacation leave, benefits and people were routinely worked to death

Look, I was in a union for a couple of tears and spent 10 years trying to figure out how to work within union constraints.

I have sick leave, vacation, benefits... and I am not in a union. The USG has effectively rendered union negotiated working conditions meaningless.Now they invent ways to become an obstruction They are now nothing but legalized mobs.

Oh yeah - always love the ice cream trucks too - REO's and ice cream trucks just seem to go together...

That foreclosure is on Rhea St. - (as in diarrhea)....

1 currency now -yogi wrote:

You don't need a Constitution for that.

On the contrary, I need an extremely strong constitution to listen to Sportslan.

RIF, have you worked for the government? I had a long, nasty debate with Byzantine ruins on this subject, and don't feel like rehashing it. It's on haloscan. I gave a long detailed history of the public union I was in and the reason other structures for getting the work done had failed.

I suppose the Greek teachers and doctors should just shut the fuck up and let Jamie Dimon enjoy his hard-earned bonus.

bearly wrote:

before there were unions there was no sick leave, vacation leave, benefits and people were routinely worked to death

You forgot the weekend -- no weekend off until union pressure, That was what Hay Market was all about.

1 currency now -yogi wrote:

Sportsfan, you said you would die for the First Amendment.

Yes, yogi, I have said that and I will say it again. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is something worth giving my life to preserve.

I have nothing against unions. They actually do result, at least initially, from a free assembly of persons. Corporations, on the other hand, do not. Why the Supreme Court felt it necessary to say "oh, and unions, too" when granting corporations the right to spend shareholder money to influence elections is beyond me.

But then I haven't had an easy time understanding what motivates the honorable justices for a long time.

Okay, on the Indymac/FDIC/One West Bank video, I would hope someone in Congress decides to hold a hearing or two.

But the bottom line, so far at least, is that the FDIC is funded by the banks. While the video and harsh reality suggest that the FDIC may soon be borrowing from the Treasury, unless Treasury forgives that loan, the taxpayers aren't directly being affected. The people who should be screaming the loudest are small town community bankers.

Will anyone listen if they do? Does anyone listen to all the rants here?

Okay, on the Indymac/FDIC/One West Bank video, I would hope someone in Congress decides to hold a hearing or two.

I'd rather be spared another hearing of Congress humbly pitching softballs to their masters

1 currency now -yogi wrote:

Oh, I think you know why they threw unions in the ruling.

It would just be a SWAG.

bearly wrote:

Look, I was in a union for a couple of tears and spent 10 years trying to figure out how to work within union constraints.

I have sick leave, vacation, benefits... and I am not in a union.

those benefits came into existence for common workers because of unions... and did not exist for common workers before unions

your personal experience with a bad union, or mine, does not constitute a reasonable analysis of the sum total of what good or what harm unions do

the bottom line is this....just as individuals have a right to collect in a group, invest and form a company,....

so do workers, or anybody else have the right to associate and work towards a common goal

whether that goal be about work, philanthropy, politics, recreation, hunting or conservation

we have freedom of association in the USA

as for you comment about how you couldnt figure out how to work within your union contract after 10 years emploment ,i dont you what you mean...please give an example

sportsfan wrote:

Does anyone listen to all the rants here?

I read them occasionally.

But not listen.

The heavy accents throw off Google Voice and all I get is gibberish.

Reason #20,938,475,982 why I am glad I am not president.

When I hear Jim's stories, I think about a recent experience of ours. We put an offer on a short sale that was on the market in Palos Verdes going on two years, the bank rejected ours along with a two+ other offers, so all offers were rejected. They allowed counters and we countered at 1.4 (900 down), but was outbid. The whole process took months. Months later the listing reappears on the MRLS very late Wed night as active. We submit an offer Friday morning, but it was too late; the house was sold. Final sales price 1.3. May not be an inside deal, but we wonder...

creditcriminalslovetarp wrote:

how to piss off your biggest creditor in 30 days....starring....the wonderkid....

Would you prefer it if he took his marching orders directly from Bejing?

no... I would prefer for the goofball to figure out how to create jobs, raise taxes on the uber rich and feed homeless old ladies and children....

we have issues here....

I am getting a frightening ad from BofA:

"Nothing stimulates the economy like credit. We are proud to have extended the most"

I'm still trying to figure out how broward gets Google Voice to do accents.

"The Animal Farm" should be required reading for all those elected to public office...

"While we're waiting, we might also take a look at who is trying to stop him from doing anything."

why not hire blackwater to take care of that issue....they need the work I here...and should be able to find them in dc or new york pretty easily, last I heard IED's were very rare around those parts...

some investor guy wrote:

Somewhere out there are lots of people who clearly and provably committed federal offenses related to the bubble or bailout.

I think one mistake he made was the "we're looking forward, not backward" remark early in office. He may like to style himself as post-partisan, post-racial and post-retributive, but the people want blood. On that I agree.

Shadow, where the have you been? Coma?

RIF wrote
"Of course, as the Bush tax cuts expire we all get to pay more as tax rates revert across the spectrum."

is that right...the expiration of the bush tax cut will raise taxes on everyone?

After watching that video of how the banks are cleaning up on the short sales, now I understand why a whole lot of houses that did show NOD or foreclosure are now listed for sale as a short sale...

ghostfaceinvestah (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Thu, 2/11/2010

"her husband, who had 20yrs with the same hospital as a NON-UNION nurse got canned, along with several other high-seniority workers just last week. Fired, and replaced with younger, cheaper workers, who hadn't amassed the right to vacation time and benefits."

Cry me a river, so the hospital wasn't supposed to replace someone who is replaceable at a lower cost?

That's a great attitude if you don't ever plan on getting old.

broward wrote:

The dismaying news is that... well, something like 50% of the IT industry is paranoid and easily manipulated.

I don't know Kurt Lochner, but if the filter works, use it.

Whether IT folks are more paranoid than others, I can't say, but then they are more familiar with the numerous ways people can invade the privacy of others, while those of us among the uninitiated just sit here and say "What, me worry?"

ghostfaceinvestah wrote

"Cry me a river, so the hospital wasn't supposed to replace someone who is replaceable at a lower cost?

depends on whether or not the employees have a contract that stipulates termination for lack of performance
or
part of a reduction in force due to cost constraints etc
or
other non discriminatory reasons

if they have no contract and no fed laws were broken firing people because of race or religion for example

then yes the owners of the hospital or factory or what ever can fire people for just about any reason

as for the cry you a river part you asked for

well

we would only need to do that if you were so unlucky as to have been employeed at a company like that

and at job you really needed badly because you hadd kids and a recession was on

and you were fired just cause..oh well lets see, you wife got pregnant ,maternity costs with health plan the employer didnt want ot incur
or
you were getting older and the employer doesnt think people in their 40s are very useful
or
maybe you had a re-elect bush or re-elect obama bumper sticker and your boss didnt like that
then
that river
would turn out to be handy to ya

mock turtle wrote:

is that right...the expiration of the bush tax cut will raise taxes on everyone?

Yes, and Obama has said that he would offset any increase with a decrease for "common workin' folk" or some such similar remark.

The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 benefited the rich disproportionately, on the theory that those who paid more should get more of the surplus back.

Ha ha ha, remember all that "surplus" talk?

BSR - There's girls and swimming pools, and we had so much rain a couple weeks ago that the desert was flooded!

Lets not forget that container shipping has enabled global wage arbitrage... The work is going to go where it is most cost effective... and then we become exposed to the risk of shipping interruptions... Fortunately we do not import much of our food, unlike some places...

Interesting, so if it was your business,

Well, there's your problem right there. A hospital is not just someone's for-profit business. It functions within a society. Yes, even "private" hospitals.

Like the eskimo and snow, we need more variation in our expression of outrage.

I commented one night on the potential for short sale fraud and the few posters left awake dismissed my concern. I guess now I feel validated. Of course I think most realtors need to lose their licenses and also think fraud or dishonesty is involved in some aspect of just about every real estate deal.

Full disclosure: Put me down for a "Dawgwins". I live in San Diego.

Did the hospital owner educate and train the nurse? Does it benefit from public health insurance? Will someone die because inexperienced young workers can be hired on the cheap? Look up the Libby Zion case, or the the Colgan Air crash in the news today.

Black Star Ranch - remember this one from quite a while ago -

BSR SOLVES COW FLATULENCE PROBLEM!!!
How Studying Cow Burps is Helping Argentinians Learn about Climate Change : TreeHugger

"A hospital is not just someone's for-profit business. It functions within a society. Yes, even "private" hospitals. "

So hospitals, even private hospitals, are not supposed to minimize their costs if they can do so while delivering equal quality?

ghostfaceinvestah wrote:

"A hospital is not just someone's for-profit business. It functions within a society. Yes, even "private" hospitals. "

So hospitals, even private hospitals, are not supposed to minimize their costs if they can do so while delivering equal quality?

When you need your hip replaced, do you want a "first-timer" holding the knife??? The quality cannot be "equal".

hover over your hoover

ShadowInventory wrote:

How Studying Cow Burps is Helping Argentinians Learn about Climate Change

....we've found that by changing them to a grass diet minimizes bad breath and cow farts. The downside is that milk production is 10-15% less. Since we aren't a dairy, that's an easy sacrifice.

RIF, from #38:

To be clear, the proposal is now simply an outline of Obama's budget, and the budget still has to be approved by Congress, where Republicans are likely to oppose any effort to let the Bush tax cuts expire. So for now, we rate this promise In the Works.

BSR you are already positioned for self sufficiency when Nova's predictions become the evening news...

kcoop wrote:

Try hovering over it, and see if that helps.

I did that right away to interpret the image. It didn't help. I just enlarged the type face on my browser page and still can't see what the image represents.

Does that mean I'm not really outraged?

barfly wrote:
So for now, we rate this promise In the Works.
LOL... glad we have that squared away

You will live longer out there on the farm than if you lived the city life... I grew up on a farm and owned a small one once, dont have one now, but I keep thinking that it would be a good investment if I could find some younger family to move in as tenants and help with the work as part or all of the rent...

sportsfan (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Thu, 2/11/2010 - 9:48 pm

mock turtle wrote:

is that right...the expiration of the bush tax cut will raise taxes on everyone?

Yes, and Obama has said that he would offset any increase with a decrease for "common workin' folk" or some such similar remark.

mock back to ya

you appear to be in error

the bush tax cut of 2003 did not reduce federal income taxes for households with less than 57k income married filing jointly

the threshold numbers are around 27k for individuals

this means, that almost half of americans never got the tax cuts after income brackets adjusted to agi

Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Feckless Ness wrote:

We've returned to hieroglyphs.

Who knew the smiley face would lead to this....

The Shadow knows!

The Shadow wishes he knew some way that we could work our way out of this fiscal mess, but despite conferring with all the kings horses and all the kings men, none seems to appear...

I could read the text in the balloon for the vac. icon... running Firefox 3.6 on Ubuntu 9.10...

Hey Jim, love your work. I'm a San Diego potential buyer.

By the way, are you having any issue with all the REO listings requiring financed offers to be pre-approved through a loan officer of the bank or listing agent's choosing? Is this even legal? This is really getting old for me. Each offer and they say they have to run your credit again. I have 2 current pre-approvals yet it doesn't matter. Today Bank of America told me I couldn't make an offer without their approval but they won't take a credit report that was just pulled last week by another bank. I'm too close to 700 on my score to risk lowering it due to too many credit inquiries. Told BofA to pack sand. I won't make an offer. Anyway, end of rant. Have you had similar problems?

I could fire people but if I didnt have a documented series of performance problems or good cause, then when they filed for unemployment my 'unemployment tax account' would get charged and my payroll taxes went up. After battling with the CA EDD for a while, I realized that the dice were loaded against me - no matter what evidence I had the EDD would always rule in favor of the employee... So I adjusted my business model to allow for the maximum EDD tax and lowered the maximum wage I was willing to pay to make up for it... So the good employees wound up subsidizing the bad employees and the EDD....

mock turtle wrote:

you appear to be in error

the bush tax cut of 2003 did not reduce federal income taxes for households with less than 57k income married filing jointly

the threshold numbers are around 27k for individuals

this means, that almost half of americans never got the tax cuts after income brackets adjusted to agi

Okay, if that's what you call an error. The 2001 tax cuts lowered all brackets, that being everyone who pays.

I lumped the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts together (since 2003 amended 2001). The fact that 2003 did not provide any tax relief for married filing jointly and earning over $56,800 AGI just shows how absurd those cuts were, not to mention totally unnecessary given that the 2001 cuts had just gone into effect.

As I said, they were designed to benefit the rich. The fact that the "surplus" was long gone before the 2003 legislation passed only goes to show that a Republican President and Republicans controlling both houses of Congress don't give a shit about the people or the country as a whole, just the rich folk in it.

if inquiries are within 30 days for mortgage loan it shouldn't ding your score, RMCRs need to be updated every 30 days.....I would bring your last credit report.... or bring your own in by getting them here....same applies to auto loans...they know your shopping ....

AnnualCreditReport

sportsfan wrote:
a Republican President and Republicans controlling both houses of Congress don't give a shit about the people or the country as a whole, just the rich folk in it.
I don't know if party affiliation makes that much difference. What does the trick is how the uber-wealthy brought most of the senators and congressmen not already in the political dynasties into the lowest levels of upper class society, so they had a vested interest in preserving the status quo for the elite levels.