NPR—Walking One Block Damaged By The Housing Crisis

Posted by Kendall Harmon

There are basically two kinds of homeowners on Dana Lane — those who bought high like the Sandovals, and those who had been there awhile and saw their equity ballooning until it stopped.

"Like everybody else, I'm in an upside-down loan," says Brenda Moore, who owes more than $300,000 on her mortgage. This is remarkable considering she bought her house in 1989 for $80,000. A search of public records reveals that Moore, a retired nurse, has refinanced her home eight times since 1998.

The loans are from a who's who of subprime lenders. With each loan she took out more equity, and each time the loan terms got worse.

Read or better listen to it all.

Filed under: * Economics, PoliticsEconomyHousing/Real Estate MarketPersonal FinanceThe Banking System/SectorThe Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

3 Comments
Posted March 9, 2010 at 5:00 am

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1. Kendall Harmon wrote:

I caught this yesterday on the midday run.  Eight—count them 8!—refinancings.  The mind boggles.

March 9, 6:27 am | [comment link]
2. Jimmy DuPre wrote:

As someone who believes in the necessity of free markets, there should be consideration of regulating fictitious profits; the profits the lenders made in 2004, 2005, etc. where there was no concern for the long term. If the lenders knew they had to own a substantial number of the loans they made for 10 years, would they have made them?

March 9, 8:11 am | [comment link]
3. Ralinda wrote:

From the story:

When it got to the point that she could no longer make her mortgage payments, Moore thought about walking away.

But she says the Lord intervened. A nonprofit group helped her get a loan modification. Her payments have been cut in half. When a reporter tells her about the Betts family down the street, she seems a little surprised that there’s anyone on the block who didn’t refinance.

“So that’s good they didn’t have to,” Moore says. “But then, too, I look at it this way: You’re sitting on a bank, so if you can use it, use it because you can’t take it with you, so enjoy it while you can.”

Wow—is this woefully ignorant or woefully irresponsible?

March 9, 2:39 pm | [comment link]


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