Tag Archives: mortgage

Fukushima

One Year Later: Japan down to just 1 operating nuclear reactor. Domestic economy threatened by lack of electricity!

Since the March 11, 2011, natural disasters led to the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, 53 of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors are now off line.

On March 25, 2012, Reactor 6 in Niigata Prefecture was shut down for regular inspections.  The next, and last reactor to shut down will be Tomari in Hokkaido.

Reactor 3 at Tomari nuclear power plant was supposed to be shut down permanently in April, but the operator, Hokkaido Electric Power Company, decided to delay until May 5, 2012.

While the Tomari reactor is not scheduled for re-start, those that are have been blocked by local governments.  In Japan the local governments have the final word on reactor re-start, and because of the on going disaster reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, the majority of people in Japan are against re-starting any reactors.

For the summer of 2011 Japan’s domestic industries suffered greatly because of an electrical power shortage, even with only about 37 reactors operating.  Attempts were made at other sources of electricity, but it wasn’t enough with such short notice.

Individuals, as well as industries had to deal with power black outs.  This caused many industries to close up, since they needed at least eight continuous hours of electricity (or longer).   As an example, a bread factory needs at least eight hours of electricity to make bread on an industrial scale.  The power black outs took place about every six hours.

Some individuals say they handled the summer without air conditioning well, because it didn’t get that hot (what was that about global warming?).

Now Japan is heading into summer 2012, with not one nuclear reactor up and running.  Officials are scrambling to find ways to convince the local governments to re-start reactors, even bringing in international inspectors to reassure local leaders.

This is one reason the Obama Administration recently exempted Japan from the U.S. oil sanctions against Iran.  Japan will be using a lot more oil to run petroleum fired power generators.

There has been a push for wind power, but, just like here in the United States, there’s been a backlash of people who are against it because those windmills are “eyesores” and reduce property value.

It just doesn’t look good for Japan going into the summer of 2012.

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Black Horse & Government Incompetence: Mortgage Settlement money to be used to destroy homes, not keep people in their homes! No protection against MERS! Scams already taking place

Recently the Obama administration announced a victory against the too big to fail banks which are causing the home foreclosure nightmare.  Basically the banks admitted they screwed up, and agreed to pay a huge settlement to help people (lucky enough to still be in their homes) refinance their loans.

But now it’s been revealed that money going directly to state governments can be used for anything, and some local governments will use that settlement money to tear down vacant homes!

The Huffington Post is also reporting that Cleveland, Ohio, has already spent $60 million tearing down homes repossessed by the too big to fail banks.  And that money came from city social programs meant to help the poor!

“We would have much rather spent that money helping families and creating homes rather than knocking houses down that we believe are owned by some very well resourced banks.”-Chris Warren, Cleveland, Ohio’s chief of Regional Development

Now, Ohio is set to get $335 million from the National Mortgage Settlement, and $75 million will be used to tear down homes, rather than get people back into them!

Ohio is getting a big chunk of the settlement money, while New Hampshire is getting a smaller share.  In an opinion piece out of New Hampshire, the SentinelSource says “…investigations have turned up enough reckless and unprofessional behavior on the part of big mortgage loan servicers to justify their paying penalties and granting relief — and in sums far larger than the settlement calls for.”

One aspect of this “settlement” is that states get a large amount of money that has apparently no strings attached. In other words they can do whatever they want with it.

In the case of Idaho, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said on top of the money going to help keep Idahoans from losing their homes (and the piddly, and I mean piddly!, amounts of money being paid to people who already lost their homes), the state of Idaho gets more than $13 million!

  • Eligible Idaho borrowers will receive an estimated $74,686,493 in benefits from loan modifications and other direct relief.
  • Approximately 5,000 Idaho borrowers who lost their home to foreclosure between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2011, because of substandard servicing practices, will receive $9,998,041 in cash payments averaging $1,500 to $2,000 for each affected borrower. These borrowers have been identified by their servicers and will be contacted by the settlement administrator.
  • The settling servicers will pay $15,172,779 to fund a program that allows underwater borrowers to refinance their loans.
  • The state will receive $13,932,238.

Notice there’s nothing specific about what the more than $13 million going directly to the government of Idaho is to be used for.

Also, the settlement does nothing to protect homebuyers from MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registry System).  Recently the Attorney General of New York filed suit against the too big to fail banks on the grounds that MERS was causing many of the foreclosures, illegally: “…brought foreclosure proceedings en masse based on deceptive and fraudulent court submissions, seeking to take homes away from people with little regard for basic legal requirements or the rule of law.”-Eric Schneiderman, New York Attorney General

To make matters worse, several states, like Alabama and Virginia, are reporting scams: “The caller requests the consumer’s bank account number and alleges that he will direct deposit settlement money into the consumer’s bank account…  Mortgage borrowers should contact their mortgage servicers directly…”-Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, Virginia Attorney General

…there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. Home foreclosures on their way back up, Idaho makes top ten list (again)

After several months of what looked like a downward trend in home foreclosures, October had a 7% increase from the month before.

The reason for what looked like a downward trend was because the big banks and mortgage companies had been holding back, mainly due to red tape and just too many cases to go after: “The October foreclosure numbers continue to show strong signs that foreclosure activity is coming out of the rain delay we’ve been in for the past year as lenders corrected foreclosure paperwork and processing problems.”-James Saccacio, RealtyTrac

Nevada is still the number one state for foreclosures, although Las Vegas dropped to 5th place for cities.  Stockton, California, is now the number city in the U.S. for foreclosures.

Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida and Michigan are the top five losing states, making up 53% of the country’s home foreclosures.

The next five most losing states are Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Oregon and Colorado.

 

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Chinese Housing Bubble about to explode: Property Loans halted

“You’d better prepare to pay 40% of your home price as down payment, because commercial banks are going to ask more for a property loan.”-Gong Hang, bank official

First the Chinese government created a new income tax schedule that meant more people were excused from paying taxes, but left them potentially unable to buy a home (due to not having the required tax documents).  Then they ordered down payments to be increased, or mortgage interest rates must be increased (some banks did both).  Now, banks are just flat refusing to issue anymore property loans.

In what’s called 2nd and 3rd tier cities, in China, banks are refusing to issue anymore loans for property: “We will not accept property loan applications at present, even if it is from a first-time home buyer.”-unnamed bank official

If you think paying 40% down on a home is outrageous, wait ’till you read this: 40% down is for first time home buyers, if you’re buying a home for the second time Chinese banks now want 50-60% down.

Bank officials say it’s because the Chinese government ordered banks to hold onto their money, by not lending it out.  This is an attempt to control inflation, which Chinese officials are fearing could get out of control.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. home foreclosures hit record levels year after year

Reality Trac says U.S. property foreclosures hit 3.82 million in 2010.  A record.

It’s a continuing trend since 2006. The percentage of foreclosure filings just keeps going up: 2.23% of all U.S. housing units received at least one foreclosure filing during 2010.  2.21% in 2009.  1.84% in 2008.  1.03% in 2007.  0.58% in 2006.

The top five states for foreclosures in 2010 are: California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Bad Loans, Mortgage Notes, Foreclosures all part of possibly the biggest Scam in U.S. History

A mortgage Note is the document that proves who holds the mortgage on the home that’s being bought.  There’s more and more evidence that the big banks can’t find those notes.  That includes Notes on homes that have already been foreclosed.  Another problem is that, in states that require court involvement, the judges never asked for proof of the Note.

The program, Need to Know, on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), interviewed Michael Hudson, an author who revealed how the big banks were intentionally trapping people in bad home loans.  Hudson says The big banks are using the same tactics in foreclosing.  He also says that many of the foreclosures involve home buyers who were looking to refinance their loans to save money, instead they were set up to fail.

OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 26: Homeowners wait to meet with Wells Fargo employees during a free workshop for customers who are facing mortgage payment challenges April 26, 2010 at the Oakland Convention Center in Oakland, California. Over 1,000 people who are in risk of slipping into foreclosure were scheduled to attend the mortgage workshop in hopes of getting loan modifications to avoid losing their homes. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The problem with the Notes is that the big banks quickly sold off the bad loans, and there doesn’t seem to be any record keeping regarding the Notes.  In many cases, mortgages were sold several times over to other banks, and as investment schemes.  Hudson says the push to foreclose is a way of making more money for the big banks.  In other words the bad loans, the reselling of mortgage loans, and now the foreclosures, are all part of a big money making scam by corporate America.

MIAMI - OCTOBER 01: A pre-foreclosure sign is displayed outside a home on October 1, 2009 in Miami, Florida. Declining home prices, low mortgages rates and government stimulus programs have helped push up the number of pending home sales according to the National Association of Realtors, as they rose by 6.4 per cent in August and were up by 12.4 per cent from a year ago. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Michael Hudson says the Federal government has done almost nothing about this probable crime against American home buyers.  It’s the states that have taken the most action.  But each state has their own foreclosure laws, which seem to be adding to the mess.  Hudson says that the reason why President Obama isn’t ordering a halt to foreclosures, is that he could be held politically responsible for any crash in the housing market.  That would suggest that the current housing market is actually being driven by the foreclosures.

LAS VEGAS - MARCH 21: Countrywide Home Loans home mortgage consultant Al Lizarralde (L) and RE/Max Central realtor Brenda Zablockis leave a bank-owned house during a RE/MAX Central bus tour of foreclosed homes March 21, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. RE/MAX Central of Las Vegas co-owner Ruth Ahlbrand said the Las Vegas area has been one of the top three worst foreclosure markets and one of the top three worst markets for slumping home prices in the United States since late 2007. Ahlbrand said the real estate group began giving tours for prospective buyers three times a week in February 2008, in an effort to clear inventory of foreclosed properties. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Another article, in the Executive Intelligence Review, says that this is all part of the dying last gasp of our country’s financial system.  For too long investments have been sold, that were on paper only, no real assets.  So the bad loan scandal was how the big banks set things up to grab some real assets, and the foreclosure scandal is how the big banks are cashing in those assets to pay off the investors.