Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Outta cash & outta luck

The day after her 44th birthday, Michele McIntosh, a single mother of three from Far Rockaway, received a present in the mail she did not want - a foreclosure notice on her condominium.

FORECLOSED! Record numbers expected to continue in Queens

McIntosh is not alone, as foreclosures in Queens, specifically in southeast Queens, have been occurring at record levels throughout the past year, and some experts are predicting little relief in the near future.

The foreclosure rate continues to soar across the country and in New York City, where the number of foreclosures more than doubled in Queens in the last year.

Report: Foreclosure Rates Soars Throughout City

The biggest spike in the city was in Queens, where the number of foreclosures was up a whopping 126 percent.

Photo from Queens Courier

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has anyone thought of any similarities
that might exist between the pattern
of rural farm foreclosures in the 1930s
and the present slew of urban home foreclosures?

I wonder how both these sets of numbers would add up and compare.

What's the difference if you lose your farm ,
your house or your condo?
It's all the same. That's where you live
(or once lived)....isn't it ?

Are we on the brink of a very serious recession?

It certainly looks that way.....
despite all the "positive" PR that's being pumped out
by bankers and brokerage houses!

Anonymous said...

How can this person have had no idea that she took out an adjustable rate mortgage? Shouldn't people have some responsibility for reading what they sign and knowing the basics of what they are doing?

Anonymous said...

This thing is bigger than they are telling us. The following site will shed some light on how big this problem is:

http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/

Anonymous said...

"How can this person have had no idea that she took out an adjustable rate mortgage? Shouldn't people have some responsibility for reading what they sign and knowing the basics of what they are doing?"

Yup, agree. I read this a few days ago and I had a really hard time feeling for this woman. I don't doubt that what's going on is very serious, but she is the wrong person for the story.

Anonymous said...

she lost her job and her mortgage was sold. could happen to anyone.

Anonymous said...

at least she gets plenty of food.

Anonymous said...

When the mortgage lender granted her the loan
they were telling this woman
that she COULD AFFORD the terms of payment.

Responsible bankers
and lending institutions are supposed to tell you whether or not you've bitten off
more than you can chew......and accordingly
approve or accept your mortgage request.

But not so with predatory lenders.
They will usually mislead a customer or client and eagerly try to sell them an inflated attractive
bill of goods.

I'm afraid many sub-prime lenders fall into this shady category!

Anonymous said...

I suspect that there is a relationship between "southeast Queens" and "people with lousy credit because they don't pay their bills" and "subprime lending."
I also agree with the others. Anyone who has ever been to a closing knows that this stuff is clearly explained by all parties, and if her lawyer didn't tell her at least 100 times, he didn't earn his fee.