One man's slow moving train wreck into a debt nightmare and foreclosure Hell. (credit card, borrowing) - Economics - City-Data Forum

70Ford · 05-17-2009, 02:16 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/magazine/17foreclosure-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&em

This article... oh man.. Wait.. here's an excerpt. Wow. Just. Wow. And it gets even worse.

************
Our debt spiraled up faster than I had ever dreamed possible. Chase Bank had cold-called me to offer a “platinum” card with no interest charges for the first six months. I took them up on it and shifted $3,000 in debt from my old card onto the new Chase card. But instead of paying down the balance before the interest charges began, I let it balloon to $6,000. Chase had sent us blank checks that we could use to either pay bills or give ourselves cash advances. I dismissed them as a cheap trick to lure dimwits into borrowing more money. In March, I grabbed one of the checks and used it to pay down $1,000 on my more expensive credit card.

thebigr · 05-17-2009, 02:53 PM

The man could not afford the house in the first place and he knew it. He is the only one to blame for the whole mess he is in. I know many people personally in the same boat. The same ones who told me years ago I should sell my old house and buy a new fancy house like them. My wife and I never once even thought of doing that. We like our paid for old house.

janetvj · 05-17-2009, 03:58 PM

It's very hard for me to feel sympathy for people like this. And especially people who supposedly are financially savvy, and should know better. I still live in the same little townhouse I bought after my divorce 16 years ago. At that time, it was all I could afford. And after a while, even after I got to a point where I could have bought something much bigger and more expensive, I realized that my little house was really all I needed. I could live well within my means, and not have to worry about finances. It's hard for a lot of us to accept having to bail out people who were irresponsible about money, when we all played by the rules.

Traderx · 05-17-2009, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janetvj

It's hard for a lot of us to accept having to bail out people who were irresponsible about money, when we all played by the rules.

Hard not to agree with that. In a perfect world the man in this article and others like him would get whatever they deserve. Unfortunately the problem has spread so far now that many people who actually did the right thing are in pretty much the same spot as this guy.

I have a relative who worked hard for 40 years and saved their money. Never used credit cards, always bought used cars, stuff like that. Their mistake was buying stock in what they thought were great American companies with a long track record of paying dividends. Now those dividends have been cut 90% or gone altogether and at 74 they're screwed with no hope of recovery.

I also have friends who fall into both boats. Some did everything wrong and things started going bad for them a year ago. Too much mortgage, too much credit card debt, too much car, too much of everything. The funny thing is most all of those types I know still have jobs. It's just that once the re-fi game ended reality hit them head-on.

Then I have other friends who lived within their means. Saved money, didn't re-fi, etc. Now some have lost thier jobs and been out of work 6-8 months. They get something like $300/wk on umeployment and thats the top level. How can you take care of a family on $300/wk? You can't. So as the months go by their savings gets depleted. They try to sell their homes but can't. They try to get the bank to modify their mortgage or accept a short sale without any luck.

It's a sad story without any good solutions but it will end at some point. And while I hate all the bailouts and stimulus that we're all going to pay for one way or another, I'm not sure I know a better solution. It seems the choices are between, ugly, uglier and really, really ugly.

janetvj · 05-17-2009, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traderx

Hard not to agree with that. In a perfect world the man in this article and others like him would get whatever they deserve. Unfortunately the problem has spread so far now that many people who actually did the right thing are in pretty much the same spot as this guy.

I have a relative who worked hard for 40 years and saved their money. Never used credit cards, always bought used cars, stuff like that. Their mistake was buying stock in what they thought were great American companies with a long track record of paying dividends. Now those dividends have been cut 90% or gone altogether and at 74 they're screwed with no hope of recovery.

I also have friends who fall into both boats. Some did everything wrong and things started going bad for them a year ago. Too much mortgage, too much credit card debt, too much car, too much of everything. The funny thing is most all of those types I know still have jobs. It's just that once the re-fi game ended reality hit them head-on.

Then I have other friends who lived within their means. Saved money, didn't re-fi, etc. Now some have lost thier jobs and been out of work 6-8 months. They get something like $300/wk on umeployment and thats the top level. How can you take care of a family on $300/wk? You can't. So as the months go by their savings gets depleted. They try to sell their homes but can't. They try to get the bank to modify their mortgage or accept a short sale without any luck.

It's a sad story without any good solutions but it will end at some point. And while I hate all the bailouts and stimulus that we're all going to pay for one way or another, I'm not sure I know a better solution. It seems the choices are between, ugly, uglier and really, really ugly.

Very good post. I cannot disagree with anything you say here. Placing blame isn't going to solve the problem - we just gotta do what we gotta do, and move forward.

bentlebee · 05-17-2009, 06:43 PM

I agree...do we have to feel sorry for people who spend money they don't have and never can pay back.

What about all responsible people who end up paying more for items or more tax due to these stupid people!

StoneOne · 05-17-2009, 06:59 PM

If you read to the end of the article, the author has a book coming out with Norton as the publisher. I suspect he'll have no problem soon repaying his debts...

ufcrules1 · 05-17-2009, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoneOne

If you read to the end of the article, the author has a book coming out with Norton as the publisher. I suspect he'll have no problem soon repaying his debts...

Thats a book I wouldn't buy in a million years. This so called "Smart" person is a total idiot. He hasn't made a payment on his mortgage in how long? How much is this going to make my taxes go up? Why is he not being kicked out on the street? He belongs in a one bedroom condo and should kick that broad to the curb too. 100% total loser...working for the New York times is fitting.

StoneOne · 05-17-2009, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ufcrules1

Thats a book I wouldn't buy in a million years. This so called "Smart" person is a total idiot. He hasn't made a payment on his mortgage in how long? How much is this going to make my taxes go up? Why is he not being kicked out on the street? He belongs in a one bedroom condo and should kick that broad to the curb too. 100% total loser...working for the New York times is fitting.

If you would read the article, you'd see that he's contacted his bank a number of times, only to give up when they show no interest or are too overwhelmed to deal with his case.

He's made some bad choices, but if he's able to write a book that allows him to dig his way out of debt, then more power to him.

Finally, the guy who kept getting him these mortgages and the companies who sent all the credit card offers deserve a fair amount of blame as well.

But, as a poster above rightly stated, blame isn't exactly the best way of dealing with this situation all around...

ufcrules1 · 05-18-2009, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoneOne

If you would read the article, you'd see that he's contacted his bank a number of times, only to give up when they show no interest or are too overwhelmed to deal with his case.

He's made some bad choices, but if he's able to write a book that allows him to dig his way out of debt, then more power to him.

Finally, the guy who kept getting him these mortgages and the companies who sent all the credit card offers deserve a fair amount of blame as well.

But, as a poster above rightly stated, blame isn't exactly the best way of dealing with this situation all around...

I did read the article... all 6 retarded pages of it. Just because he called his bank that doesn't make him a saint. His bank cant help him, he is in way too deep and never belonged in that house in the first place. He needs to foreclose and buy something dirt cheap he can afford. Instead he is going to stay in a house that he cannot afford and doesn't deserve to be in.

This isn't one of the people who bought a house and because of the economy crashing he can no longer afford it. He couldn't afford it back in 2006! Do you realize we are in 2009 right now?

Also, Jose Canseco wrote 2 books and he is broke as a joke. Writing the book may help him but there are much deeper underlying problems this guy has. You can't keep throwing money at someone or something hoping it will go away.