Posts Tagged ‘loan’
The latest “good idea” to come out of DC regarding solving the housing crisis and credit crisis would be to allow a government fund to buy troubled mortgages from the banks. Funding would be done jointly from Uncle Sam and Vulture/Hedge Funds. Thus, rewarding those entities for taking the risk and effort to recover value and make fortunes on the backs of the troubled homeowners!!!!
No one is a bigger capitalist and supporter of the free markets than me, but the perversity of the ideas coming out of DC and celebrated by those still with cash is absurd.
A Wall Street Journal article this week indicated that these funds would by the mortgages at $0.05 to $0.20 on the dollar of “face value” thus putting a market value and theoretically some liquidity into a market that has had a dearth of players (folks willing to buy or sell at a mutually agreed upon price). The thought is that by adding government dollars and some guarantees against loss to these vultures and speculators, that things would then get better for all!
This is inane! Once again, the most aggressive investors/institutions will be treated as rolyalty and “protected” by those suffering under situations created to make money from them!
The best idea still and one that I have discussed in the past and will continue to support is the following:
Allow the borrowers to buy back their outstianding mortgages and outstanding credits at the same rate as Uncle Sam is proposing they be sold to Vultures. Provide government financing and guarantees to allow the refinancing of the principal and accrued interest at “pennies on the dollar” to those suffering, with deferrals on payments until income levels have rebounded to facilitate repayment of the reduced amounts.
Why should the Government entice vultures to buy on the distress of the public, and then profit on their further distress? Why not have the Government be the instrument for settlement of the sources of distress? Why not have the individual families receive the benefit from their own recovery? Reduce the levels of sources of profit to 3rd parties and institutions? Foster a benevolent solution, rather than dumping the paper in the hands of vultures and collection agencies to further harass those facing hardship and eviction?
Enough raping of the populace by the Wall Street Titans and Banking Giants!!! We have see that quarterly profits and earnings for shareholders rewarded by temporarily higher stock prices is a recipe for disaster!
A change is needed. A reason for hope! Let us hope the new administration sees the light and makes positive things happen for our society!
Also check out http://alphainventions.com/ a great website for all new posts!
Ge, which had for all intents and purposes closed down GE Capital, its finance division, in November, has finally announced layoffs.
Back in November, GE very quietly announced that it would not be doing any financing through GE Capital, except to only the highest rated credit risks. They completely killed their Senior Bank Lending programs, their Health Care Financing, their trade financing and reviewing of most new deals.
Their announcement came as a surprise to Wall Street investment bankers, who had come to rely on GE Capital as the leading source for Senior Bank Debt when doing M&A. With GE out of the market, hundreds of deals died on the table in the 4th quarter.
GE had inidicated they would review their position re GE Capital and new lending in the first quarter. They had made some remarks in a news release, but it was very unclear as to what steps they were taking.
With the layoffs announced today, comprising of 11,000 highly paid financial professionals (15% of the employees of GE Capital), GE’s intentions and expected operations are quite clear.
GE Capital, which had once generated approximately half of GE’s net income, will be no more as we knew it. Thus, GE’s earnings, as we knew them, will be no more.
The main questions that still exist have to do with the level of potential write-offs that exist on GE Capital’s balance sheet.
Also check out http://alphainventions.com/ a great website for all new posts!
Citi yesterday agreed to “cramdowns” for resetting mortgage amounts and rates for troubled borrowers.
Politicians all across America declared that this was a breakthrough, etc.
One would not think it at all surprising though, given the $45 billion pumped into Citi by our great Uncle, and our Uncle’s willingness to absorb more than $300 billion of future Citi losses.
Socialism clearly has some benefits. With a tight leash (like Citi is on), the master can dictate many things.
Today’s Wall Street Journal had a small article buried within the paper which once again demonstrated how screwed up our American Government/Financial Systems are.
See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123094029211850265.html
Fannie Mae announced on Monday that it is raising its fees to lenders for guaranteeing or buying certain mortgages. The article notes that the fees will increase to 3.25% of the loan amounts after April 1st, from the current 1.25%.
At a time when our Federal government is spending billions to buy up mortgage paper with the effect of lowering market rates for conforming mortgages, the two agencies now under conservatorship have the gaul to raise the fees. This has the same impact of adding 2 points to a mortgage or stepping the rates back up.
The Federal Housing Agency spokesperson has stated that they will review the public’s objections to the rate increase.
Crazy, but believable…………… Help us Barney Frank!!!!
Lending Club Review: A Leading Peer To Peer Lending Network
by Stacey Doyle on January 2, 2009
Our review on Lending Club, a leading peer to peer lending and borrowing social network.
Because of updated credit card regulations, fewer people are qualifying for traditional credit and loans. And now that the subprime loan industry has slowed down, people may be taking a second look at P2P lending. We’ve covered Prosper here sometime in the past, so we thought about reviewing its other competitors — especially as the economy has turned. Case in point? Lending Club, one of the leading companies behind the practice of P2P lending.
As the economy continues to worsen and banks tighten, P2P lending will continue to fill a need within the marketplace.
Please share your comments and experiences….
Congrats to Chip for taking such a dire subject and injecting a sense of humor and a bit of hope.
From our perspective at MoneyAssistant.org there is a ton of pain ahead. In addition to expected spikes in unemployment and further underemployment, tightened credit and higher interest rates, and expected deficits at all levels of government, housing and other asset values are continuing lower.
With an expected $2 trillion of consumer debt defaults over the coming year, many of us will either be in various modes of workouts with our lenders, creditors and governments.
There is much to fear out there in the business community. This is evidenced by continued severe tightness of credit markets, recent bond issues by some fairly solid companies at rates between 13% and 16%, the bond markets pricing in default levels of 12%+ (more than 1 in 10 large companies are expected to go bust), and corporate valuations that are at 60% of values just 12 months back.
Thankfully, Uncle Sam has put bailouts, restructurings, recapitalizations, and HOPE into the current language of our economic chaos (I refer to it as the Red Plague.) If they will expand the circle from Wall Street, Banks, Detroit, to include Main Street and its small businesses and the consumers/homeowners, we may all survive and be in better shape at the end of this ordeal.
See https://guruatmoneyassistant.wordpress.com for additional comments and thoughts.
Refer to http://www.moneyassistant.org for resources and additional information
More on Economy
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
According to a press release, “The Federation of Small Businesses is . . . calling on the Government, the banks, local councils and consumers to play their part during the year by providing support to small businesses in fighting regulation, accessing finance and maintaining cash flow to buck the increasing trend of business closures.”
The Federation for Small Businesses needs to do more than just issue a press release.
The government has financed the banks, protected Wall Street and back stopped the auto industry, but government and our political and financial leaders have ignored the needs and potential catastrophic impact of the small business failure.
Limiting interest rates is just one limited step. Encouraging banks to lend, promoting a major SBA program similar to “HOPE for Homes”, encouraging lenders to extend credit rather than reduce amounts available, are but a few of the many steps they could take.
The FSB is to be commended, but at the same time must call upon the communities across the US to mobilize and lobby Uncle Sam to work to protect our small businesses, their employees, and the core of the American Economy.
As a small business owner suffering from a reduction in income levels due to the recession, I am very familiar with the shortage of credit for small businesses. It impacts the small businesses directly, as credit cards and other signature loans are their liquidity lifeblood. Also, customers and clients rely on credit to purchase services and products and with credit levels being reduced and credit needs not being fulfilled, consumption and purchase levels are down significantly.
Much comes back to the Federal Government and their missteps regarding the TARP and providing capital to our banks. One would think that the government bailout would have helped the small businesses indirectly, but then again, nothing has been as “one would have thought” over the past 6 months.
Today’s Wall Street Journal cites the anticipation of looming “mortgage cram-downs”, as a result of the failure of government’s steps to cease the increase in foreclosures.
The article notes that there are 7.5 million homes underwater currently and that foreclosures are expected to exceed 8.1 million over the next four years!!!! It also notes that Congress was hoping to help 400,000 homeowners through its latest program, “Hope for Homeowners”, but only 357 have applied for the program to date.
Sounds like one of the pillars we discussed yesterday on this blog is still not being secured!!! Unless action is taken, we will see the Red Plague sweep the homeowners and consumers downriver, like the banks and Wall Street firms were washed away this past year.
Unfortunately, the free market and refinancing will not solve the liquidity crunch paralyzing the homeowner/consumer pillar and the small business pillar.
Some insight and real hope are desperately needed. And fast!
If the world is literally flooded with dollars, why is it near impossible to refinance a home or refinance and restructure outstanding consumer credit?
Merrill Lynch is offering a Libor based adjustable rate mortgage for up to $2,000,000 for the current rate of 2.375% with NO POINTS!!!! How many are applying? Very few.
Why? Loan to Value requirements have dropped by on average 20% while appraised home values have tumbled as well. Additionally, if the home is located in a state where the values are declining, then the penalty box of “declining market” is applied and the LTV limits are reduced further.
Credit card companies continue to reduce available credit. Analysts expect that the US will see credit line reductions of $2 trillion dollars in 2009. They also expect credit card rates to continue to sky rocket rather than decline in parallel with the Libor, prime and the Fed funds rate.
Hence, headlines may be deceptive.
With the further expected declines in employment levels and compensation, as well as further tightening of credit and increases in cost of consumer credit, there likely is significantly more pain to come for the consumer-class and homeowner-class ignored to this point buy the bailout plans and liquidity programs of the wealthy rulers in DC and their Wall Street financiers.
Happy Holidays!!!
Thankfully loan modifications are up!! Unfortunately there are no golden standards. Luck and who the servicing agent is plays a tremendous role in how the modifications are made and what they are based on.
I encouragage readers to comment or link to relevant blogs addressing ways to modify loans and helpful hints, etc….
Popular modification options include:
- Lower rates
- Reduction in principal amounts
- Models to reduce payments to 28% of total annual income
- Reducing principal payments but maintaining the total amount owed so banks do not need to take losses on a temporary decline in the house value now.
Remember, the government and the banks want you to stay in your home. In foreclosure they lose a lot more money. Thus, now, they are trying to avoid foreclosure. They want the houses lived in, maintained, and ideally sold at a later date when values have recovered (which they will, it is just a question of when.)
If you are facing a modification or foreclosure situation, let us know. Share your experiences. We will also share with you our latest news and findings. I encourage you to use local resources, like your Legal Aid office, Chamber of Commerce, and any of the hundreds of task forces which have emerged around the country.
Investor groups are forming to assist homeowners and relieve the banks of assets they do not want. The potential returns are modelled to be 8-10% per year plus significant potential profits on the monetizing of the interest in the property five years out. Reach out to me at guru@moneyassistant.org if you have an interest in learning more.
As always, share your ideas, thoughts and experiences.
For Small Businesses and Political Operatives, Please Check Out this Article:
Dear Obama: Send loans fast
The government can spark spending and preserve jobs by getting small businesses the financing they need to survive.
Great article at:
I am thrilled to be up and running with this blog. The US economy is shuddering to a trickle, the markets are continuing to fall, house values are moving lower still, and foreclosures and bankruptcies are skyrocketing. There are new and major layoffs announced each day. And, our government, including the Treasury, Federal Reserve and SEC, continue to make the situation worse rather than better.
The failure for the government to intervene consistently scares the hell out of me. I am not for intervention, but we are in such a bind, intervention is the only hope.
I will be blogging regularly on the tough financial situations so many are facing, sharing ideas and suggestions, and recommendations.
Our website, http://www.moneyassistant.org, is not fully operational, but will be within the next few days. It will be a resource for those facing challenges, including small businesses and families, and also be a place to find opportunity to find solutions. We will attract investors and lenders and others seeking solid profits on their investments.
The first iteration will be a work in progress. We ask for your patience, understanding and feedback.
Given the number of friends I have in dire situations, I am hoping that my comments and work is beneficial and helpful.
Good luck to us all!
God Bless.
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