Philadelphia groups ask judge to suspend auctions on foreclosures

[Judi Lynn]

The Olympian, Olympia Washington

Sunday, February 8, 2004
Philadelphia groups ask judge to suspend auctions on foreclosures

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA -- With a record number of Philadelphia homeowners unable to pay their mortgages, city officials, the sheriff and advocacy groups are trying to convince a judge to suspend the city's foreclosure auctions.

"This is the worst time for foreclosures basically since the Great Depression," said John Dodds, director of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, the group leading the moratorium drive.

"You can't keep letting hundreds and hundreds of people lose their home every week."

Philadelphia Sheriff John Green this week said he would participate in a lawsuit to suspend the auctions, which this week saw a record 1,120 homes up for bid. His office is in charge of the auctions.
(snip/...)

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20040208/business/32194.shtml

[kalian]

1. But...but.....shrub said that the economy was rebounding....

jobs are plentifull...and everybody is happy. Spend, citizen!
:eyes:

[Taeger]

2. Sound familiar

This is what happened in the Great Depression. Banks and Big Money interest had effectively bought the entire nation. No reason to extend credit anymore when we have all the money.

[Mountainman]

9. Back then people only paid interest no principal then rolled over the loan

When you got a mortgage in the past all you had to do was be able to cover the interest. The banks started calling in the loans because they were forced to pay depositors back the money the had saved and the Bank did not have the cash on hand.

[Xithras]

3. And yet, what else are they supposed to do?

That's the problem with mortgages...when you have one, the house does NOT belong to you. The bank owns it, and you're just renting. You cannot live in someone elses home without paying.

[frylock]

4. are there no prisons? are there no workhouses?

[csm]

5. killing the middle class

Now with Bill Moyers had a pertained show on Sat. nite about the erosion of the middle class. With inflation worked in the middle class is actually paying less for food and clothing than 20 years ago and much more for housing and health care. The deregulation of the banking industry gave us more accessible credit but also raised prices on ...necessities. According to the program MNBA was The largest contributer to the Bush campaign, forget the oil industry. The changes in the bankruptcy laws that just passed the house are also hugely balanced towards the various credit agencies. I forget the name of the book and author-see the NOW web page-but she suggested in the interview that it is a confluence of the failure of the education system, banking practices, healthcare... Hey! Let's say free market has failed to lower prices in certain areas and REGULATE these things again!

[bleedingheart]

6. This is so infuriating!

For crying out loud where is the outrage!!!

This is more important that Janet's boob but doesn't get enough coverage.

[Cronus Protagonist]

7. I can't afford to buy a house, and they can't afford to keep one

Maybe the two crises will level off sometime around November...

"ANYBODY BUT BUSH" Buttons, Stickers & Magnets

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. "This is the worst time for foreclosures"

No wonder george Horseshit bush only wants to talk about an abstract war on terror (that he already lost). You won;t hear rove bring up any of this kind of stuff.

The employment figures are for shit, bush is now pretending that the problem doesn't exist, he didn't even mention it on his "interview" today, just his personal war on terror.