NY Times: In Florida, Despair and Foreclosures

[marmar]

In Florida, Despair and Foreclosures

By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: February 7, 2009


LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — Desperation has moved into this once-middle-class exurb of Fort Myers, where hammers used to pound.

Its straight-ahead stare was hidden amid the chatter of 221 families waiting for free bread at Faith Lutheran Church on a recent Friday morning; and it appeared a block away a few days earlier, as laid-off construction workers in flannel shirts scavenged through trash bags at a home foreclosure, grabbing wires, CDs, anything that could be sold.

“I knew it was coming,” said Gloria Chilson, 56, the former owner of the house, as she watched strangers pick through her belongings. “You take what you can; you try not to care.”

Welcome to the American dream in high reverse. Lehigh Acres is one of countless sprawling exurbs that the housing boom drastically reshaped, and now the bust is testing whether the experience of shared struggle will pull people together or tear them apart.

The changes in these mostly unincorporated areas outside cities like Charlotte, N.C., Las Vegas and Sacramento have been swift and vivid. Their best economic times have been immediately followed by their worst, as they have generally been the last to crest and the first to crash. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/us/08lehigh.html?_r=1&hp

[SpiralHawk]

1. The putrid fruit of republiconomics

Has led America into the Grand Old Republicon Depression.

Grand for the fatcat republicon homelanders like Rush 'Draft Dodger' Limbaugh who have made Mega-Boodles from OIL, WAR, and Media Propaganda profiteering.

Depressing for honest American citizens who must bear the consequences of Republicon greed, corruption, lies, and incompetence.

[KharmaTrain]

2. This Is A Mess In Many Places...

I've been looking for contractors to help fix up this old house...and plenty to choose from this year both grateful for the work and loaded with horror stories. One thing I've heard from several is the problems with abandonded properties. It's bad enough to see newly completed or semi-completed houses wasting away in the middle of nowhere (why people would have bought there is still beyond me), but the growing number inside established areas...dropping real estate values and creating both a site and health hazzard. Many of these places are controlled by banks that do little than keep the places from falling down. The longer these houses remain empty the higher the costs will be to restore them or replace them. Meanwhile there are laborers scrambling for whatever work they can find...not only did this mess wipe out the construction boom, but try and get a homeowners loan.

[Frustratedlady]

11. With these articles on homes being abandoned and semi-completed...

it brings back a show I watched several years ago. It made me SO ANGRY, as they were bulldozing down homes that were framed...maybe roofed...maybe the walls up. Hillside after hillside of brand new homes/about to be homes. I forget the numbers or the dollar amount or where they were located, but it didn't matter. It was the waste for expediency...all that lost wood...no attempts at salvaging anything. Just throw it away/burn it. Get it out of my sight.

That was during the Savings and Loan disaster that another Bush Boy was involved in.

What goes around, comes around. What a legacy that family leaves behind.

[Mojorabbit]

3. The govt here

let developers pave over the state. The changes I have seen in the past 35 years have been heartbreaking.

[Mari333]

5. here too

every little piece of country has been monopolized by ugly mcmansion subdivisions, or condos that dot the downtown and its adjoining areas..but its in standstill now and the foreclosure/sale real estate signs have popped up like dire daisies all over..the party is over it seems, and the wildlife says thank god.

[fishnfla]

10. yup

greedy developers paid of the pols in Tallahassee, together they raped the state. I drive all over for my work, these exurbs are like ghost towns, way out in rural areas (wham, seen gas is going up again), every other home with a faded for sale sign, overgrown yard and pools of every shade but clear blue.

Part of the problem is there is no industry here. lawn services, county goverment, thats it

[Mojorabbit]

4. delete due to hiccup nt

[democrat in Tallahassee]

6. We had a Bush brother for eight years, here.. So we got a double dose

of tax cutting ignorance and other stupidity

[SpiralHawk]

7. "Smirk." - Da Jebster (R - BFEE)

[peacetalksforall]

8. What we're going through can be called THE BIG GRAB. We keep looking

at the results. We should look at the beginning. Imagine how they planned to rob us blind and gather up all the money.

The number was 4.3 trillion missing from the DOD.
The number was xxx from HUD.
Money was taken from every department and agency.
Wall Street.
Contractors.

The key here is not to stop to talk about the damage.
Find out how it happened.

Obama may not believe the he was hired to tell us how it was done or to punish, so we must do it.

Don't let the NYT just write about the fall out - ask them to investigate why it happened. It wasn't just our fault as many try to frame it.

The thieves are running free and the all have their money stuffed into foreign banks. How do we reoover with money in the Caymans, in the mountains of Switzerland, little Islands north of Scotland?

The rich are now more privileged than ever. And still grabbing.

There was a plan and a method to this.

Undoing the plan will loosen up some money.

The laws endowing the rich to avoid investing in this country can be reversed.

[izzie]

9. Little story

About 15 years ago I knew some thing was going wrong with banks and their lack of control we had in what they were doing. I could prove I had paid, on time every morg. payment yet my bank had sold morg. to some out of state holder and my name/morg went with this group which I did not know.The bank had messed up my name with some one else. So my morg. looked like it had not been paid and they moved to foreclose landing on me with some 'server' at my home plus signed for mail the same day. What a fear they put in me as it was up to me to prove I had paid on time and I was not the same person about 5 states away that they were giving credit to from my payment money. I had put down 40 percent on my home and they were still moving to put me out. It took me a month to get this right and the bank then had the nerve to tell me I was a bad credit risk when they them self were sending my payment to their holding company and got me in the trouble in the first place. This same bank had been doing business with my father for years and now was taking over by a 'bigger' bank who did not give a GD about some one like me. It was time to watch banks and see who was watching them in DC. We found out for sure now. No one but people who like to take. Banks bus. has always been money and Congress bus. is watching out for people. It needs to do that once more. Does any one think I was the only person that got stuck in the mess that bank made? What a shock to find out they were moving to take your home from you.