Crowing about the foreclosure mess is misplaced

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

The foreclosure mess is not going to give millions of distressed people free houses.

(Does that sound like something our system would allow to happen? That congress would allow to happen?)

People being uncertain as to who owns which houses is not helpful to the broad economy. It will delay foreclosures somewhat while seriously unsettling a housing market that cannot bear to be further unsettled.

Nobody is going to buy a distressed property if the last guy who bought a distressed property ended up the victim of industry incompetence, unable to establish title to the house he just bought.

An orderly foreclosure moratorium is one thing. A de facto moratorium arising from national uncertainty as to who owns what is a whole 'nother thing.

[Warpy]

1. I'm terrified

because of the havoc this can wreak throughout the system if Congress doesn't wake up and get off its fat ass and do something about crooked bankers and their crooked enablers. I mean something besides sending a few flunkies and patsies to jail for a couple of years.

This is why the Republicans are so desperate this year. They know what's been going on and what's going to go down and want to cover it up as much as they can, keeping people in the dark as to why all of a sudden their deeds have been changed to quitclaim deeds and their houses are unsellable.

[Davis_X_Machina]

4. You'll get a second collapse of the banking system..

....and no rescue this time, thanks to both sides' demagoguery of the last effort.

And this time, it will be the Second Great Depression.

Was it sub-optimal? Yes. Did some people escape who belonged in jail? Yes.

Did your ATM ever stop working? No.

But hey, it was a lot of fun running around yelling about banksters and bailouts.

And a Republican Congress will be a big help.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

7. There's a feverish pitch of consumer spending underway right now

that is a precursor to the scenario you portray. It's like a depressive's last fling/bout before relapsing into a semi-comatose state.

[Warpy]

9. I saw that over the last few days

when I braved the mall to get my eyebrows lowered and again when I couldn't sleep this AM and tuned into the local Balloon Fiesta and was told that attendance was HUGE and traffic backed up for miles (it was nice, too, the wind carried some of the balloons to my part of town). People seem to think this is the last hurrah of the last economic order and are behaving accordingly, having one last fling and stocking up on the stuff they think they'll need, even though they have no idea in the world what kind of shit is hitting which fan.

Speaking of which, Imelda Centipede (me) could use a couple of pairs of running shoes to get her through the next 10 years or so, the ones she has are falling apart.

[GodlessBiker]

2. I don't see how title companies are going to be able to issue title insurance ...

on most of these properties. Bank screws up and going to leave title companies on the hook as to whether the first owner was properly dispossessed of the property.

[flvegan]

5. It's all part of risk-assessment.

It's going to pose to be a bit more work on the title examination side, and some of the underwriters that are on shaky ground aren't going to be willing to insure over a foreclosure. However, as it stands right now, it's just going to be business as usual.

Besides, these law firms have been screwing through the legal system for years on foreclosures. The underwriters are already on the hook for years of REO policies on improper title.

[lunatica]

3. It looks like a lose lose future to me

Our economy is grinding to a stagnant pile of steaming shit because of the banks.

But a lot of things are beginning to make sense now. The reason is finally clear as to why people haven't been able to get refinancing and restructured mortgages. It's pretty obvious why the banks were happy to take the bailout money and just keep giving themselves bonuses rather than lend our tax dollars back to us. They got away with it the first time, so why not again and again. After all they're too big to fail aren't they? They saw a great opportunity to make more profit and so what if they get caught.

This thing has exploded and there's nothing to stop the consequences and the fallout.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Not to worry. Congress will form a committee, wring their hands, and bail out the bankers.

And, then tell us that they've "done" something for our own good when sending us the bill.

[Davis_X_Machina]

10. Not this time.

Liberals can't do it -- they'll get beaten up for helping the bankstas.
Conservatives can't do it -- the whole tea-party thing is founded on a mythology of bailouts.

There's no legislative solution. The executive is crippled by his color, and a hundred other things.

We're riding this one all the way down. U6 over 40%, U3 over 20%. Y-to-y deflation of near 10%. 1/4th or more of housing stock empty or occupied only because it's being squatted.

We're riding the next one all the way down. Go look at a country like Hungary or Serbia and you'll see our statistics -- life expectancy, employment, per capita income -- ten years out today.

[Riley18]

8. I agree. The banks will make the laws in their favor and will still refuse to

modify mortgages.