This should be illegal

[DJW32]

This sh*t needs to stop! This man is a thief!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/bu...4penny.html?hp

[derekf]

I'm not sure that we're reading the same article. It sounds like they're buying these delinquent mortgages cheap, and doing whatever it takes to get the folks who weren't paying to start paying -- up to and including slashing the interest rates?

Buying bad debt for pennies on the dollar is nothing new, it's how bill collection has worked for quite a while now.

[skooli]

I think the gist of the article is that he is profiting from the problems he is responsible for due to the lending practices of Countrywide.

[6'9"Witha69]

That's to say he was directly responsible for the creation and implementation of underwriting guidelines. He was not. Nor was any CEO or executive.

The market wanted the loans. The gov't forced lenders into LMI (lower middle income) to earn CRA credits. As the loan programs became more publicized, they became much higher sought, and many lenders were eager to offer these products because the industry wanted them, the street would buy them, and most people who got them had very unreasonable expectations surrounding income and value based on the economic environment they were witnessing. IMHO, EVERYONE involved is to blame. The lenders, the mortgagors, the buyers on the street, rating agencies, appraisers, loan officers, EVERYONE.

If anything, he has found a way to profit from helping people out during this mess. Can't blame him for that.

[6'9"Witha69]

And for all those wondering who I am, I was laid off from Indymac bank back in September due to the implosion of the lending and mortgage mess. I have been immediatley impacted by this and still feel the balme is to be shared by ALL.

[funbnme]

It's going to take business people to do things like he's doing to turn this around. We all know the gubment can't manage it's own money, so why would we think they can manage the assets of failed banks. Fact is that greed ( supported by loose lending regulations ) got us in this mess....and greed ( with better oversight ) will get us back on track.

If more people can have their loans converted to traditional type loans at lower rates so they can pay their mortgage and wind up staying in their home, then the market will eventually stabilize.

As much as it sucks that I always pay my bills on time and am buying a house now and getting a higher rate than that family mentioned in the article (3% is a sick rate) who were in default can get really sucks...but if it stabilizes things, then it will help us all in the long run.

[vintageracer]

That's how Joe Kennedy (President Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy's father) made a lot of his fortune. Buying distressed properties for pennys on the dollar from banks and owners during the depression. The Kennedy's for some reason still seem to be held in high regard! The other fact that Joe did a little bootlegging on the side helped a lot financially also!

This is the natural course of a market crash. I am considering a $600K house currently moving in foreclosure with a mortgage that can be bought for $200K. The "owners" owe $525K on a house that now has a guesstimated market value of about $400K. Guesstimated because nobody really knows right now. That's the problem with fixing all this stuff. How DO you VALUE all these bad assets? Do that and the stock market will stop it big fall!

The home is in a beautiful neighborhood with no other for homes for sale on the same street. If I buy the mortgage for $200K I can A, go to the current owners and negotiate a new mortgage with me as the leinholder and sell the house if you will to them for say $350K. I hold the paper, charge interest, and make the spread and interest IF they PAY the new mortgage on time. B, Kick the previous owners out of MY house and listed the house on the market for a LOT LESS than anything else in the neighborhood for blocks and sell the house. Maybe make a quick $100K on the house. The market certainly has NOT dropped 50% here! C, Do nothing but bitch and complain about how bad things are!

A is the best solution for everyone to work out a new mortgage with the current homeowners if possible. I "could" make more money, the homeowners are relieved of the honerous debt they signed up for and the bank/lender has 1 less toxic asset to worry about. The only problem here is that maybe I could go tit's up on the $200k that I put up for this deal! There is that risk versus reward part of business again.

B is probably the worst solution for the current homeowner, who is going to get thrown out anyway, AND the adjacent homeowners since my sale of that house will further depress the value of their homes since there is now a local "comp" for other agents/sellers to see what a home really DID sell for in this neighborhood during this market. Everyone but ME loses in that scenario. Hell, if I sell the house for a firesale at $250K I have still made 25% on my money in short order!

Until businessmen can associate some sort of REAL VALUE to assets such as this home, real estate will continue to be in the crapper!

This real example is why everyone should be concerned about all these bad loans. You as a homeowner can be VERY ADVERSELY EFFECTED through no fault of your own.

This IS real. Think about it!

[Twentyover]

..........
This is the natural course of a market crash. I am considering a $600K house currently moving in foreclosure with a mortgage that can be bought for $200K. The "owners" owe $525K on a house that now has a guesstimated market value of about $400K.

Probbaly dropped to$350K in the last hour.....

[ProTouring442]

That's to say he was directly responsible for the creation and implementation of underwriting guidelines. He was not. Nor was any CEO or executive...

Hey, stop using logic here! There has to be someone to blame! We need to be victims! If its our fault too, then we're the bad guys, and we can't shout out about ourselves being the bad guys!!! How dare you... eh.... fat cats, yeah, it's the fat cats! And big oil! Yeah... don't forget them!!! It's all a conspiracy!!!!!!


Great post... but the truth is, we won't listen.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

[DJW32]

I'm not sure that we're reading the same article. It sounds like they're buying these delinquent mortgages cheap, and doing whatever it takes to get the folks who weren't paying to start paying -- up to and including slashing the interest rates?

Buying bad debt for pennies on the dollar is nothing new, it's how bill collection has worked for quite a while now.

Because Stanford Kurland worked for who he did, he should NOT be allowed to make a profit off of the crap economy he helped to produce.

[rob07002]

That's to say he was directly responsible for the creation and implementation of underwriting guidelines. He was not. Nor was any CEO or executive.

The market wanted the loans. The gov't forced lenders into LMI (lower middle income) to earn CRA credits. As the loan programs became more publicized, they became much higher sought, and many lenders were eager to offer these products because the industry wanted them, the street would buy them, and most people who got them had very unreasonable expectations surrounding income and value based on the economic environment they were witnessing. IMHO, EVERYONE involved is to blame. The lenders, the mortgagors, the buyers on the street, rating agencies, appraisers, loan officers, EVERYONE.

If anything, he has found a way to profit from helping people out during this mess. Can't blame him for that.

100% correct, except I disagree with your last setence.

Everyone is to blame to some degree, but just beacuse this guy and all the others like him may not be responsible for the lending guidelines, and just "did their job" doesn't excuse them from some culpability. The "Hey, I just work here" mentality is another component of why we are in this mess and it does not hold water. There needs to be shared responsibility and those who helped create this problem, whether legal or not at the time, knew that what they were doing was wrong and were part of the problem.

This is like a tow truck causing a 15 car pile up and then profiting from all the business.

He may not be guilty of breaking the law, but he should not profit from his bad business practices and I hope all the millions he's making can buy him a good nights sleep.