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If you've ever complained that the people who run the government just don't understand what it's like for the little guy, this story is for you.
Laura Richardson of Long Beach, California, just saw her house go into foreclosure like so many other Americans this year.
Just one little thing that's special: she is a member of Congress.
You may recall our previous discussions of the House of Cards that is this administration's concept of a housing policy:
The government got rid of the speed limit and the brakes and all the guardrails, and woohoo! Anything goes in the financial markets.
Mortgages were given to people who couldn't possibly pay them back, bad debts were put in a dress and high heels and resold as speculative financial instruments, and now everybody owes everybody. But I'm sure everything is fine.
We have been warned that the storm was approaching.
But Congress didn't seem to care very much, this was only a problem for the little people. Well, not any more:
She bought the three-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath home in the state capital for $535,500. The bill collectors started knocking soon after.
The city utility department placed a lien on her property in June 2007....
In December, she received a default notice on the mortgage from the collection agency of Washington Mutual....
County records show the property was sold to a company called Red Rock Mortgage Inc. of Sacramento.
Richardson says the house isn't really in foreclosure. Um hm, that explains this sad visual:
A real estate agent's lock box hung Wednesday from the front door of the 1926-vintage house.
Hello, Congress? The people, you know -- the ones you were elected to represent -- are hurting out here. A lot of people have lost their houses already. Many, many more are on the edge.
If *this* is what it takes to get your attention, so be it.
Third in a series
photo of Cardstacker Bryan Berg building Boston's Government Center by jpolaski
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So, Egregious!
Eg!
Egregious!
Wow, you’d think one of their own having a house foreclosed would get their attention.
boy the posts are coming fast & furious …. Hey Ann…. is it cold enough for you?
EG!
Speaking of fast and furious, how ’bout those McCainiac rejections…first Hagee, now, evidently Parsley as well.
Greetings earthlings!
Hey, I am here early enough to be on topic.
Hey, eg, you are the perfect nightcap, oh lady oh the west….
A California Democrat in a mortgage pinch - I’ll bet the Congress will get right on it.
I really enjoyed today! A nice break from the one teens of the last few days. I don’t think I was ready for that yet. But I did my good deed for today! A kitty was hanging around my house for a week or two now, and today I was able to get close enough to read her name tag and the phone number on it. I called the number and the lady called me back very shortly saying her cat had been missing for about 3 weeks or so. She said her neighbor has been taking the cat and driving it some distance from her house; she thought the cat was dead. I’m so glad I could return the kitty to her home. I figure this must pay me forward for a week or two at least.
eg, what i remember from the coverage of this is that she got a no down payment loan on a second residence - you know, that must make her one of those irresponsible bad loan borrowers the R’s are always blaming as the cause of the housing crisis.
Well, we hope something gets the attention of Congress. And not just to bail out the banks that gave out mortgages to people who *they knew* couldn’t pay them back, just to get the fees and record the phony “income” on their balance sheets. It’s all about the stock price and the stock options, screw the country.
I wish he would reject Arizona. We would feel better about ourselves here. Maybe he can become a Texan.
evidently this ABC report got his attention.
The SF mayor talking about the gay marriage ban overturn noted “As California goes, so goes the nation….” Women sleeping in their cars in gated parking lots in Santa Barbara, a Congresswoman’s home in foreclosure.
What will it take to turn this around?
A star in your good deed book. Nice.
To get a no down payment loan, it’s supposed to be your primary residence, ie where you live, and still should have proof that it’s possible to repay the loan. The borrower had no business taking out this kind of money [but the price of houses always goes up!!] and the bank had no business giving out the mortgage. Plenty of blame for everybody here.
Whoo-hoo, I had a job interview this morn, and, after a physical, I’ll be working 3-4 nights a week atop Mauna Kea in one of the Observatories tinkering on lasers…! 8-)
Regulation….. oversight…… are the true cure but I don’t think we can move past the wingnut “free market” stuff until more are hurting….
After watching the FDR special on PBS - seeing the years leading up to the great depression and how FDR worked to pull the country out of it…. I am afraid that the country has not hit bottom so that it can recover…..
congrats and jealous glare from this astronomy buff
Congrats….. is it Partay time?
Sounds interesting and beautiful. Congrats, CT. Maybe get pictures for us from up there.
CT that is stellar news ;)
For those who missed it, Clusterfuck got a rousing 23% JAR from Zogby yesterday.
Congratulations Mr. President.
Dress very warmly and tell the Universe that we are trying to set things right down here!
Just don’t aim them my way … *g*
Evenin’ all !
iirc, she bought the home with the intention of living in it but then she ran for the seat vacated by the death of a fellow congresswoman, a district where she already had a home.
can we foreclose on the whitehouse’s occupants since we the people own it and the current occupants have squandered the goodwill with which they were allowed to occupy it?
I just need to take a physical to determine if I can handle the altitude, of which I think I’ll pass with flying colors…!
LOL
Brava CT!
And katymine, I fear you may be right.
How high is it? Nosebleed high?
Heh, I know… I’ll have to dust off my ancient winter wear…!
I’m starting to listen to Ed Shultz on a regular basis, though he can get on my nerves if I listen too long, but basically like him.
A caller told him that the way to reach KY is to visit them. They are so poor that the only thing they have going for them is pride and skin color. If someone came and talked honestly about helping them, it might change their mind, but they can’t relate.
She also told him about HillybillyHousewife.com and how that person has “emergency” weekly menus for $45. He’s going to call her up.
Friday news dump….
McCain Restricts Medical Records:
“Their houses are made of grass” high … *g*
Obviously, she didn’t exercise enough “personal responsibility” or she wouldn’t be in this situation! Seriously, I wonder if she’s tried to talk to the financier about a workout. Many people don’t know that is a possibility, but you’d be surprised what you can talk a mortgage company into when they’re facing the prospect of having another wasting asset on their books and a low potential for a fast sale. Surely this legislator is not an attorney or she would be better equipped to deal with this problem.
Just a couple hundred feet shy of 14,000 ft…! I do dread the winter months, as they make sure you bring extra gear and foodstuffs when the roads get snowed in…!
Hey, Parsley is just the garnish for this week’s menu of foibles.
Preachers and lobbyists both.
can ya get snow tires in paradise ct?
Great post Egregious!
Hey, Dood!
Is the bear Catholic?
are you going to drive to your new job in a super Nova?
nyuck, nyuck…
I enlisted a new reader this afternoon, big shoutout to Scott if you are reading this!
Good question, I’ve never seen ‘em!
F me.
Wonderful! Congratulations! Hoo rah!
That’s wonderful! Congratulations!
David Neiwert’s post on “bushvilles” was a good one.
FWIW Santa Barbara is Reagan country…
Wow! Good for you CTuttle. But can you whisper from work?
*groan* They provide the transportation to control traffic on the mountain!
ET can get you a sled dog team I am sure.
Ed can be a good guy but he has a large ego….. Wendy, his wife is his moderator….. Met them both when they were here and Wendy & I exchanged emails for a couple of years….. then he trashed our state rep over the treatment of the Katrina evacuees and that was it for me…
are you one of them Road Scholars then?
Start a petition, Suz!
That is so awesome I don’t know what to say except;
WHOO HOO!
Wow.
He can be excused if he takes Kyl with him! Just the two of them–go, please!
At least he’s letting the Arizona Republic see them. They’ll probably have the best stories about the McCain’s medical info.
From ABCNews … Woman loses home over $68 Dental Bill
Thank you LS!
I know they have computers that are linked to hi-speed lines…! I should be able to pop in every now and then from atop the mountain!
Why don’t they just beam you up ?
He raises good questions, good points, brings good guests, but yeah, the ego is too much in the foreground for me to swallow everything he says.
I listen to his show as sort of a thermometer and like to hear the callers.
No Way McCain. No, not, nyet.
Don’t tell me, NBC won’t be getting them either. Restricting them tells us all we need to know, doesn’t it?
Help! He’s fallen and he cain’t get up!
Sorry. I was going to lay off the age jokes but couldn’t help it.
Release ALL of McCain’s health records…it is a matter of National Security!!
Oh, I get it…McCain discussed his health with W, and so it is Executive Privilege.
I’m sick of this crappola!!
All kidding aside, it kinda is. Watch closely for who is picked for VP…
Good evening all. Thanks egregious.
exactly - mcsame didn’t pull this shizz when he was running in 2000 - his medical records were open without all these rules that make it sound as if his medical records were classified
maybe he got his friend cheney to use his special stamp on em
BTW, I want my MTV…! ;-)
Bite your tongue! We’ve got more than our fair share of dumbass Republicans in this state already, thank you very much. We don’t want any of yours!
That is exactly my main point about all of this. McLame is a “vehicle” to get an unelectable VP into office…soon to be the next P’nit.
How’re you feeling, Betsy ?
Wonderful, CT!
I just stumbled in, I missed Mark, dammit.
EG,
Killer post.
I guess maybe all these bullshit rose colored glasses articles I keep seeing just reinforces my belief that the MSM is an official arm of the governments propaganda machine.
We are SO fucked, but not if you ask a Sheeple!
Party on America, that burning smell is our economy, not McCains lousy ribs on the grill.
Nice catch, LS !
Still in a flare-up. Didn’t do anything or even leave the house today. :(
Maybe McGigilo’s new health records release falls under the new “unclassified but controlled” type of information.
Arrest them. Now.
I bet it’s someone who doesn’t partake of caffeine. Or alcohol.
I’m with you, Katymine. Big Ed’s ego was too irritating to bother listening anymore. To hear him tell it, he invented talk radio. Blech.
One reason Sheriff Joe gets such GREAT press from the Arizona Republic(ian) is that his cousin is one of their top reporters….. Ya think McBush has the same connections?
Too bad the Phoenix New Times can’t get a copy….. they post them on the internet so that Dr Kirk and I could review them….. dang
Actually, I think this mostly happens with unscrupulous mortgage brokers who don’t work for any particular bank. And so many people have been able to take out mortgages for 125% of their house’s value due to the amazingly fast rate of appreciation of home values for the past several years, that only 100% financing probably seemed a safe bet. Until the last year or so, when the values started going down, not up, nobody seemed to know that the bubble would burst and leave some folks holding the bag. As an example, last year when I refied my house, it appraised at $170K. I went for a walk the other day and a house on my block is for sale at $108K. The house has the same floorplan as mine. Thank goodness my mortgage amount was only for $93K, or I’d be worried.
Did you get some sleep ? Try my “sleep” MP3 file, it works like magic (I hope)
((((( TexBetsy ))))
Congrats! Sounds like fun!
*hand on monitor*
He’s 0 for 3 right now. The first candidate was “not gay”, the second was not “Christian”, and the third was not white. For a Republican Veep, those are all dealbreakers. I’m not sure why we’re bothering with the Kabuki theater here. There’s no way he’s going to pick anything but a Protestant heterosexual white man. So please don’t even bother trotting out Liddy Dole.
Hey Busted, thanks for the words of encouragement, much appreciated.
We’re gonna have Merkley back later in the campaign, this was just an introductory Blue America session to say howdy and congratulations. This guy can defeat Gordon Smith and put a real progressive Democrat in the Senate in place of a Republican. Very exciting race.
Here it comes:
Think Progress.
And good evening, EG. Thanks for this post. I have a friend who is desperately trying to sell her mother’s house.
Hmmmm…I’m feeling very ecumenical today!
Slept from 4 AM till 1 pm minus the time to answer a phone call at 9. ack!
Geez, how low can he go?!!
That’s not good, Ma’am! 8-(
Just to prove there is no climate change…. will post the temps this week
Saturday - 100
Sunday - 110
Monday - 109
Tuesday - 108
Wednesday - 98
Thursday - 57
They are getting ready to steal it again….McGigilo gets annointed by the corporate media..the Dem gets demonized and/or destroyed…the machine results won’t make sense. Just saying. History repeats itself. Fool me once, fool me twice, here comes the third time.
Never again am I going to dinner an hour away without my wheelchair and cushions and a lunchbox full of ice packs. Certainly not after working a “full” day.
But he might make your old ones look good by comparison.
Thanks for the update. I didn’t realize that the beauty contest was just round one…just courtesy?
I was so hoping for a pair of flip flops like Mitt & McCain!
Sending gobs of healing energy your way …
Do you think there will be a leak? EG could review them too, if time permitted. I didn’t know you were a doc, katymine.
Thank you.
i slept from 5am until 7:15 when i got woke up by a friend, 150 miles away, who thought the big wildfire was in my backyard - its not a threat to me as it started 15 miles east and south of me and is being pushed to the south/southwest by the high winds. made for an exciting wake up call tho.
finally got a nap this afternoon and only got woke up twice with calls from concerned family/friends.
i ask for absolution from all typos and misstatements in advance please.
Thank you for doing what you do and being who you are
Nurse….for 35 years….
Holy mercury, batman! where are you from (sorry i don’t remember/can’t figure it out)?
Hey Loo Hoo. While I can’t give advice on a particular property, housing prices out here are very unlikely to go up any time soon = couple of years. If she gets any kind of decent offer, take it. Or keep the house and rent it out, hoping to wait out the storm.
Banks are increasing their invisible inventory of houses by enormous amounts. When the banks start selling, this will destroy the prices across entire neighborhoods. I’m reading up and hope to have a post on this pretty soon. It’s the rest of the iceberg.
Ooh, you paid for your sins from yesterday’s meetup, eh?
This post is now open for Digging…