[quote=CA renter]It’s sick to see how many people have been living for free — often, courtesy of US taxpayers — over the past few years.

And many renters rightly feel that it’s their tax money that’s being used to keep prices artificially high (prudent renters continue to be “priced out of the market”), and keeping the very same deadbeats who out-bid them during the bubble years in “their” homes, payment-free.[/quote]

CAR,

While I agree with you that it’s ridiculous that banks haven’t FC in that much time….,Taking a look at the couple, I don’t think they are in anywhere near an envious position…look at what they went and are going through… Having filed bankruptcy that many times, having gone through litigation after litigation only to lose in the end…They’re ruined financially. No doubt… They’ve obliterated whatever earnings they had, and even though they at once made good money, ain’t gonna happen for a long time for them. They’re ruined It will take forever for them to recover, especially because rather than walking on the house (which they should have early), they added to their mistakes by filing for BK…both of them…These days, BK isn’t a walk in the park. You can’t easily just have your debt discharged in BK…They made it much harder to do that…Which is why I feel the couple made a huge mistake by trying to keep their house by piling on more debt after more debt rather than just walking earlier..

To me ,for them, they already paid more than you think they did by being allowed to stay in their home for 5 years. It was a complete disservice to them….They’re not going to be jumping up and down for jory that they were able to live there for 5 years without paying rent and saved a bunch of money. It’s pretty obvious. I seriously doubt they had any income to “save” during that 5 years of rent free living….

I ask myself this question. Would I want to trade with them and be in their predicament so that I can not pay for rent/mortgage for 5 years and “save” what: $3000/month for 60 months, or $180k? Um, no….The $200k “savings” wouldn’t be worth it for me to completely ruin myself financially over.

For me, I’m just glad that the foreclosure process is happening at all. I really don’t care when, as long as it happens. To me, once it’s completes, “justice” that a lot of long piggies have been looking for has been complete.

CAR, also, I’m not sure if you caught something about this foreclosure that what I’ve been saying all along….. Guess who FC on this couple. It wasn’t the bank. It was a private equity/investment group….

Like I said before, you and I aren’t going to be getting these killer foreclosures…They’ve/are going to be sold to investment groups….So all those people that think they are going to get 50% off of LJ are still dreaming. These private groups are gonna get it, NOT individuals like us most likely…BUT, the good news is that I’m pretty positive these investment groups (unlike the banks) are going to be expediting the foreclosure of the properties they currently “own”….Because they’ll want to make money on it, and since they have a much smaller problem to deal with than the banks that have a ton more FC’s….They’re going to proceed really rapidly…

..So while we might not see that 50% off, you’ll definitely see that property at some discount once the investment groups flips it around to us…Plus they’ve had to deal with all the litigation to get the home(s) back into a clean title state…Score 1 for private investment groups.

incorporating squats into the public schools would increase the nation’s moral fibre

Speaking of which…

“Too Broke to go Bankrupt”…

http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/07/pf/bankruptcy-costs/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3

[quote=UCGal]I hope to be able to say I didn’t pay any mortgage payments for five years in just 7 years.

Of course I also hope to retire my mortgage in 2 years…. :)[/quote]

Actually UC, you’re biggest financial weight will be lifted once your kids grad from college and don’t come knocking back to live with you..:)

Seriously, I saw the relief of my parents after their last kid was no longer needing financial support.

[quote=sdrealtor]And why is always the prudent renters whose tax dollars are supporting this. News flash, the prudent renters are a very small group and not the big taxpayers. It’s the rest of us prudent owners who make up the bulk of the taxpayers that are supporting this all.[/quote]Maybe the better term is the “Financially Prudent”.. because if you have paid off your house or are renting, you have have no mortgage interest deduction. If you have cash assets, inflation and overall poor return on investments will eat your assets.

FLU,

I agree with you about many of these deadbeats living stressful lives. Unfortunately, they often make very poor decisions in many areas of their lives…which leads to foreclosures, bankruptcies, etc. Having seen more than a few of these types, it becomes more and more obvious that some people have poor decision-making skills, and all too often, they still don’t learn from their mistakes.
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In contrast, look at what UCGal is doing. She has long-term goals, and makes sure her short/medium-term plans align with these longer-term goals. She wisely plans to have a paid-off house in retirement. How many people did we hear of during the bubble who were getting 30-year mortgages when they were in their 60s? 🙁

I think our national economic policy should be designed with the single goal of alleviating the burdens of people who are “forced” to rent because they cannot afford to buy a house that they like.