Foreclosure Crisis: A Time for Change

The housing crisis of the late 2000s rocked the economy and changed the landscape of the real estate business for years to come. Decades of people purchasing houses unfordable houses and properties with lenient loans policies led to a collective housing bubble. When the banking system faltered and the economy wilted, interest rates were raised, mortgages increased, and people lost their jobs amidst the chaos. This all culminated in tens of thousands of American losing their houses to foreclosures and short sales, as they could no longer afford the mortgage payments on their homes. The United States entered a recession and homeownership no longer appeared to be a feasible goal as many questioned whether the country could continue to support a middle-class. Former home owners became renters and in some cases homeless as the American Dream was delayed with no foreseeable return. While the future of the economy looked bleak, conditions gradually improved. American citizens regained their jobs, the United States government bailed out the banking industry, and regulations were put in place to deter such events as the mortgage crash from ever taking place again. The path to homeowner ship has been forever altered, as loans in general are now more difficult to acquire and can be accompanied by a substantial down payment.

In conclusion, homeownership in the United States have decline over the past years even being the lowest it has ever been, but has had an improving and strong market beginning in 2012 after a 27% decline from the 2006 peak, and the increasing homeownership rate is a worthwhile policy to allow the United State economy to

In 2008 the real estate market crashed because of the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act and Commodities Futures Modernization Act, which led to shady mortgage lending or “liar loans” (Hartman). The loans primarily approved for lower income and middle class borrowers with little income or no job income verification, which lead to many buyers purchasing homes they could not afford because everyone wants a piece of the American dream; homeownership. Because of “reckless lending to lower- and middle-income borrowers who could not afford to repay their loans many of the home buyers lost everything when the market collapsed” (Tankersley 3). Homeowners often continued to live in their houses for months or years without paying any

I often used to watch a show called “Extreme Makeover” where a team of builders would come to a neighborhood, build a need worthy family a beautiful new home, and then just give it to them. “Wow! What a lucky family,” I would say. “How fortunate.” However, as time went by, that same family would be in the news again. Why? The house was in foreclosure. The people had gone to the bank and taken out a mortgage against the home, then spent all the money they got for it on other things.

In fact, “During the last ten years, the nation’s rate of homeownership has steadily fallen from nearly 70 percent down to just over 64 percent” (Romerdahl). Homeownership has been seemingly inseparable from the American Dream, yet statistics are now showing that less people are interested in owning a home. Until recently, government intervention has been raising the percentages of homeowners in the US, but percentages have been steadily falling even with lower interest rates and continued effort from the government. This evidences that not only is the American Dream changing, but it is not clearly defined in the first

According to Desmond, Arleen is not alone in her dilemma. A great many Americans are being evicted in light of the fact that they cannot pay the rent (Desmond, 2016,p 4). Like Arleen, many poor families are spending the majority of their income on rent and utilities. In fact, using estimates from The American Housing Survey (AHS), 1991-2013, Desmond finds that, in America, most poor renting families use over half of their income on housing; and, roughly one quarter spend more than 70% of their income to pay rent and utilities (Desmond, 2016, p 4). Aside from the fact that Arleen’s monthly welfare stipend of $628 has remained stagnate for years, housing costs have soared. Due in part to the foreclosure crisis, and the deluge of millennials into the rental market, the demand for rental stock has risen.(Sisson, 2016). At the same time, escalating building and labor expenses, and declining subsidies, have helped to slow new construction. Thus, demand for rental housing is exceeding supply, resulting in escalating rent prices. Furthermore, the razing of older public housing projects and defunding of government assisted housing has pushed poor families into the private rental market (Sisson, Patrick may 19, 2016). As a result, most poor families in America today live unassisted in the private housing market. In fact, in 2013, 67 percent of poor renter households did not receive federal housing assistance (Desmond, Matthew, 2015). One day, Arleen stopped by the Housing Authority

There were many people affected by the most recent recession and therefore forced to foreclose on their homes. Losing a home due to foreclosure leaves a big black eye on an individual’s credit score and forces these people to be patient until they are approved to rejoin the housing market. “Boomerang buyers” are a group of potential homeowners who are re-entering the housing market after losing their homes due to foreclosure.

The foreclosure/housing market crash several years ago affected a vast amount of families across the country. Unfortunately, my family was also affected. Thankfully, my parents have not gone through foreclosure yet, but we are all stuck in a house because we are “underwater” (owe more than it is worth). This crisis directly and indirectly affected so many, but thankfully we are all starting to bounce back.

After the United States suffered one of the biggest foreclosure crisis in its history, countless of American homeowners were forced out of their homes when the economy collapsed. In a slow and often painful recovery process, many are battling continued high interest rates and home prices in attempt to get back their families back into a normalcy of life. As a solution to the ongoing ownership dilemma that many currently face, the concept “rent-to-own” has come into the economic limelight. This resolution has started to be viewed as a realistic option to regain ownership and improve quality of life after the fallout of the foreclosure catastrophe through benefiting both buyer and seller of real estate.

“Shit happens” is probably what most of these foreclosed homeowners hear after they were forced to leave their comfy home. Even though the economy is unpredictable, not a lot of the victims are satiable by such a vague expression that has caused them to lose their property. It’s a harsh comment, but the economy has turned into something that we have little influence over. One of the worst feelings is having minimal control over the consequences and outcome. Some people are afraid to make the same home-buying decision again as a result, because what’s stopping the economy from taking another shit on them again? The answer is probably nothing, but what are some actions these homeowners can take to ease into settling down in a home again? Foreclosure victims can try to improve their credit score and it could get them that approved private loan in return if needed. Saving money is also a general option for those that tend to spend a lot on luxury retail goods. Another option can be utilizing the rent-to-own option to have that ‘homey’ feeling as soon as possible. Some people can also test their patience and attempt to wait it out until the economy exits the lavatory.

According to Grenier, the Tolman’s sought other counsel to conclude the transaction with Farmer, and “public record reveals that Frank W. Tolman Sr. signed a discharge of mortgage on September 20, 2013 indicating payment in full of the mortgage at that time.”

Brooklyn, NY – December 30, 2009 Foreclosures continue to rise drastically across the United States due to the recession, and have effected, and continue to affect thousands of families and individuals every day. One aspect we must take into consideration is that most people are not informed of what foreclosure means, or the process, even those who are homeowners. I believe that one step to preventing foreclosure is to educate first-time homebuyers. In addition, first-time homebuyer programs should not only assist potential buyers with financially preparing them to buy a home, but to keep the home once

Bold action is needed to address this serious issue. I suggest a “real estate pause” for a temporary amount of time, similar to what Roosevelt did with the “bank holiday” during the Great Depression. The root of the foreclosure problem is that people who should be living in homes valued at $200,000 or lower are living in over $500,000 homes with “house poor” mortgages. Many Americans like to live above their

Of every issue facing the American people today, including our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, our floundering economy, and our troubling health care system, none may be considered quite so frightening as the state of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. While matters in the Middle East and Washington often seem irrelevant and far away, the beast that has evolved out of low interest rates and plummeting housing costs is currently breathing down the necks of Americans in every state, city, and neighborhood. According to Realty Trac, the leading online database on foreclosure statistics, 3.4 million homes will fall into foreclosure before the end of 2009. Foreclosure and bankruptcy, often caused by unemployment or medical catastrophe, affect not

To begin this executive summary, we first look at the issue of research. In our semester project we are discussing the steps one would take in order to get a home mortgage. The reason we have chosen to do this project is to see how one goes about not only becoming approved for a loan but also how to service your mortgage and keep it up to par.