Forestalling Foreclosures?
 Governor Schwarzenegger just signed into effect a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures in California. On the surface this sounds like a pretty dramatic intervention on the part of the state into the housing market. A moratorium basically means lenders and loan services can't foreclosure pursuant to the indisputable terms of their loan documents. It's a little like telling Ralphs that in the interest of the economy you can't charge for blueberries for 90 days (which I would actually be in favor of). The key points of the bill are as follows:
(1) The moratorium applies to first mortgages made from 2003 through 2007. This is the period when the subprime loans really took off and when a lot of the option ARM loans were originated. Do not confuse subprime (or poor credit) loans with Option ARM loans which were loans made to people with perfectly good credit but which negatively amortized if the minimum payment was made.
(2) The loan must be for your principal residence. In other words, investment properties are not protected, which is consistent with the approach both the federal and state governments have taken.
(3) The borrower must have received a notice of default.
It is unlikely this bill will have a significant effect on the overall housing crisis for the following reason. The federal government already declared a moratorium that lasted from December of last year to April of this year, which affected all of the big, national banks. In order to become exempt from the federal program banks had to demonstrate that they have a loan modification program in place and are attempting to modify a loan before foreclosing. As a result, the banks with most of the bad loans on their books have already put modification programs in place. So all they have to do is apply for the exemption under the state law. This will take about a month and they will be back at the courthouse steps foreclosing on properties.
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LOL - Laughs OnLine
"Where the really bad kids are sent to play"
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What's The Big Idea?
by Kwame J. Granderson
Decorative towels are a trap-an inescapable ploy designed to trick men into doing something for which they can be scolded. Why must this be the case? Well, because first of all, to the somewhat aesthetically primitive male mind it is counterintuitive that there would be towels hanging within several feet of a faucet that are not used to dry your hands. Second, and even more problematic, even after being chastised, even if you put a man's nose in the towel and smacked it to make the point more forcefully, the average man will still try to use the part of the towel that doesn't have the fancy embroidery to dry his hands. What else could this be but a trap? What if you told a moth not to fly towards a light bulb because it would disrupt the ambient lighting? Assuming the moth could understand you, could it really stop? Of course not. The only way to prevent men from using decorative towels is to put the regular towels directly in the path between the sink and the decorative towels. Even then there is one final problem. Men actually like to get things dirty.
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Share If You Care
Our goal with this newsletter is simple: Cover every important topic that might help homeowners and investors make more informed decisions concerning real estate. You can help in two ways:
1) Send us any articles or information you come across that might be of interest to other readers
2) Forward this newsletter to anyone and everyone you know that owns or plans to own real estate!
Sincerely,
Kwame J. Granderson
Equinaire
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