patrick.net

From the comments...

if your whole life revolves around a credit score then you might need to back off the borrowing..

Article commentary on site is good as well.

It amazes me how bad some people are with money. That being said, the point of the article seemed to be more about how banks are shirking their responsibility. If a bank is going to kick someone out, they need to man up and take possession of the home. It is a pretty underhanded move, and it not only hurts the homeowner, but usually the entire neighborhood and very directly, the HOA's that get shafted.

gbenson says

the HOA's that get shafted.

I hate HOA's, Shaft the HOA,! Shaft them!!!

It will take a long time to see the effects of foreclosures in New Jersey. Dont remember where I read it but over 40% of people who haven't made a payment on their mortgage in NJ havent done so in a year or more.

I thought I'd do a little color commentary on the local guy (Felton, CA). Usually there is some tidbit the interviewee neglects to tell the reporter. In this case though, it appears pretty straight forward. He bought 1137 Lakeside Drive for $585k in 2007 with first and second mortgage. The second appears to be for around 20% of the purchase price. I don't see any subsequent refies so the second is a purchase money loan. It was foreclosed for $399k in Dec, 2011 and the bank ultimately sold it for $348k. As the article says, the second really should have been dismissed at the time of the foreclosure. Instead, he's being harassed by a collections agency. Hope he can sue the bank to make a point.

TechGromit says

I hate HOA's

Ahh, I think we found ourselves a rule breaker. (Or you had a run in with a HOA board that got drunk with power)

I am on a HOA board at a condo complex where I own 2 units. The board is the only thing keeping the place from turning into a crime infested slum. We don't get paid, and the HOA barely breaks even every year trying to keep the place from falling apart.

Unless you'd prefer to come home and look across the street to this every day..

gbenson says

Unless you'd prefer to come home and look across the street to this every day..

The City of Hollywood already limits what people can and can't do.
There's a color chart of acceptable exterior colors, trucks can't have any Business markings or identifiers of any kind that goes for advertisement, or commercial trucks with DOT ID numbers.
You can't have junk in the front or back yard, only one shed, can't slab your yard(drainage reasons), can't leave out holiday decorations after the season has passed. Pretty much all of the reasonable stuff.

I always laugh when people say... "I have to come home and look at that..." Talking about their neighbor's yard, car, house or them personally. What a miserable way to be. "No you don't have to look at that, get your ass inside. Or that's what your back yard is for. That's why I made sure I got a big lot, with a big back yard. Put up a fence, and make your escape spot in your back yard. Who in the hell stands out in the front yard to oogle at neighbors? In their uniform houses, all the same color, paying some association that the city already charges every body else the to do the same thing for them selves, or pay the consequences, in a fine.

People like that, really just hate the neighbor and look for anything at all to bitch about. I never see the big deal, when people point out "I have to come home to that". That could be a 23 foot Donzi parked on the side of their neighbors house, and these people would still be bitching.

These are the people that end up selling and move to a HOA community, and run into the same problem of just not like people, or a person. Only this time, their house looks just like theirs in every detail.

gbenson says

We don't get paid,

They get paid by getting to have a power trip. Sick bunch of useless money wasting f***ers. I'm so glad to be renting now. I'll never own where there's an association again. Local ordinances work just fine. BTW, Nothing personal.

gbenson says

I am on a HOA board at a condo complex where I own 2 units. The board is the only thing keeping the place from turning into a crime infested slum.

This is the propaganda HOA's use to justify there existence. If we let people do what ever they want, they will have over grown grass, broken down cars in the driveway with no wheels, trash in the yard and "Cannibalism Anarchy". And this does occasionally happen in some neighborhoods, you have that one person that uses there yard like a dump. But when you buy a nice house in a community, chances of it turning into a "crime infested slum" are slim at best. They really are not needed in nice areas, people who can afford to buy in a nice neighborhood generally are not the Beverly Hill Billies.

HOA could actually work, if the they are fairly set up where the homeowners can have some over them and the rules are minimal. Do we really need rules on what color a homeowner can paint there front door, how many flowers a homeowner can plant in there garden or how tall there grass can be before they have to cut it. HOA are often run by retired people on a power trip, there are some well run, good HOA's, but they are in the minority. Usually what happens in the developer sets up the HOA, and writes the bylaws to favor them. Then way over charge for the management services. If the HOA could use the free market, they could save a ton of money, but often the rules are written so its next to impossible to get rid of the management company. It ends up being a cash cow for the developer years to come.

Everything has consequences, once you get caught up in the system I say good luck and I hope you've got patience and fortitude for it. You hurt yourself these days, no sooner than they take an x-ray the insurance company is calling you to see if they can place fault and sue someone for money. They care more about that than making sure you heal correctly, they don't even ask if your ok when they call.

HOA are the cookiecutters of our condo living experience, people like uniformity. Outliers be damned. You can have a garden and things like that if they are ok'd by the board, but if your to lazy to mow or shovel, why would you want a garden?, it's work. The whole condo living experience is geared towards not having to do anything, just shutup and live in it. It's still neat hearing the stories about these HOA board meetings.

What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land. But I have heard the LORD of Heaven's Armies swear a solemn oath: "Many houses will stand deserted; even beautiful mansions will be empty. Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain." Isaiah 5:8-10

TechGromit says

Do we really need rules on what color a homeowner can paint there front door

Yes... Yes we do.

gbenson says

TechGromit says

Do we really need rules on what color a homeowner can paint there front door

Yes... Yes we do.

Sorry, but I don't see anything wrong with someone living in a Hello Kitty house if he or she wants to, even if that person is my next door neighbor.

I'd rather have a nice, quit next door neighbor living in a Hello Kitty house than a loud, obnoxious asshole living in a McMansion next door to me.

Anyone living in a Hello Kitty house isn't going to be a pain in the ass.

That hissing sound is value leaving your house once your neighbors finish their Hello Kitty remodel.

It would be a landmark! "Ya, you can't miss it! It's next door to the Hello Kitty house!"

I went to a house in Fountain Valley that has INSANE Christmas lights every year. I mean unfuckingbelievable. Watching is probably bad for anyone with a history of seizures or who is easily hypnotized.
I went to see it, and there were quite a few others as well. It was neat, creative, and came sound tracked to an unused radio band.
Prices of homes in FV have since gone up.