13 Comments

  1. We were lied to. We asked for programs we qualified for and were lied to,told we didn’t qualify later found out we did qualify. So we only want a refi so we can do some home improvemnts and sell this house is to small for us now.They said we could refi in 2 years then they say ‘no’. In all the propertiesI’ve owned never has the housing market been so buyer unfriendly. To much greed.

  2. I thought you might be interested in a class action against Wells Fargo that alleges they forced customers to use their appraising company, and then sub-contracted the appraisals for a cost to Wells Fargo well below what they charged customers.

    Hagens Berman Files Class Action Against Wells Fargo and Rels Valuation

    http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/PRNEWS.20090202.SF65815/GIStory/

    In case the above link stops working here is another. http://www.hbsslaw.com/WFCappraisals

    I was wondering if you think it’s possible that a class action be used to successfully hold the big banks to account for making sub-prime loans with reasonable expectation that the market they were pumping would eventually see a correction, and that such a correction would increase sub-prime mortgage payments beyond many of the buyers’ ability to pay? Or basically, a class action that alleged banks didn’t properly disclose risks and acted in bad faith?

  4. Dear Passionately Apathetic,
    I was thinking only of people who were, or are, being foreclosed upon.
    You make some good points.
    Another idea: Responsible squatters can become “Professional House Sitters”. If the local bank has some say in the matter, the Professional House Sitters may even be able to work out a maintenance and upkeep contract like a short-term lease. A family with older children or relatives could “sit” several houses. Now all us Professional House Sitters need is a business association for promotion and lobbying purposes. [And next an IPO! 🙂 ] Catherine: a possibility for Solari Circles?

  5. GeoMark,

    The one problem most people have with squatting is it attracts the criminal element. Meth labs and other undesirable activity can quickly sprout up in these abandoned homes. The trick (for the squatter) is to be up front about your activities with your neighbors. “I’m moving in with my wife and kids, we’re a decent family who needs a place to live, I hope you don’t mind.” And then rely on selective enforcement to protect you. That’s the real world for you, what matters is not the law, but what you can get away with. Being on good terms with your neighbors helps you get away with a lot more.

  6. DO NOT PASS GO… this reminds me of a news article a while back about Deutsche bank trying to foreclose on homeowners in the U. S. Deutsche Bank was unable to produce the note to a judge. Come to think of it, the game of Monopoly DOES have a free parking space 🙂

  7. It seems to me that the majority of these “squatters” are doing their community (and thus the country) a valuable (and patriotic) service: vacant houses rapidly loose real wealth and damage the entire neighborhood, sometimes severely. Leaving buildings vacant and not maintained is one real way capital is destroyed.

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