Hickory - The lowest well being in the United States of America

The following article was pointed to me from a good friend and a mentor. Someone that I didn't think I had a lot in common with until sitting down to chat almost 2 years ago. What I realized was that this person is very much like myself. We don't agree on everything, but I would say that we agree on 90% of everything.

I think we have both learned a lot from one another, but I think he has a lot more to offer than I do. I enjoy his perspective and his intellectual capabilities when it comes to explaining himself in detail. I am not going to name this person, but he is someone that is well thought of by the people who are working to fix the problems in this community.

Tonight he sent me an article from the Herald-Sun of Durham from October 28th entitled Raleigh has one of highest well being in U S Hickory N C has LOWEST .

Despite the economy, residents at Raleigh, N.C., say they are thriving and have the best of all worlds, reporting one the highest Well-Being Index in the country, with an overall ranking of 16, according to Gallup and Healthways.

Yet less than 200 miles away, residents of Hickory, N.C. are suffering. So much so that according to the Gallup and Healthways’ Well-Being Index, the city of Hickory scored dead last at — 185 — among American cities when it comes to Life Evaluation and Emotional Health.

The Well-Being Index is the largest behavioral economic database ever created and measures Americans’ physical, emotional and financial well being in real time. Since 2008, Gallup and Healthways have been taking a snapshot of America’s well being.

While unemployment likely plays a significant role in how the communities feel (Hickory’s unemployment rate tops 12.6%), other factors, such as access to health care, location, and public resources also play a role.

The Hound wants to ask how many of these surveys do we have to rank at the bottom of until everyone who is a supporter of the Status Quo has their Come to Jesus Moment?

This survey ranks us dead last in well-being. Well-Being is defined as a good or satisfactory condition of existence; a state characterized by health, happiness, and prosperity; welfare.

There are people in this area that are still doing well, but the majority of people are stressed because the system we are living in is failing. If one looks around they can see the relative state of unhealthiness of most of the citizens in this area. Look at what they eat. Look at the foods that are available to our citizens and look at the restaurants that are busiest in our area. Do people eat junk, because it is what they demand or because it is what is available?

We need to find out what is going on around here with people's health. Do they exercise. If the obesity epidemic is caused by a lack of exercise, then what is the reasoning. Is it because of a lack of education on the issue, lack of availability of fitness opportunities, lack of time???...

The City of Hickory has already displayed an unwillingness to create an affordable facility for Aquatic recreation, which most healthcare professionals believe is the best form of aerobic exercise for all ages. The Mayor this morning on Hal Row's First Talk show on WHKY basically gave it a thumbs down by saying that we couldn't afford it and poo pooing a survey that he asked to have administered. Apparently he didn't like the way the questions were asked. Do we not see this exact form of manipulation and heavy handed administration with all of the Boards, Commissions, and Task Forces.

The information that I have been provided in regards to Hank Guess's Rental Property Task Force is that attempts have been made to derail it by some members of the City Council and Administration. People who were appointed to look at this issue have attempted to subvert the process and end any furtherance of the proceedings. Those involved in this subversion know who they are and their attempts wreak of individuals looking to protect the good ole boy network of special interests who do not want to adhere to the property code structure laid out and set forth by Council, administration, and staff. We have a local elected official who is an out and out slumlord and he owns dilapidated rental properties inside the city limits of Hickory.

What bothers me is that this violates the fairness that I have constantly railed about. I am tired of having to talk about the fact that certain people in the City of Hickory are not expected to respect the law, because of their status. That assessment has been verified by action and inaction pertaining to certain people and groups over and over again. Those closely associated with local governance should not only follow the rules, but they should be held to a higher standard.

We have seen administrative problems time and time again with tin eared cooperation over the years. The Airport Task Force, The Stormwater Task Force, the handling of the Drinking Establishment Ordinance in relation to the Cercil Brothers, the Randolph's situation... There are plenty of situations under this context that I have not exposed and I am sure even more that I have not been made privy to.

I have appreciated a lot of what Mayor Wright has said over the years. I like what he says about the Fair Trade issue. I like the way that he has shown a willingness to adapt to new ideas when information shows that the old contexts aren't cracked up to what they were thought to be. I think we are on the same page when it comes to moving away from the Retirement Village concept. I appreciated his energy and passion when it came to the Inter Basin Transfer.

I just hope that others will come to the table and realize that this community has headed down the wrong path on many issues. Some of these people are associated with local governance and others are considered Prime Movers in the community. The bottom line is that we are all stakeholders in this community, not just the hoity-toities.

The saying goes "Pride cometh before the fall." There have been too many special interests and individuals who are proud and think they are better than everyone else and their specialness means that they don't have to follow the rules. Well, the statistics and surveys show that this community is not doing well. You can live in denial, but in the end the amount of evidence is overwhelming and makes one look delusional to argue against it. So the best thing to do is join those of us who are looking for outside the box solutions in this fast paced, exponentially changing World.

Fraudclosure 201 - the Horse Race vs Governance

What does Tuesday mean. Some of you think that it is going to be a defining moment. Well, I've seen elections for all my life and every one of them are supposed to be a defining moment. Elections are meaningless, if they are not followed by action.

Look at all of the problems this nation is facing. What have we seen in the form of solutions? All we have seen over the last twenty years is a government for sale to the highest bidder. Who is willing to rise above all of that? Who is willing to say NO! to this system of corruption?

I'm into results. I'm tired of the sociopaths' excuses. Some of our leaders go along to get along and others do nothing. It is about balance. See where there is common ground and move those issues forward. That starts you down the road towards positive governance. Then look at the issues where you may not agree and negotiate around the edges and compromise where you can. The issues where there is no agreement can be put on the backburner. We have been doing the opposite of this for years. It seems that our leaders are always looking to focus on disagreements at the expense of progress.

There are many people who say that the Democrats are going to try to ramrod controversial legislation through during this lame duck session. I certainly hope that cooler heads will prevail. The Republicans need to filibuster any bill that does not have the support of the American people and make sure that these issues are dealt with in a proper context come January.

This Fraudclosure issue is definitely at the forefront of what I am addressing. The banks should not be bailed out of this situation and their interests should not be placed ahead of those of the American people. It is time that Justice and common sense prevail!

The Banks have taken on the role of Loan Sharks. You make a late payment and they make your plight worse, it goes beyond penalties into the realm of unnecessary punishment. The penalties do no fit the violation. The Fed lends the banks free hot money and they invest it anywhere, but back into our own nation's system. The money comes from America and should be reinvested in America. Instead, we see Banks that charge exorbitant interest rates and fees on people who are already struggling. Why are we bailing the Banks out?

Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Institute at TrendsResearch.com joined James Corbett of The Corbett Report to discuss the ongoing foreclosure crisis in the American real estate industry. He discusses the criminal mentality that makes these frauds possible and how people can protect themselves by unplugging themselves from the system.




Fraudclosure 102: Multi-tiered Bank Fraud Exposed!

Fraudclosure 101: Bursting the Piñata

A letter to the NC Attorney General involving Fraudclosure

You can help people save their homes!

Real Terrorism: Financial Terrorism - Time to break the Banksters

2nd wave of the Banking Meltdown is here

How can the United States avoid Bankruptcy?

The Plunge Protection Team and the Ponzi Economy

Fraudclosure 102: Multi-tiered Bank Fraud Exposed!

Already on Craigslist you can find a house that sold 2 years ago for $140,000 AND now trying to sell for $50,000 to $60,000 and they are not selling. I know people who are trying to sell their homes and there are no takers even at substantial discounts. The new home market is dead. The construction industry is dead.

In the past we paid 2% to 5% interest on homes. It was illegal to charge over 18% and anyone that did was considered a loan shark. Today banks are charging as much as 29.9% interest on Credit cards. They fostered predatory lending and sub-prime mortgages by creating balloon mortgages & adjustable interest rates on highly leveraged speculative loan investments. The banks charge outrageous fees that can cause consumers to pay 500%+ per year on money that they have borrowed, but because they call these charges “fees” they are permitted. And the government is complicit by endorsing all of this.

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.'

A House that was built in the early to mid 1900s for $1,000 to $3,000 was being sold a few years ago for as much as $250,000. The banks knew some of the homes needed major work & were not worth the loan amount, but they loaned large amounts and then sold these notes as derivative instruments on Wall Street. They even wagered on mortgage holders failing to maintain or increase their household income. And it has been obvious that the government allowed this by not maintaining proper oversight procedures.

Maybe we should all walk away from our mortgages. The cost of home maintenance keeps escalating. The values of the homes are depreciating, because of the stagnant real estate market and in real terms because of the depreciation of the dollar. People also are having a hard time affording the bubble prices they originally paid for their mortgage, because of the housing market and the inflated cost of living.

In all, 930,437 homeowners received a foreclosure-related warning between July and September, up nearly 4 percent from the second quarter but down 1 percent from the same period last year, RealtyTrac said (Banks seize a record 288,345 homes in 3Q - Alex Veiga AP - 10/14/2010). The latest tally translates to one in 139 (7/10 of 1 percent) of U.S. homes in foreclosure. Banks have seized more than 816,000 homes through the first nine months of the year and are on pace to seize more than a million - .

1 in 4 homes currently being sold are homes that are in foreclosure (Nearly one in four second-quarter home sales a foreclosure - Reuters - 9/30/2010). Even without the current problems associated with fraud and foreclosure, we are going to see a disastrous depreciation in home prices. The fraudclosure issue only exacerbates the problem. This loss in value of home prices not only hurts mortgage holders, it also hurts people who own property outright, because it translates into negative equity in your home or property. You could see a situation where a home with a value of $200,000 in 2006 could fall to a value of $100,000 or less in the next few years.

The reason we are in this mess is because of the Financial Institutions’ hubris and greed. They used their own appraisers to escalate homes many times over their true intrinsic value. They also used the MERS system to avoid fees and did not follow historical precedent associated with Common law to follow proper procedures to secure and register property and maintain the history of the chain of ownership of properties. This leaves the entire market associated with foreclosures in a state of flux. The banks created truly convoluted schemes by loaning money out for $0 down and/or at initially low adjustable interest rates. They put people into homes that were too large a percentage of their income.

And the Banks keep getting bailed out by the Federal government. They used their appraisers to inflate properties that had a true value of let’s say $70,000 to $125,000. And a variable in the equation allowed the system in which artificial demand was created through speculation through house and property flipping. The client who enters the market wanting (creating demand) a home has to pay the price in this rigged (inflated bubble) market. The mortgage holder pays the mortgage until they can no longer afford it or the property falls so far under water that they no longer desire making the inflated payment in a recessed or depressed economic environment. At this point many homeowners/property owners will choose to walk away from the property.

Banks have made money on the monthly installments, they collected on late fees, and they collected on the derivatives and insurance from the foreclosed properties (Remember those PMI payments), and in the end they own the property. The banks should have to take the loss, because of the fraudulently elaborate structure that they have created. That might be bad for the bankers, but the government has decided to come along and bail out their banker buddies on multiple levels. And the government bailing out the banks leaves the taxpayers holding the bag. So the injured parties, in this system, are average Americans who have lost equity in their home, some who have taken home equity mortgages could end up in foreclosure, and some have already been forced into the foreclosure process, because they can’t afford the exorbitant cost of their mortgage in this imploding economy.

The government has loaned the megabanks trillions at 0% in the name of creating liquidity to take care of the problems associated with the Real Estate implosion. Very little of this free money has made its way to help individuals and small businesses out. They are using the market to make money through an arbitrage scheme called the “Carry Trade.” Carry trades are a form of arbitrage in which money is made if nothing changes against the carry's favor. The banks are borrowing money created by the Federal Reserve in conjunction with the sale of U.S. Treasuries at an artificially low interest rate. The banks then in turn invest the money in developing countries which inherently have higher rates of return associated with the increased risks associated with the returns on investment. This allows the megabanks to take this cheap money and make a substantial rate of return.

Besides the megabanks, this “hot money” has gone to an Automobile company, General Motors, who has been deemed too big to fail and it has gone to insurance company, AIG, who took premiums and invested them in very risky investments. What does this teach? General Motors has taken some of this money and invested it in their factories in China and Brazil. Once again we see harm being done to average Americans in favor of Wall Street and the Banking cartel.

It sure does seem that the Banks are staying afloat by buying time through these “Hot Money” Speculative Investments paid for by American Taxpayers. With so many homes being foreclosed on and the high default rates on short term loans, such as credit cards, that financial institutions are rigging the market at the expense of the middle class who is going broke. The Plunge Protection Team (run by the Fed and the Megabanks) is manipulating the markets to the tune of billions of dollars per day, the same way that they sold bad mortgage notes and played both sides of the fence when the Real Estate market tanked over the last few years. They have been in a no lose situation reflected by the huge bonuses that they continue to receive, while this debacle continues.

The worst part to me is when the wealthy disparage poor people as lazy, dumb, etc. They do this because their silver spooned minds can't understand common folks. Nothing ever trickles down. They tinkle down on us like they own us and we should be glad they allow us to breathe. They are comfortable and they don't understand people who struggle, so they insult, ridicule, and hate. Anyone who struggles is lumped in as a freeloader looking for a handout. The last few years have taught me, sure there are those who abuse the safety net, but the majority of people who are struggling have been pawns to the rich man’s game and this has nothing to do with Donkey or Elephant, because both parties have sold out the middle class through a lack of investment in human capital and endorsing the offshoring of our industry.

The banks are broke and the sooner people wrap their pea-brains around that, the sooner we can get on the road to recovery. The Federal Reserve represents the Financial Institutions interests. Any Americans who do not have ties to the Cartel are at risk of losing everything -- to think otherwise is foolish. They are debasing our currency to the point that it will soon be worthless, if we do not act. This housing debacle is part of the process leading to the destruction of the dollar and subsequently any assets based upon (tied to) our sovereign currency.

Below is a video of Randy Kelton, a Pro se litigant in Texas, who addresses this issue on Alex Jones radio show. For the non-dimwitted, who aren't lip locked to the mainstream media, here is an excellent summary of the Fraudclosure issue and remedies to this situation. This issue is going to have to be dealt with in the near future and the answer isn't to throw more money at the Banksters who go us into this mess to start with.




Fraudclosure 101: Bursting the Piñata

A letter to the NC Attorney General involving Fraudclosure

You can help people save their homes!

Real Terrorism: Financial Terrorism - Time to break the Banksters

2nd wave of the Banking Meltdown is here

How can the United States avoid Bankruptcy?

The Plunge Protection Team and the Ponzi Economy

Seven Days

The national election is in seven days, but honestly I feel no excitement about it. I am registered as a Republican, but I don't feel like I am a part of the party. I don't have the money to buy influence and our local Republican Party is very weak, listless, and has no ideas about what it will take to turn our area around.

The Catawba County Republican Party seems to think that we should all march in lockstep. Well, I don't do dog and pony shows and I think a party is stronger when it has diverse opinions. That isn't to say that there should not be common ground, but I support more than Low Taxes, Gun Rights, and the Right to Life.

I believe that real politics starts close to home and home governance has more of an impact on our daily lives than what is happening in Washington. If we take care of business here, then Washington will have less of an impact on our daily lives. I do not want to be subservient to the whims and fancies of Washington (and Raleigh). Utah and Texas are both States that are as conservative as we are in this area and they are thriving. Look at the Milken numbers or the Forbes numbers. Forbes ranks the area as the 179th Best Place for Business and Careers and the Milken Institute ranks us as the 197th Best Performing City. Both of these studies include the 200 largest metros in the United States. You can believe these studies are biased if you want, but study after study represents us as the bottom of the barrel.

Folks, we have been at the bottom for years. At what point do we start looking at the people who we elect and ask them to step aside and let some people with some fresh ideas come to the fore. This area is a strong Republican area that tends to put the same people back in office based only upon party affiliation. The incumbents all say that they want to bring jobs to the area, but have they been successful? Have they really taken any steps besides showing up for ribbon cuttings?

I'm frustrated to sit back and watch the same people use a Checkers strategy in a world of 3D Chess. I want to know where our State representatives stand on the Real Estate Depression and the Wall Street banking cartel and do they have a grasp of the facts as to how all of this is negatively effecting our State. Have they seen the effect that this is having on Charlotte and how that effects our own area?

I look at the county commission race. The only thing I have heard is about the issue of keeping property taxes low and education -- yeah, I'm against education (haha!). Fact is that keeping property taxes low isn't going to make or break those of us at the bottom of the economic ladder. A 10-cent/ $1,000 rate increase would cost most of us $100 per year, but the people who own most everything around here would be paying tens of thousands more in taxes every year to the county. Do we really want to subsidize the rich folks who aren't putting money back into the community? Maybe this would force them to put some money back into the community, especially when we look at the absentee property owners who allow properties to turn to rubble and refuse to deal with the problem, because they don't see it every day.

I am all for keeping taxes low, but I believe that is just one factor in the equation. It must be balanced with making sure that infrastructure is properly maintained and kept modern. Harry Hipps gets to the heart of the matter when he starts talking about myopic views. I've read some of the political junk mail this political season and most of it says that the candidate wants to help create jobs. Candidates cannot create jobs unless they personally own a business, but they can help to create an environment that will enhance the ability of entrepreneurs to start-up and sustain businesses in our area. I have not heard any fresh ideas about how candidates would foster such an initiative.

So if the candidates want to help create a job friendly environment what do they need to do? They need to look at themselves and ask "What would spur me to start a business in this area?"

Number one, Start-Up Entrepreneurs need capital. No one is realistically talking about millions of dollar; sure it would be nice, but they need the money and facilities to get the ball rolling. Second, they need research facilities, infrastructure, and Human Resources and Capital to support their efforts and help push ideas forward to get ideas off of paper and into the factory or into the public. I think we have taken this mindset forward with the creation of the Manufacturing Solutions Center, but we need capital. Third, we need a community that does not accept the race to the bottom. We need people to demand excellence and fairness and have a willingness to put efforts forward that are not based upon personal preferences, goals, and wealth. This is the reason why we aren't gaining traction, because the vast majority of the people in this area are unwilling to do anything that does not personally benefit them in the short run.

We need politicians with energy, not hum drum boredom. If they are out of ideas, then it is time to bring forth new candidates and it is time that these incumbents do the right thing and let the new blood with fresh ideas take the stage. The parties around here are a joke, because they tell people that they need to wait their turn. That is what has created this Status Quo malignancy that is destroying a once thriving area.

Let's be honest we have one party in control in this area and that party does not really have anything to do with the original nature and intent of the Republican Party. When one looks back to Lincoln does one see a man (and a party) rooted in the Status Quo? When one looks to William McKinley, one sees a GOP party leader (and party) who wanted to protect American Economic Interests via tariffs and restricting "Free Trade." Look at the loss of manufacturing that has decimated this area. What are we supposed to do with this displaced workforce -- Euthanize them?

Yet, we have local leaders who have really made no attempt to fight this "Free for all trade" scheme. We need this to become a priority, because this gets at the crux of what has ruined our local economy. We need our local representatives to take this issue to Raleigh and Washington to create a mandate that Free Trade vs. Fair Trade must be addressed. What we have witnessed is no different than sitting back and watching your home be robbed, while complaining to the thieves. It is one thing to sit in the corner and bemoan the loss of our industry, it is another to take steps towards addressing the situation in a constructive manner that will defend our community's viability. We need to see some action!

This is only personal to the point that I see the lack of political leadership and the negative consequences that it has had on this area. We need some people that will demand facetime in the media to promote our plight. We can no longer afford to wait our turn. I believe that we are going to see a Republican surge next Tuesday, but I don't see anything positive coming from it, because the same ole establishment will remain in place. The (accountability) can will be kicked down the road to 2012, because we don't have the Presidency, we don't have the Governorship, we don't have control of yada, yada, yada...

It is time that the people reject politicians who constantly make excuses. You serve your time. You push your agenda. When you are out of energy and/or ideas, then it is time to do the right thing and step aside for those who can move us forward. Think about the great politicians of our time, did they look to constantly make excuses? It is alright (and necessary) to point where others are wrong, but only when you take action to invoke positive movement. The people can effect change when they choose to participate and hold people accountable for the policies they endorse, whether explicit or implied. The writing is on the wall, people need to realize that time is running out. We are coming to a Hold'em/Fold'em crossroads point in time in this community.

City Pools issue displays Local Officials' Myopic Views

Sprinkle or dunk? No. I’m not trying to start an argument between Catholics and Baptists on baptism, I’m referring to the discussion on the pools in Hickory. It is clear that the citizens want several pools in different parts of the City. I spoke many times about this in my run for City Council. The reasons should be obvious.

The Mayor and numerous City officials have referred to kids cooling off during the hot summer months. With their usual myopia, they ignore the elderly who want to exercise without jarring their skeletal systems or aggravating their arthritis, the disabled who would like activity that doesn’t hurt their backs, serious athletes who want to train for aquatic sports, and other interests besides the youths of our community. A splash pad may be an option for some, but as recent surveys and meetings show, pools are the choice of the community.

I believe the City government does not want to do this because of cost, liability, and the desire to not be responsible for managing the pools. I don’t buy the notion that people would not use the facilities if built. As several people have pointed out, when the pools were open maintenance was shoddy and the paperwork seems to be in shambles. There was no effort put into programs like swimming lessons, synchronized swimming, etc.

Numerous citizens have addressed Council on this issue and the recent Jackson Group survey confirms that this is what the people want. The question is: will City government ramrod their wishes and plans onto the public or are they really listening to the public? This will be a telling moment in the dialogue between the government and the governed.

Hickory Metro: the 197th Best Performing City (out of 200)

The Milken Institute Statistics of the Best Performing Cities, for the past year, came out last week and I have looked over them. The numbers show that the Hickory metro has once again fallen to one of the 5 worst performing metropolitan areas in the United States. We are now ranked #197 out of the top 200 U.S. metros compared to #185 last year and #191 in 2008. The job growth trend increased some over the last year, but the 1 and 5 year wage trends are still abysmal, ranking at or near the bottom 5% in both categories. Sadly, High-Tech GDP output did not sustain the growth of the previous year, falling from #2 in the rankings to #196.

Here are the rankings and trends since 2003:


Below is a presentation of Hickory's 2010 Milken rankings versus the rest of North Carolina:

What one sees is that the rest of North Carolina's Metro areas are seeing a negative trend, except for areas such as Raleigh-Durham and Fayetteville heavily associated with government and public industry. But, only Greensboro has begun to rival the numbers and trends associated with Hickory. I believe much of that is due directly to the loss of manufacturing capacity related to furniture in association with the real estate bust. People tend to fill new houses with furniture. This has been exacerbated by the offshoring of these jobs to 3rd world markets. Asheville and Winston-Salem have fallen into the bottom half, but they are barely in the bottom half and both decreases in rankings correspond heavily with North Carolina's general slide.

One could also assume that Wilmington and Asheville have seen negative trends in overall statistics, because the deep recession is having a negative impact on tourism, which is a major component of those area's economy.

The national trends show that 9 of the top 20 metros in the nation are in Texas. International trade with Mexico has had a major impact on the Texas economy, due to strategic location and the weakening dollar. On the negative side, out of the bottom 20 metro areas, 11 are in the Michigan-Indiana-Ohio corridor. That is a continuing trend that I have previously addressed, because Hickory is amongst these city's that are at the bottom of the statistics. In every year since 2003, Hickory has ranked in the bottom 15 of these rankings and in all but two of those years Hickory ranked in the bottom ten.

To get a good grasp on these statistics, please take a look at the article Hickory - Time to put the Puzzle together that I put together from statistics from the year before last. We can pretty much see that we are in the same position as we were last year and the year before and the year before and the year before. There have been some steps taken to sow seeds for the future and I have personally seen some attitudes change about the direction of the area, but it is more than obvious that it has not been enough. The Powers that Be are scared to do anything that might be considered too risky and therein lies a BIG problem. That risk aversion is the 800 pound gorilla in the room.

I constantly hear the same old mantra about Conservative Ideas and Values espoused, but that is not enough. Of course, the people at the the top of the food chain want to keep property taxes low, because they own all of the property. What about investing in your community? And why push a yahoo simpleton agenda?

First of all, they are going to have to raise the property tax rate. They can say that it is revenue neutral and that is fine, but there are going to be challenges to assessed property values and if necessary there are going to be lawsuits, because I don't care what the appraisers say, the properties are not realistically worth what they are being appraised at. The population of this area is set to implode, because of the trends we see above.

No jobs + No living wage = Moving somewhere else to survive. That means reduced demand for housing. That means an increase in the amount of available housing on the market. That means a further implosion in Home values, unless the banks want to continue to prop up market prices by holding on to abandoned houses after the people walk away from the outstanding mortgages. And will city officials tolerate the blight associated with these properties not being properly maintained? Believe me, all of this can happen and will happen if we don't do something soon.

Fraudclosure 101: Bursting the Piñata

What have we been hearing since this economic debacle began in September 2008? We have a capital crunch is the story line of Banking and Government interests. At that end of 2008 the recognized deficit of the United States was a little less than $10 trillion, which is bad enough, and now it currently stands at over $13.4 trillion.

OK, so the government was supposedly spending $3.4+ trillion on the Federal level in order to prime the pump and the TARP bailout money was supposed to be a revolving credit line meant to recreate liquidity in the credit markets related to the residential housing crisis and the loans related to the real estate bubble. The government will tell you that TARP has only cost about $30 billion, but the way the books have been cooked, and with the lack of transparency, there is really no way to know what the real cost of that program has been.

Have we seen any real improvement in the real estate market and have these governmental investments improved the economic outlook of our nation? I don't really think that anyone can say that they have. Housing prices are still artificially inflated beyond reality. Most of the people that I know that I've tried to sell property cannot and the only way that they will be able to sell their property is to decrease the asking price of that property. In reality most housing investments are far below the price (value-principal) that they took the loans out at.

The financial lending institutions have been in a win-win, can't lose situation. They're making money off of fees related to the introductory loan, derivative investments related to the loan, any fees related to late payments on the loan, fees from for foreclosure proceedings, and money related to the resale of the foreclosed properties. The lending institution was supposed to have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the person taking out the loan could afford the loan. What has been revealed over the last few weeks related to this issue of fraudulent foreclosures is that the banks not only have not acted in the best interest of their clients (the person who took out the loan), but they have played their client as a dupe and in doing so they have broken the law.

Think back to a few years ago and all of the mortgage companies that came out of the woodwork and aggressively pressed consumers to take out first, second, and third mortgages also known as equity loans. They had people believing that the value of their homes would increase forever. When the bubble burst it led to where we are today. It began the downward spiral that is continuously feeding off of itself. There's a lot of productivity that is no longer a part of our economic engine. With the glut of houses on the market, there is no need for the labor to create the products needed to build houses in the construction industry is at a standstill. And all of the ancillary jobs related to the construction of homes are gone.

The only people who benefited from this bubble or the people at the top of the food chain of the financial institutions. Fraud has been perpetrated on multiple levels. They make their money off of the fees associated with the instruments that are a part of the financial system. The troubled derivative investments associated with housing have been Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) and Credit Default Swaps. What appears to have been the case is that the financial institutions packaged individual loans and sold them as financial instruments on Wall Street. The main problem is that they sold these packaged instruments multiple times to multiple entities. It appears that there's been no accountability, because an individual loan could have been placed into multiple packages. In essence your personal loan could belong to multiple parties. So it is virtually impossible to know who has the title to your loan or who you owe the money to. Therein lies the problem.

If one looks at Credit Default Swaps, they will see that the financial institutions involved in these investments have a vested interest to see that these loans would become nonperforming assets. That means it was in their interests that the client not pay off the loan and subsequently go into default. Once the client went into default, then the financial institution could collect on the credit default swap, which in essence is a form of insurance. Not only that, but then the financial institution has made money off of the initial loan, off of late fees, then off of the credit default swap, and finally off of the resale of the home.

That is what has brought me to this crossroad. I see the hoodoo that has taken place. This scam has been perpetrated at the expense of the American people and for the pleasure of the executives on Wall Street who are continuously being paid billions of dollars in bonuses and in turn buying off our political system and our court system to represent the interests of very few people. As I have further delved into this issue, I realize how rigged and perverted the system is. It is not only the housing industry, but it is every facet of the financial industry and thus the economic system in our country.



If you want to free up capital and bring liquidity back to our financial structure, then you're going to have to rein in the corruption. The wealth has been concentrated at the top of our socioeconomic food chain. The megarich continue to get richer and the disparity in income continues to grow. This was not the intention of our forefathers in this country is not what it once was. We need to bust open the piñata, if you want small businesses to form and be able to have lines of credit and if you want average people to be able to own homes, then you are going to have to bust open this concentration of wealth. It can no longer be ignored.

The best way to do this is to hold the parties who are responsible for these fraudulent loans, fraudulent financial instruments, and the resulting fraudulent foreclosures responsible for their actions. People have been displaced because of this fraud. This has not been a victimless crime. Sure, some people faulted on their loans because of their ineptitude, but the lending institution had a fiduciary responsibility to act in the interests of the person who took out the line. If the lending institution gave a loan to an individual who they knew most likely could never pay back the loan, then they had no business giving the loan to the person in the first place.

Look at all the predatory lending that took place a few years ago. In my opinion, adjustable rate mortgages should be illegal. Mortgage companies aggressively pushed these types of loans. There were many fly-by-night mortgage companies that aggressively marketed second mortgages as a way to tap into the over appraised equity of primary residences. That equity was created by the housing bubble. It was not real equity. People got caught up in the irrational exuberance. Most people don't understand the laws of economics and finance. They get caught up in the hysteria of the upswing created by a bubble market.

Most of the people that were hired as loan officers at these financial institutions did not understand their position of responsibility as a representative in the financial marketplace. They look to themselves as salespeople. They wanted to flip commissions. Anyone who studies finance understands that there are rules and laws that must be adhered to in these circumstances. Everyone from the top to the bottom of these financial institutions abrogated their duties as representatives of the public good. And as a result we are now going to pay the price of these grievances. I think everyone realizes that the "Too Big to Fails" have already failed. It is only a matter of how long we are going to carry out the charade of propping them up and continuing to pay the Executive Bonuses with Governmental dollars.

I really don't care whether you are in default on your mortgage or not. The only way that we can bring the housing market (and frankly our entire economic system) back into balance is to challenge this fraudulent system that overinflated housing values and thus the amount of money we pay for shelter. The excessive amount of money that we are paying for shelter, because of this bubble, is taken away from monies that could be spent elsewhere in this economy. We need to bring balance back to the marketplace and if we stand back and let this corruption go on then this depression will continue to dig deeper until it ravages our country to its core.

Personally, after reading the information that I have, I don't believe that it does any good to renegotiate with the bank under the current environment. The best thing to do is to find all the free resources and reference material that you can and sue the lending institution yorself without hiring a lawyer -- Pro se legal representation in the United States. I know that I'm going to look into this myself and I have already networked with a few people who are interested in pursuing this venture. When you decide that this is worth your time, then you can contact me at hickoryhound@gmail.com.

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