Dear Mortgage Lender, Congress, and President Obama,
In the past year, the USA has spent almost $2,ooo,ooo,ooo.oo (two trillion) that we know of to bailout businesses (banks, cars, etc.) and individuals that cannot pay their debts.
In the most recent stimulus package, first time home buyers get a tax credit. What do non-first time home buyers get? Squat! People facing bankruptcy have a judge on their side to help them keep their homes by re-structuring their mortgage. What do people that pay their debts on time get? Squat! Big business just have to put their hands out and say we need money to stay open. What do small businesses that are the true core of the American economy get? Squat!
Well, I cannot speak for the rest of my law abiding, tax paying, on-time debt paying, fellow Americans, but I can speak for myself. I am tired of being the good guy and getting squatted on. Here is my stimulus package proposal to you for me as a reward for doing things the right way:
1) Mortgage lender – I want you to lock my rate into a 30 year fixed mortgage at 4.0% and recast my mortgage on a new principal balance that is 10% less than the current balance. Why? Because you are already dropping rates, re-amortizing, and doing principal reductions for those that cannot pay their mortgage. At least you know that I can afford the new payments and will pay them. Oh, and if you do not do this, then I will be the next person in line to stop paying my mortgage and then you will have to do it. And yes, my wife and I are struggling each month to make ends meet, but we do it.
2) Congress and President Obama – I want a tax credit double that of the first-time home buyer’s. Why? I purchased my home during the boom. My home like many other Americans is upside down, yet I continue to live here and deal with the current economic situation. With the money, I can at least start paying down my principal so I am not so much upside down.
3) Small businesses that make less than $50,000/year should be given a tax exemption for the next 2 years. You are already bailing out the big businesses who are going to use your own money (actually my money as a tax payer) to pay their taxes. Since you are not going to bail us out directly, let us keep our taxes to bail ourselves out.
I can keep going on with my provisions, but this is enough for now because I can always get the rest of my provisions and these even if you do not choose to accept them. For you see, the way you have all set the stage, I can simply stop paying all my bills and close my company down. How is this going to get me my demands? Easy… stop paying bills because I am unemployed means bankruptcy. The judge will restructure my mortgage because who wants to be responsible for throwing a family of four out on the street. Now that I am unemployed, I can also start filing for unemployment, food stamps, welfare service, free insurance for my children, etc. etc. etc. Then with all this money that I no longer have coming in, I will not have to pay taxes. Instead, you will have to pay me for the tax credits that I do qualify for.
So suck it up. Pay me my reward for doing a good job, or I am going to become a dependent of the USA and help contribute to our current economic failures.
Sincerely,
Jason the Mortgage Broker
PS. Fellow Americans, If you should happen to read this, please voice your opinions to the fairness and equal treatment of all Americans, not just specialized treatment for those the government thinks can help fix the problem.
Comments
Jason
I understand and identify with your feelings. I have to say though that I would never just give up my business and just stop paying my bills to save some mortgage principal. Anyone with any Financial Literacy would realize the cost of Bankruptcy and resulting rates for future credit would far outweigh the benefit of having a judge write down my mortgage.
The majority of the people in the foreclosure position are there because they didn’t know better or took unrealistic risk. If we can use my taxes to bailout the Banks that lent that money (which I was totally against, and the Car manufacturers with their union workers getting the equivilant of $69 per hour when you compute their benefits into their salaries then we can afford a few million for the working slob who got hosed!
Don’t get me wrong I think everyone should take their lumps and let the chips fall where they may. The Banks, Car Manufacturers and Homeowner alike. The problem there is the powers that be would lose control and that they will not let happen. So, if we can afford to bail out millionaires and their corporations, we can look out for the working man too.
As for all those Banking folk pointing there fingers at the Mortgage Brokers remember their are 3 fingers pointing back at you. Brokers didn’t set the guidelines or approve the loans. Their job was to gather the information the Banks asked for which they did. To try and place blame on them is almost as bad as the bailout of these corporations who have created this whole scenario of default.
JohnJakobs,
John,
Honestly, I would never do the BK thing or close my business. I have worked too hard to get where I am to let it go that easily. It is just amazing though that should I do that, the government will step up and help me out for failing, when it is unwilling to reward those of us that are doing what we can to bring the economy back.
And yes, I agree with you in that putting the blame on mortgage brokers is not the way to go. But I must also disagree in that it is solely the mortgage lender’s fault. It is a combination of all parties that are to blame. The consumer for not educating themselves. The brokers and lenders for educating the borrowers. The brokers for not having a fiduciary responsibility to the borrowers to protect them when they knew it was not in their best interest. The lenders for their lax guidelines. There are many issues surrounding the housing and mortgage industries, but they all stem from one thing… GREED!!! Everybody got greedy. And despite Gordon Gecko’s monologue greed is not good.
Thanks for the comment and look forward to future ones.
Jason