Letters to the Editor
cdunlea
Published Letters: 154 Editor's Choice: 35
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A-Rod
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"The number of winning ballclubs these people have put together, combined: Zero. The New York Yankees? One or two, if memory serves."
Sure, King. It's just that A-Rod was on none of those teams.
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You're kidding, right?
[Read the article: The Citigroup who stole Christmas]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is one guy who doesn't feel sorry for anybody who took out a $695,000 mortgage when they only make (ahem) $100,000. Am I supposed to believe that the closing attorney/escrow officer forgot to point out the monthly payment? There are dozens of websites with free online payment calculators. I calculated that a loan that size, at 7.99%, assuming it's fixed (which it probably isn't), over 30 years costs a staggering $5,094.82 per month--before saving for insurance and property tax. Gee, at a combined pretax income of $100,000, the debt-to-income ratio on the loan is...61.13%. Again, before the other housing costs are added in, income tax, and, oh, food.
Sure, Ameriquest, Argent and Citi were stupid to make these loans, but let's not discount the stupidity of the borrowers who thought their homes were magical piggy banks that would never stop giving them fresh money.
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Countrywide
[Read the article: The Citigroup who stole Christmas]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You must mean that Countrywide services $55 billion in federally-insured or guaranteed debt, not actually owes them that money. The government doesn't lend money directly to lenders, not at that amount anyway.
Credit in this country used to be safe, safer than in the Third World. This was the result of the government getting involved in the guarantee process, which had to do directly with the 30 year Treasury bond (now 10 year) being the "safe harbor" investment of the world as the US government had the best credit in the world--certainly safer than some hyperinflationary Latin American country. Without those guarantees by Fannie or Freddie or the FHA house credit would be as tight as in Honduras.
Of course, all that could change with the mountain of debt we've piled up under our Dear Leader...
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Huh?
[Read the article: The next subprime: Reverse mortgages]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nulla, as it is, Medicare mandates that you cannot receive government-paid LTC so long as you own your home or have equity resulting from the sale. What's the difference?
Also, I'd be very surprised is the FHA was behind that reverse mortgage with $16,000 in fees, the FHA generally caps what brokers can charge in direct compensation on home loans; for example, an origination fee charged to the borrower cannot exceed 1% of the loan amount.
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Stupid testimony
[Read the article: The next subprime: Reverse mortgages]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There were also many problems with that testimony about the 80 year old woman. First, about that equity built up "one buck at a time" over the years--so, none of that value came from unearned appreciation during the real estate boom of the past twelve years? Hmm--but I'll skip that tearjerking rhetoric for the moment.
"Finance charge" equals interest. Would there be no interest on the home equity loan? I doubt it. What rate would that be? And would that be fixed or, like all HELOCs, adjustable? And what were the caps set on that loan? Another thing--ALL home loans have interest compounded daily, including HELOCs. Also, HELOCs are now harder to get and require evidence of ability to repay the loan; reserve mortgages do not.
Finally, can you explain how ANY annuity requires anyone to reach age 100, the actuarially determined age of probable certain death, to get a cent of their money after age 62?? As a formerly licensed life, health and DI licensed agent with a Series 63 license to sell annuity instruments, I can state as an expert that is not the case whatsoever. Annuities pay out a monthly income and can be invested in municipal bonds; but whereas before she was only receiving dividends, she would now be receiving both dividends and principal, which at age 80 she should be getting!
If you want to call your column "How the World Works", please do a little research as to how it works before posting such inflammatory non-truths.
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Jets over Pats? R U Serious??
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]These kinds of picks help explain the 2-11 What the Heck record you have. Any worse luck, and you'd get a call from the MGM Grand asking you to work the casino floor as a "cooler".
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20 Year Annuities
[Read the article: The next subprime: Reverse mortgages]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, I can read. The problem is not my reading comprehension but your understanding of terms. A 20 year annuity does not lock your money up for 20 years, it is a PAYOUT over 20 years with principle and interest. Again, no annuity I have ever read about, sold, or heard of ties the owner's money up against their will once they reach 62 years old, and no insurance company marketing a product designed to do that wold get their prospectus by the SEC. That's "How the World Works".
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No, what they're really saying is
[Read the article: Financial Freedom: We didn't sell that reverse mortgage]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]the people at Salon who get paid to write these article don't know the difference between loan origination and loan servicing.
That's basically the difference between the Herb Tarleck0looking salesman who sells you the used Buick, and the guy who buys the lemon. Yeah, really similar.
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I doubt Moody's let anyone off the hook...
[Read the article: The credit rating house of cards]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...otherwise the industry would not take Moody's seriously. It is entirely possible Assured Guarantee did not invest or insure nonprime residential loans; there are many other things to collateralize in and other forms of real estate, such as commercial or industrial space. Or they may have invested solely in prime, agency-backed loans, where the default rates are well within normal parameters. If either of these scenarios were the case, Moody's would have noted the limited exposure to nonprime residential and certified the rating it gave.
Sometimes, it is what it is. Not everything is necessarily a conspiracy theory.
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AnnieW
[Read the article: The credit rating house of cards]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"However, if the housing market deteriorates further, bond insurer ratings could come under pressure again. Because of that, Ambac and most other rivals are working on ways to bolster capital and secure their Aaa ratings, Moody's said..."
All true. There is always a possibility of a trickle down effect from the larger residential market woes. The good news is that more companies are now getting out in front of the problem instead of hoping and wishing like the Wall Street outfits who kept cruising until they hit the icebergs. In the mortgage market, everything from risk-based pricing hits to curtailing LTV s is coming in.