Housing Doom Housing Bubble Blog

Austin is beautiful this time of year, but I’m headed back to Phoenix for a few days. [Yeah it’s in the 90s this week- but it’s a dry heat.]

I’m driving this trip, so my internet access will be spotty. I’m counting on our usual cast of characters to keep the party going.

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It’s always interesting checking my inbox- I’m never quite sure what will pop up in the course of the day.  Yesterday I received an unusual request- this time from the folks at MTV:

I’m currently researching a new round of episodes for MTV’s long-running series, True Life. The series, if you’re unfamiliar, employs first-person narrative storytelling to provide a window into the lives of young Americans. To date, the series has explored topics as complex as living with a disorder such as autism or obsessive-compulsive disorder; living in extreme poverty; and being deployed to and returning from military service in Iraq.

We’re currently exploring the idea of a True Life episode featuring young people who are about to or have lost their home / apartment, and I’m hoping you might provide some networking support as we put out our call for stories to young people in such a situation.

Our focus would be on one of the millions of Americans about to lose their home or apartment.  Whether someone lost their home because of unemployment, a divorce, or inability to make payments, we would like to document their experience in order to shed light on how this crisis is affecting young people. This is a documentary, not a reality TV show, which means that we do not orchestrate or pre-determine anything we shoot but instead try to capture events as they unfold naturally, without our interference.

I’m trying to get the word out to people in our age range (16-25, roughly, though anyone who appears younger than 28 is welcome to submit their story) who might be interested in possibly sharing their story and ultimately participating in a documentary project.

MTV requests that if you are interested, please contact Yanna at (212) 654-7237.

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I was apparently the victim of a "Zip Bomb", which had the effect of holding most of my email hostage for the past several days.  Because some of my email was getting through, I was unaware that this was happening.

I get rather a lot of email these days, so it may take me a day or two to work my way through my backlog.  My apologies to anyone who I may have neglected. If you have emailed me in the past few days, feel free to resend it.  I’ll try to catch up ASAP.

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To all of our posters, readers, and contributors:

A blessed and happy Easter.

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To Doomers everywhere:

If you’re buying a home this year-

     Here’s hoping you find an affordable pad in a stable market.

If you’re selling a home this year-

     Here’s hoping it moves quickly and sells for a reasonable profit.

May all your trades be prosperous, your bank adequately capitalized, but most of all,

    Here’s hoping you have all the good things in life that won’t be found on a balance sheet.

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A very Merry Christmas and happy holidays from your friends here at HousingDoom.  We’re skipping the "gloom and doom" this morning for a video that’s more hopeful:

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Today HousingDoom gives thanks to all the friends, posters, contributors and readers who have come to make up the HousingDoom family.  I wish you could see all the emails from the folks who’ve said we’ve made a difference in their lives and financial decisions.  Certainly you have made a difference in mine.

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Peace and best wishes,

Twist

What’s the difference between a blog and the news media?  I went looking for an "official" definition of news media, and liked the CIA’s definition:

Representative of the News Media refers to any person actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public. The term "news" means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. Examples of news media entities include television or radio stations broadcasting to the public at large, and publishers of periodicals (but only in those instances when they can qualify as disseminators of "news") who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public. These examples are not intended to be all-inclusive. Moreover, as traditional methods of news delivery evolve (e.g., electronic dissemination of newspapers through telecommunications services), such alternative media would be included in this category. In the case of "freelance" journalists, they may be regarded as working for a news organization if they can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that organization, even though not actually employed by it. A publication contract would be the clearest proof, but agencies may also look to the past publication record of a requestor in making this determination: * * * * *

Based on their definition, bloggers who strive to provide current news and original content for readers fall under the definition of "alternative media."  Not all organizations however, find us as deserving of respect.  Consider the case of Paul Jackson of Housing Wire, a respected voice in the mortgage industry, who will not be able to cover the MBA’s Annual Expo. Paul said in a post yesterday:

I won’t be going, however, because HW isn’t apparently recognized as a formal media outlet by the MBA’s press team. Although I did my best to help them understand this blog’s role in the industry, Aleis Stokes over with the MBA’s press relations team brushed me off by saying that press registrations were only extended to “working press.” Apparently that’s not what I do here each and every day at Housing Wire, although I’d have to wonder if Ms. Stokes has ever once read the blog or considered the number of industry professionals that do.

For those of you who have become used to getting your daily news fix from your favorite blogs might consider this request from Housing Wire:

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Let’s laugh [1] at this [2] while we still can.

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Play Video

In-Depth Look: U.S. Home Foreclosures Almost Double, Rising 93.4% in July Bloomberg-Clip - (BLOOM-Clip) Aug. 21, 2007. 12:00 PM EST Analysis and Discussion with Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis: 30% of Subprime Cleveland Mortgages Gone Bad

Earlier this week, new Doom contributor V sent us this AFP story [1] about the state of homeownership in Cleveland, Ohio. Later on, Doom stalwart G contributed a link to an extraordinary Bloomberg video interview [2] with Coyahoga County Ohio Treasurer Jim Rokakis. Rokakis gave a vivid picture of the state of homeownership in his county, which includes the city of Cleveland. Here are some highlights:

• "… the worst foreclosure rate since The Great Depression."
• "What’s going on is all these outrageous loans made to anyone who could conjure up a breath on a mirror going bad."
• "… the buyer shares a considerable amount of blame. … half are homeowners, half are speculators, but the reality is that Wall Street made this money available …"
• "… there was nobody home at the regulatory level in Columbus, and nobody home in Washington DC."
• "… we’re already experiencing 20 to 30 percent."
• how? "… because they were coached in how to lie …"
• "… Argent Mortgages made here … since 2003 have negative equity of almost a quarter of a billion dollars *…"
• "I don’t think people realize the level of fraud here. We don’t have enough jail cells to put all these folks away."

*No need to look much farther for the source of the undertow in world bond markets

UPDATE: permissions are now in place to release this correspondence between Mr. Rokakis and Housing Doom.

August 22, 2007, 6:00PM PDT
To: Housing Doom
Subject: Re: Appreciation for your vivid Bloomberg interview

Dear Mr. McLeod,

Thanks for your note. I have visited your blog, and many others, that deal with this topic. What can I say? I am extremely bitter that I live in a country and a society that tolerates the abuses of Wall Street when its practices are destabilizing cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo and older communities like it all over the country. I am sad at the absence of outrage–it’s as if we have to expect this kind of behavior. In the 80’s it was the S&L crisis. Then it was the junk bond scandals that Michael Milken and his cronies gained so much notoriety for–but it didn’t stop there. Global Crossing, Adelphia, Worldcom, Enron–the list seems to be endless. As bad as they all were, they will pale by comparison to this scandal. Oh, I guess a few heads will roll, the Fed will finally do something, Congress will tighten up the rules regulating the industry and the outrageous abuses that I have complained about since 2000 will slow to a trickle. But I have one question: who will pay back communities like mine for the incalculable damage that has been done, the loss of population, demolished homes and neighborhoods that are now past the proverbial ‘tipping point?’ As Bob Dylan would say "the answer is blowing in the wind."

If my Bloomberg clip is helpful to you please use it.

Jim Rokakis

P.S. Canada is a great country.

==================================
August 22, 2007, 5:36PM PDT
To: Office of the Treasurer — Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Subject: Appreciation for your vivid Bloomberg interview

For Mr. Rokakis,

Debi Averett and I have been following the US housing bubble and mortgage finance for over a year on our blog, but we were both thunderstruck by your description of the state of homeownership in the Cleveland area. Your words deserve wide dissemination and we will do our best to help.

Your interview wasn’t just news, I felt like I was a witness to history. I’m referring to the one at this URL.
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/video/clk/index.asp?vidid=512

… [there followed an invitation to comment further for Doom readers] …

All the best, John McLeod, Halifax, Canada

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