The Great Eviction

[eridani]

http://www.nationofchange.org/great-eviction-1375454922

Since 2007, the foreclosure crisis has displaced at least 10 million people from more than four million homes across the country. Families have been evicted from colonials and bungalows, A-frames and two-family brownstones, trailers and ranches, apartment buildings and the prefabricated cookie-cutters that sprang up after World War II. The displaced are young and old, rich and poor, and of every race, ethnicity, and religion. They add up to approximately the entire population of Michigan.

However, African American neighborhoods were targeted more aggressively than others for the sort of predatory loans that led to mass evictions after the economic meltdown of 2007-2008. At the height of the rapacious lending boom, nearly 50% of all loans given to African American families were deemed “subprime.” The New York Times described these contracts as “a financial time-bomb.”

Over the last year and a half, I traveled through many of these neighborhoods, reporting on the grassroots movements of resistance to foreclosure and displacement that have been springing up in the wake of the explosion. These community efforts have proven creative, inspiring, and often effective -- but in too many cities and towns, the landscape that forms the backdrop to such a movement of hope is one of almost overwhelming destruction. Lots filled with “Cheap Bank-Owned!” trailers line highways. Cities hire contractors dubbed “Blackwater Bailiffs” to keep pace with the dizzying eviction rate.

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, eridani.

[Warpy]

2. If the neighborhood was a "good" one

with the houses built with every latest fad installed, Wall Street is buying up the empties, presumably to rent to their former owners if they can afford it.

In "bad" neighborhoods (the ones where the predominant skin color was a shade of brown instead of fish belly white), the housing will be allowed to deteriorate as it first gets squatted in, then vandalized, then torched. Taking those houses off the market will reduce overall housing stock and drive rents up. Most of those neighborhoods are already at the vandalism stage. Arson isn't far behind.

Once all the CDOs went up in smoke and the bailout shored up Wall Street, the looting phase was on. Welcome to the new ownership society, the one in which the bottom 99% will seldom be able to own much of anything.

[DonCoquixote]

3. Exactly

The neioghborhood I live in as a "golf course" neighborhood, with forigen banks buying up old properties as rents.

The neighborhood we got kicked out of had the house vandalized, and every appliance stolen (even the f'n stove!)

[NewThinkingChance40]

4. It is really sad to see

so many families trampled because of greed. And the worst part is that Washington would rather bail out the lenders than the people who are truly affected. They should have used the bailout to pay off thousands of mortgages and really boost the economy.

[Igel]

5. I wound up buying one of those foreclosed homes.

It was amazing. We spent the first 3 weeks fixing the dryboard, carpet, linoleum; painting and grouting. Dishwasher didn't work at all, no fridge, stove half-worked, ceiling fans broken, microwave broken.

Yet in less than two years they had two satellite dishes on the roof.

There were three telephone landlines installed--each kid had his/her own phone--plus Internet and cable in every bedroom and the "playroom". Brinks for home security.

When the forwarding order on their mail expired, the collection notices started to arrive. $5k for this credit card, $8k for that credit card. They owed nearly a thousand for electricity. There were three cell phone plans. Four years later, we still get notices. If they filed for bankruptcy, they neglected a lot of creditors.

From closing date to eviction, they had a bit less than 23 months. It takes months for the foreclosure paperwork to get filed and the foreclosure approved.


We're not poor but if we had their lifestyle *we'd* be belly-up in 23 months.

Not all the victims are victims of some other person or the banks. Some are suicides.

[NewThinkingChance40]

6. And those are the people

that ruin it for the ones truly in need, who have been laid off a job due to outsourcing, and are unable to find another one. There is always a part of a group that puts themselves in a bad position and just don't want to get out. It would be nice if we could help the ones truly in need to get out of the bad situation.