mortgages

The headline reads: "Study: Pop music becoming louder and less original" ; I knew that ! In fact it is easily discernible for any fan of rock and roll. And that study also reflects an overall affectation of U.S. culture.
There really isn't much in the way of current lyricists that paint pictures like the older songwriters did. Or music that complements such lyrics. Read below the fold...

I suspect this is only among the first in a coming wave of lawsuits.

Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. units were sued by homeowners in Kentucky for allegedly conspiring with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. to falsely foreclose on loans.

The lawsuit, filed as a civil-racketeering class action on behalf of all Kentucky homeowners facing foreclosure, also names as a defendant Reston, Virginia-based MERS, the company that handles mortgage transfers among member banks. The suit claims that through MERS the banks are foreclosing on homes even when they don’t hold titles to the properties.

Read below the fold...

For some reason, Lambert thinks I have something to say about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because a long time ago I thought it would be fun to needle the PUMAs about their odd predilection to absorb and repeat bad theories on the so-called mortgage meltdown (and, no an econ PhD does not automatically raise my estimation of your credibility---my current project is needling Canadian economics professors). Read below the fold...

[Welcome, href="http://crayfisher.wordpress.com/">Crayfisher readers. --lambert]

There's lots for me to criticize in this Confluence post about the relationship between race and the subprime market, including a certain amount of PC policemanism which I am not at all averse to inflicting. Let's just say that it's pretty much well known around both here and there that my threshold for a racism accusation is a lot lower than theirs, and for that reason, the PUMA phenomenon as a movement seems rather tone-deaf to me about race issues. Read below the fold...

Don't tell me that the Republican behind this scheme didn't know what he was doing. $15,000/yr field laborer approved for $720,000 home loan. You know what happened:
Read below the fold...

I've been surfing, and this is a question on my mind. Really, why? Tell me why you think owning is better than renting, or not. Be specific. I just did some reading on our housing situation, and I'm left with this feeling that...it's very stupid, if you're not really, really rich and very, very armed and buying property with a natural, deep well in Idaho, to buy long-term financed housing. Am I just bitter and off base? This isn't about those who already own or mostly have paid off their homes, but about peeps today who don't own and are thinking of changing that. Read below the fold...