1594.
The sketchy economy being a constant source of distraction, I couldn't help but notice the following item.
It would appear, in order to give homeowners in distress a little breathing room, the Sheriff of the City and County of Philadelphia, PA, has, considering the upcoming Sheriff's sale of foreclosures, said – for the time being, mind – said "I prefer not to":
More of our neighbors, our families and our friends are falling behind on their mortgages and losing their homes to sheriff’s sale. My staff and I watch the suffering every day and witness the heart-wrenching scenes as families lose their primary means of wealth-building and face eviction.
In the last few years, layoffs, corporate downsizing, and an increase in the number of second and third mortgages have fueled a dramatic increase in mortgage foreclosures in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania, and increased the number of properties sold at sheriff’s sale to repay the mortgagor’s debt.
Recent trends are disturbing, according to Erik Randolph, budget analyst for the state’s House Committee on Appropriations, which recently released a report stating that the number of mortgage proceedings initiated in Pennsylvania is now at levels not seen since the mid-1980s, and Pennsylvania’s rate now exceeds the national average.
The full text of the Sheriff's message can be read here.
This, in conjunction with the message on the front page that the most recently scheduled sale, for 1st April 08, was postponed until further notice, suggests that the office is taking a more active role in giving homeowners breathing room to try and arrange some way to stay in their homes.
Which I think is a good thing. While it's fashionable to think that the only people who are in foreclosure trouble are people who were too foolish (or stupid) not sign mortgage papers they shouldn't have, the reading we're doing and the news that the foreclosure crisis is spreading to people who have good credit and traditional mortgages suggest to us that there's much more going on here than people spilling ink they had no business to.
Tags: modren_times, foreclosures, weak economy, Philadelphia, Sheriff Green
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1 comment:
The mortgage crisis in a nutshell: people were systematically lied to and bamboozled.
Sure, they could have been more cautious -- and that sort of caution is widely practiced and even more widely praised in this consumerist society, right? I mean, I can't go anywhere or turn on a tv or radio without being reminded of the downsides and the grave responsibilities of making purchases.
And needless to say, we do a terrific job in this country's school system of promoting financial literacy. All those 10,000 pieces of paper you are told to sign and initial when you buy a house? Child's play to the average high school graduate!
Sadly, no. We are all Ed McMahon without the glamorous career as someone's sidekick and host of TV's Talent Search.
I hate to go all Progressive Era on your blog, but I really hate the banks, insurance companies, financiers, brokers, and assorted money changers. They're parasites.
Mammon is just one of many gods I really have no interest in worshipping.
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