One of my favorite sources of up-to-date public opinion information is Rasmussen Reports by pollster Scott Rasmussen, and an article in today’s edition really caught my attention.
According to Rasmussen’s polling, only 23% of the public believes that if a person can’t pay their mortgage, it is better for the government to assist in making payments.
You’d think, based on the way the government behaves, that everyone in the country is a believer that the government should be the end-all, be-all provider for the entire citizenry. This poll suggests otherwise.
A curious similarity: 23% is shockingly similar to the approximation for the percentage of mortgages that are under water in America. (Depending on the source, most people peg the “underwater mortgage” rate at somewhere between 19% and 25%.) One must wonder if the 23% who support the idea are largely the same people who are facing mortgage difficulty, and making their [flawed] judgment based on that circumstance.
Like so many things, this question drives to the heart of the question of individual responsibility. Fundamentally, this poll result shows that 23% of American home owners believe they shouldn’t be ultimately responsible for paying their own mortgage.
Under what asinine, kindergarten-level type of thinking could a person possibly believe they should not be responsible for paying their own mortgage? In a similar vein, it should be noted that Rasmussen’s polling reveals that Democrats are twice as likely as everyone else (Republicans, Independents, and third parties) to believe its acceptable for home owners to be irresponsible and depend on the government to make their payments. (If you’re wondering for whom you should vote during the next election, a good place to start is to ask this question: If you’re happy with the idea of your tax dollars being used to support people who choose not to behave responsibly and who depend on responsible tax payers to fund their irresponsibility, then you should vote for a democrat. If you don’t subscribe to that foolish notion, vote for ANYBODY ELSE.)
Oh – and you mind-numbed libs who are going to try to change the subject by saying how much you hate George Bush or how horrible you think big corporations are – remember that ONLY 23% of Americans agree with the notion that a person shouldn’t be responsible for their own mortgage payments, so go ahead and spew your infantile venom (it’s always entertaining) knowing that less than 1/4 of the country agrees with you.
Thanks for reading the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter – your comments and questions are always welcomed!
Right on Bryan ! To bad we won’t see that one in the *#@**
liberal press.
Not terribly surprising. But I wonder who was polled and what questions were asked. As I’m sure you know, both of those things heavily influence the result. For example, if the poll leaned heavily toward people in places like NYC or SF, you probably get a much higher number in favor. If you’re in the middle of the country, you probably are getting 23%. And how the questions are phrased will influence the answer. As Mark Twain said, “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics”!
Great article Bryan. I’ve known for a long time that the liberal mindthink was one that encourages irresponsibility and lack of accountability for one’s own actions. It’s good to see verification.
Funny how we don’t see this information being broadcast on the lamestream media. Surprise, surprise.
Bryan, are you trying to bait readers into posting angry comments?
As a disclaimer, I only can speak for the homeowners with whom I come in contact in Sarasota, Tampa & Orlando (FL) markets – including all areas in between.
I cannot speak for the whole country. I hope everyone understands only a handful of states comprise “Foreclosure Hell.”
To that, I do NOT confront people believing the government should make their mortgage payments.
FWIW, I DO encounter people who believe to their graves collusion beyond greed caused this epic economic collapse.
People are mad as hell.
I’m talking about people of ALL socioeconomic conditions. In fact, there’s more anger (and insight) among wealthier property owners facing foreclosure than there is among property owners who don’t live in the mansions near or on the water or in the gated communities.
In Florida, it’s determined 7 out of 10 property owners with a mortgage is UNDERWATER. 4 out of 10 are delinquent on their mortgage.
Whether or not your ox is gored is the issue. If your jobs are secure; your property value hasn’t crashed when you did NOT overbuy or grab a dangerous mortgage or whatever else you want to pull from your hat to blame homeowners, you have NO (ZERO) understanding.
Here’s the reality whether or not you want to hear it:
1. 9 out of 10 property owners I encounter do not give a damn about “moral obligation” to make a house payment.
2. Property owners don’t care what their neighbors think or that John Courson, President of the Mortgage Bankers, will scold them for walking away.
3. More and more property owners are asking me about “strategic defaulting.”
Let me very 1,000% clear here: I do NOT advise people about or on the topic of defaulting, whether strategic or unintentional.
4. More and more property owners I encounter have the means today to pay their mortgage but they are not making their payments. More and more lawyers and tax professionals are devising strategies to help such property owners…again whether or not you condone or support this practice.
When it comes to your ox, you may or may not feel differently about this whole topic. Every day, I face property owners facing foreclosure.
It seems my entire “farm” area is in trouble (Sarasota, Tampa & Orlando). I wish I never had to work “distressed” real estate. Unfortunately, if you work real estate, you work distressed.
It is what it is.
We can search, study & pontificate all we want about “numbers.” Unless you wake up and go to sleep on the front lines, they’re only numbers.
Lord knows, the numbers don’t tell the story – if they’re accurate at all. For instance, how many of you believe the real unemployment rate is 9.9%?
Here’s to hoping your life and financial condition never has or never will be destroyed BEYOND your control.
Everyone should know that I think very, very highly of Mike Payne. We don’t agree on everything, obviously, but I hold this guy in high regard.
Having said that – Did you observe, Mike, that this article isn’t about strategic defaults or moral hazard? This is all about public perception of government involvement in individual mortgage defaults. So while you make fine (albeit jaundiced) observations about strategic default, I’m not sure any of that is relevant here.
And yes – I do write with the intention of garnering a reaction from my readers, but not necessarily angry reactions. Though I’m fine with those too.
— Bryan Ellis
In my opinion, it is only acceptable to walk if there was some sort of fraudulent or illegal mortgage agreement, and the understanding is that nearly 50% of them have some sort of error or mistake. One must also keep in mind that most consumers are not as well informed as we are, and it’s not difficult to be put in an adverse situation without the correct information. The influence of commercial real estate “loan walkers” cannot be of help either.
Thanks, Bryan, for considering my extrapolation “jaundiced.”
In all seriousness, allow me to go “spot on” re: a couple points touched upon in this article:
1. I do NOT prescribe to any one party, Democrat or Republic. I can debate the best of them when it comes to BOTH parties’ LEADERSHIP selling out us little people. As difficult as it is for me to think, our “leaders” have sold us to the highest bidder whether China or Goldman Sachs or …..
2. I took the point of your article to the next logical place: the 77% who are not part of the alleged 23% mentioned in the Rasmussen Report.
First, I don’t know in what context Rasmussen cited this 23%. If 23% of those who do NOT favor taxpayer intervention live and work in areas NOT affected by foreclosure HELL, then okay.
However, if you live next door to 7 abandoned, rotting properties in a once beautiful neighborhood hammered with foreclosures, you might wish the taxpayers had tried to keep these people in their houses…for YOUR sake (not just the homeowners).
This is where I took your point, Bryan.
I KNOW the damage to my property value when my neighbor faces foreclosure. Not to take this the wrong way, but I don’t give a damn about my neighbors insomuch as I care about my own family’s financial future.
Regardless of what some of you might think, your neighbor’s foreclosure WILL affect your property value!
When appraisers can’t find “normal” sales even 5 miles from your subject, that appraiser is forced to DE-value your property.
This is reality. The 23% may not have a clue how foreclosure reality works – if they are not faced with this horror.
I try to vote an informed ballot – for “individuals,” not a party.
I do not believe government should attempt to control free market unless my ox is gored
I do not believe numbers or statistics unless accompanied by LOTS of asterisks to point out errors of commission and/or omission.
Still jaundiced for you, Bryan?
Mike
P.S. To put just a little human face on these numbers, my son’s grade school (with only increased enrollment in the last 10 years), is down 108 students in the last school year (900 at the high for K-5). People do not yank their kids out of their school unless absolutely necessary – usually life altering condition. Just my $.03.
The reason 9 out of 10 home owners don’t give a damn about moral obligation to make house payments is only because they’re on the losing end. I would bet that their opinion would have been much different back in 2004.
23% feel the government should be on the hook for this mess? That’s just pre-conditioned thinking. Why should the government be on the hook because you bought an asset that went down in value? It’s preposterous. But when you pay way more in taxes than you receive in benefits, well, then I can understand why some people would want a personal bailout. Wait till states and municipalities start going bankrupt. Will the government bail them all out? How can they say no when after bailouts of GM, FNMA, FHLMC, AIG? With all these bailouts, it stands to reason that homeowners begin to think that they should get bailed out too.
Bryan,
I’m not sure how I got on your list (thru EasyHUD if I am not mistaken), so far I’ve appreciated your insights and it’s not really relevant whether I agree with you or not, but whenever the name calling starts and I can yea verily feel the spray of moralistic and sanctimonious spewage, envisioning the bulging veins and the “how DARE they” facial expressions…
I can’t take the argument seriously. Sure there are idiots who borrowed irresponsibly just as there were frothing at the mouth lenders, lending to any mirror fogger that stumbled thru the door, regulators turning a blind eye and Wall Street performing an a** raping with their third eye blind upon the populace as usual.
So during this time of exuberance, tell me YOU did your part, when there was a large and tidy profit on the line, to make certain there was absolutely NO way that ANYONE less than qualified was handed the keys to the McMansion with the promise that “oh, when this option arm expires, you can just refi, because don’tcha know, real estate ALWAYS goes up! Just look at the last…couple years! Don’t worry about it- Sign here!
Because if so, continue to froth away. Glenn Beck-ify it, if you must. Make it SENSATIONAL! INFOTAIN your reader!
And I’m not saying you made those promises; that would be irresponsible…but hey, the deals closed, checks were cut, millions were made…
I’m straddling this fence. I am an investor (1 duplex) forced into bankruptcy… now looking at it being dismissed. My attorney says ‘file again, about Aug. if your situation improves.’ Yeah, right.
I WANT my house, I don’t want to walk away from it… but does anyone have any suggestions?
I want to form an LLC and work the lease options. I am wondering if there is any way I can buy my house from myself?
To begin with, I did not miss ANY mortgage payments. I defaulted on my insurance and RE taxes. They forced insurance on me twice what I couldn’t pay in the first place. I got my own back 20 days before the year was up, and paid half a year RE taxes… then they took that back over for some reason. I was working with a counselor (govt.) to do a loan modification, but she drug her feet and they forclosed. I had no choice but file bankruptcy. I was doing good for a year… then the economy got me. I had to evict my tenant about the same time my ‘day job’ went under.
Today my apartment is still vacant because I haven’t got the damages repaired (which was why I had to evict.) and the job never came back. I can cover my bare living expences from a small pension, but it’s not enough to pay what I’m behind on the house (and car) payments. I know full well I’m between a rock and a hard spot… any suggestions?
I agree…but would further ask: Under what asinine, kindergarten-level type of thinking could the U.S. Government possibly believe they can continue to print and spend us into prosperity? Especially when history has clearly shown that it has NEVER worked anywhere it’s been attempted.
bryan,
The whole issue of helping homeowners is a very complex issue. I ask you. Why do you think that one of the most conservative administrations (the Bush Administration) and one of the most liberal administations (the Obama Administration) have basicly been pursuing the same solution to this whole mess?
David
Very fair question. It’s because the Bush administration paid nothing more than lip service to conservative ideals. That’s why Obama didn’t have to do a 180 on federal economic policy. — Bryan Ellis
I agree that we all are responsible for our own decisions, be it financially or otherwise. We should all believe in the power we have to create our own circumstances. We do not need a bail out or a handout if we believe in ourselves. At the same time, It’s sad to see that you buy into the liberal vs the conservative distractions. The power that be belongs to neither (and the media is controlled by them). This is just a way to divide and conquer us. Anyone that votes for career politicians, no matter where on the political spectrum the fall in, vote for the status quo. These politicians need money to run for office and then are beholden to those who give them the money and represent them, not the voter. There is, however, some hope.
To Myron and anyone else that is confused. The gov does not print money. They borrow the money that the federal reserve (a privately owned scam) prints out of thin air an which the gov (read you the taxpayer) pays interest on it. If government printed their own money, there would not be a federal debt and you would not have to pay half of your tax dollars to the federal reserve.
Franc
I applaud ciccio70 for bring the perspective to this discussion.
To Tianna, as long as you filed a Chapter 13 you have some negotiation room. I would suggest that you find an investor friendly lawyer that does loan modifications in your state rather than a government It would be interesting to know if your lender/servicer was Aurora. There is a class action suit being filed against them we have a friend that is one of them. The suit is based on the fact that when people tried to do a loan mod, their representatives told them they would have to be delinquet on the mortgage to do a loan mod. So they stop paying and Aurora foreclosed.
So further insight, remember the banks packaged the loans and sold them off. Why is it that it is smart business when Donald Trump corporations file bankruptcy and banks/funds lose money. But with homeowners its a moral issue.
I couldn’t help but respond to Myron Goodrum. I may be mistaken, but I believe it was Ronald Reagan who said something along the lines of – ” We will grow our way out of the National Debt”, as he cut taxes and increased spending. I know this is not a good quote, but the meaning was in the message.
Also, Alan Greenspan backed George W. Bush on massive tax cuts and more spending in order to prevent deflation, which he felt was in the cards if we continued on the path set by the Clinton administration. (Which was creating a surplus, and would start paying down the National Debt if those policies were not changed.)
Looks like that’s one problem we won’t have to worry about.
Also, when Bryan Ellis responded to David, he stated that the Bush Administration only paid lip service to conservative ideals. My question is this – which ideals are you talking about? The Republican congress under George Bush passed everything George Bush asked for. Wasn’t that supposed to be a conservative congress? Or is massive spending only a problem when there is a Democrat in the White House?
That’s a fair question. I believe that neither Bush nor the Republican congress that he had for 2 years were true to conservative principles. Until very recently, genuine conservatives have been without a party. But I *think* the Republican party is starting to get it’s act together more than in the past. — Bryan Ellis
Hi Charles,
Thanks for your response.
No it wasn’t Aurora, never heard of them. It’s Wells Fargo who I’d always thought was a distinguished reputable financial institution. Boy, have a heard a lot since then. During the course of this fiasco I have recieved corespondence for 4 different states…five now, counting Ohio where I live… and never once had a name or a signature on the papers!
Back when I was receiving the forclosure threats (and they were still accepting my regular payments) the Governor initiated a Hope Now program. I went to that and Wells Fargo didn’t show up. That’s why I was appointed a counselor. I realized she was doing nothing, and when they sent my check back she started paperwork. I got a second check back and she sent the paperwork. She got a notice back they received it, but the next week they forclosed. Hello? I thought she could challenge that, but no…. she washed her hands of me. I get forclosed/bankrupt and she still gets paid. I need a job like that. I probably could have done it myself, but I was afraid I’d get mad and tell ‘em the eff word. Because the whole thing is stupid. I know there’s an answer. I just have to find it.
By the way, maybe you only meant Donald Trump ‘type’ corporations and not him specifically, but everything I’ve read by him or about him, he claims he has never filed bankruptcy. He has, however, taken advantage of government programs…
But….the government gets all its money from us–either directly through our own taxes, or indirectly through the taxes business pay that get passed on to us in the prices of their goods and services. So if we can’t afford to pay for things–like our mortgages–neither can the government. Why don’t people see this? The government is robbing Peter to pay Peter, and charging Peter a huge amount of overhead in the process.