Dec 2, 2011

Banks Won't Stop Foreclosing Until Profits Are Removed.

Banks have no incentive to re-negotiate loans. They lose all service fees and income that the loan would have otherwise paid off had it remained solvent.The banks stand to incur even more loss if they rework the loan for less.
It is profitable for them to foreclose on the home and the biggest reason that it is profitable to foreclose is the FDIC in the event of foreclosure, would cover from 80%-95% of losses, using the original loan amount, and not the current balance. The FDIC does not cover losses in a re-negotiated loan.


Here is an example from I AM Facing Foreclosure.com.

How does this translate to the “Real World”?Let us take a hypothetical situation. A homeowner has just lost his home in default. One West sells the property. Here are the details of the transaction:


  • The original loan amount was $500,000. Missed payments and other foreclosure costs bring the amount up to $550,000. At 70%, OneWest bought the loan for $385,000

  • The home is located in Stockton, CA, so its current value is likely about $185,000 and OneWest sells the home for that amount. Total loss for OneWest is $200,000. But this is not how FDIC determines the loss.

  • ‘FDIC takes the $500,000 and subtracts the $185,000 Purchase Price. Total loss according to the FDIC is $315,000. If the FDIC is covering “ONLY” 80% of the loss, then the FDIC would reimburse OneWest to the tune of $252,000.

  • Add the $252,000 to the Purchase Price of $185,000, and you have One West recovering $437,000 for an “investment” of $385,000. Therefore, OneWest makes $52,000 in additional income above the actual Purchase Price loan amount after the FDIC reimbursement.
At this point, it becomes readily apparent why OneWest Bank has no intention of conducting loan modifications. Any modification means that OneWestwould lose out on all this additional profit.

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So here we are after bailing out the banks.The taxpayers via the FDIC are actually paying the banks to take their houseaway from them. The way I see it the FDIC needs change some rules in order to cover the loses the bank would incur by renegotiating the loans to keep familiesin homes and only cover the incurred losses in a foreclosure. Either way it isthe taxpayer that is footing the bill. Until it is less profitable for the banks to proceed with foreclosures over renegotiating they will continue to foreclose and the economy and neighborhoods will continue to decline with boarded up houses. Itis capitalism. make it more profitable for the banks to help people stay intheir homes and I bet the foreclosures rates would immediately begin to falloff. But right now the banks have no incentive. Ultimately it is the taxpayerthat is footing it one way or another and as a taxpayer I would like to see theFDIC able to cover losses the bank incurs to keep someone in the house instead of it being used by the banks to profitoff the misfortunes of the homeowner by foreclosures. I would think that the FDIC would also be paying out less to the banks by only covering the actual losses be it from foreclosure or from renegotiated loans.

Oct 5, 2011

A Physical Exam Story

My cholesterol prescription would not be renewed without the annual lab work so I went ahead and set up my annual Physical exam. It was a typical non eventful exam. We discussed my lab results. We discussed my meds, should we change them or adjust the dosage. We discussed diet and exercise. He asked if I wanted to discuss smoking cessation and I said No, We had discussed those options enough in past visits and I know the discussion and my options by heart.
He asked me about my Hernia and how has it healed, I said fine considering I never had a Hernia, you must have someone else records mixed in with mine. My prescriptions were renewed for another year and I went home. Happy and feeling healthy.

Here it is a month later and a bill has arrived. $32.00 for a 3 - 10 minute Smoking Cessation consultation. A consultation that was about 10 seconds consisting of him asking me do you want to discuss the smoking and I said NO. I was furious!! I felt betrayed! Used! My past exams were with another insurance provider. If these discussions were charged for in the past I never saw the billings for them and were covered by the Health care provider.

I thought now I have to be careful on what I discuss with my doctor. Will I be billed for discussing my meds another $32.00, my diet $32.00, blood pressure $32.00 , Medical history $32.00. Do I have to ask is this a billable question before I ask my doctor something now? Will I be afraid to ask the questions I need to ask about health concerns because I might be billed for discussing it? It really Pisses me off to be billed for a doctor patient discussion that is part of an annual examination. It has in a very significant manner destroyed the patient doctor trust I had with the doctors.

Oh and that Hernia -- is that a really a mix-up in patient records or is that billed on my insurance also?

I have to wonder. Actually this made me start to wonder about a few things.
Will I be declined coverage for future health concerns if this discussion was declined the fifth time?Do they have a check list they just check off that just automatically trigger billing that they are required to ask and do like they do at the oil change centers or car warranty shops?

But here is the real bummer about this charge. I am just going to use some hypothetical numbers out of my head. Say 100 of the patients that visited that 1 clinic that day were also billed for that same $32.00 consultation, that's $3200. Say there are another 1000 clinics throughout the state that also does this 100 number per day. That comes to $3,200,000 per day. If each of the states does the same, that's $160,000,000 per day or $8,000,000,000 a week, $41,600,000,000 per year being billed or covered by our medical system just for asking if you need help to quit smoking. Just how many bogus charges like this are we getting hit up with that do little for health care except increase health care costs?

Mar 22, 2010

Health Care Reform ?

This past Sunday night Health Care Reform was finally voted in. Obama ran for presidency with reforming Health Care as his major platform. Sunday night he fulfilled that pledge.

The Declaration Of Independence States
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

In the US Constitution Preamble it states

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

To me this says
Welfare
welfare n. 1. health, happiness, or prosperity; well-being. [
Welfare in today's context also means organized efforts on the part of public or private organizations to benefit the poor, or simply public assistance

Posterity
posterity n. 1. Future generations. 2. All of a person's descendants. [posteritas.]

To me it is stating that it is our governments responsibility to provide for all citizens the equal rights to complete and proper health care. If I am being denied Health and Health Care I am also being denied my rights to Happiness, Prosperity and Well Being, Without the basic right to being a healthy person I am also being denied the ability to be a contributing part of the Union.
They are stating every citizen is equal regardless of age, wealth, race, sex, or health.

So - Yes I believe that my rights were upheld and this reform does follow under the rules of the US Constitution.
The only Freedoms that I have lost are the Freedoms of Corporations or Insurance Companies to force me into Bankruptcy in order to get health care, Or their Freedom to deny me treatment.

I think the reform could have been better. It should have included a single payer Option. But unfortunately the Special Interests still came in with 4525 Lobbyists with $1.2 Billion to promote that their interests not those of the citizens were protected. Until the corporate control and Lobby money is out of our government there is still a long way to go before full reform can be found and we have a government that truly represents the needs of its people.

It is apalling to hear the disgust at being required to have insurance to provide for health instead of death. Yet these same same arguments are not felt when Insurance is required to protect homes Autos or Property. Is not the Value of Life more than that of property? Is not the right to health more important than the right to bear arms?

We are on track to spend Over a Trillion dollars for the wars, A war that most of the world was against us going into. Yet there is the cry against domestically spending anything to protect the health and infrastructure of our own country for present and future generations. It is Ironic that our republican government produced a universal Health plan for Iraqs new government, yet they cannot build one for ours.

The USA, once the leader of all industrialized nations needs to regain that footing.
How can they be the leader of the modern world, Have the highest costing Health Care system in the world and still be rated 37th Overall in health Care. This is a step to show that the USA is a leader. How can we solve the problems of the world when we do nothing to accept or be reponsible for the problems at home.

This Reform is, like the past Civil rights battles a step in the right direction.

Jan 1, 2010

New Years Eve 2009


As a youth my family would take trips west to places such as Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. We would often do short day hikes or longer multi- day backpacking trips into the mountains on some of these trips. On one such trip we backpacked out of Brooks Lake and finished in Turpen Meadows. The trail started in the Shoshone National Forest and ended in the Bridger / Teton National Forest and ran through the Absaroka Mountain Range in Wyoming. The photo in the header is Brooks Lake where the trail began. On one of the days we came across an area along side a stream, a small clearing and the rotting remains of an old settlers or fur trapper’s cabin. As we approached that area I had an uncanny or Déjà-vu type of familiarity with the area that I could not explain but I sensed there would be a cabin or something in that clearing. My brothers and sisters may remember this area as where we found those big agates and petrified rocks that we carried out. Those 2 rocks added an extra 20 pounds in the backpacks for another 10 miles or so. That memory of that cabin has stayed with me ever since though I rarely mention it and never shared it with my family.

Roll the clock forward some 40 years to New Years Eve 2009. We chose to have a psychic come for our New Years party. The first thing she asked me at the start of my reading was “Tell me about this shack” I could not explain a shack and went on to other topics. A bit later I returned to the shack and asked her to explain what she meant. She said it was where I once lived. I explained the story of the backpack trip and said it was in Wyoming. Later a name came up and she asked me what the name Jackson meant to me. I could not think of anyone named Jackson and stated that there was no one. She said no it is not a person it is a location. I stated then that this cabin or shack was in the Teton Wilderness just outside of Jackson Hole Wyoming.
She stated OMG that is where you lived in your past life and to take it even further she stated my wife Terri is my Venus connection and soul partner and lived in this shack with me in our past life. She demanded I take Terri back to the location. Very Bizarre!!!???
She brought up several other names of people named Jackie, Susan, Katie, Roxanne and Sandy. All were supposed to be names from my past or names of people who are trying to connect with me.
I knew too many Susan’s, I work with three and knew even more so we passed on that name. Sandy I could come up with 2. Sandy Higgins a friend and coworker and Sandra Davidson who I used to work with until she moved to Colorado years ago. She said” It was the blonde one; she had a major crush on you”. The blonde one is Sandra Davidson and back then I had suspected the same especially after someone had left a secret admirer card on my car. I always thought it was her writing.
She continued on to fill me in on my life’s purpose and roles and where I need to go or do to fulfill my destiny.
So that was my reading.
What happened in the other readings? Like in my reading names just came out of the blue in everyone’s readings. It was not a name that sounds like or starts with it was always the complete name. Who is Scott, Tell me about Shauna, Where is Ashley etc…Always a name of significance to the person and only that person who was being read.
In her reading, my wife Terri asked her about her son who died several years ago. She said “He is fine and he is with a Christopher and Pete and having a good time and at peace”.
Christopher was her sons’ good friend who died in the same way a year later, and Pete was his uncle who had died a short time before Terri’s son passed. She also stated Terri’s dog Shadow was another family member named Bob from somewhere in her ancestry.

Something happened here last night. All of us who received the reading experienced it in some level. For a few it was a very emotional and profound experience. We connected to something, It was real what we connected with and experienced. There were just too many coincidental connections in 10 separate readings to be anything that could be considered pure luck and made up hits. However you look at it, New Years Eve was a memorable start to 2010.

Nov 18, 2009

Just a Little Thought

I thought it was time to look at what is going on in the world today in a different perspective. I start with religions mainly because they go back as far as the history of mankind. It is my belief that there has to be some divine or spiritual element to the world, its existence and creation. I am not sure if any one religion is the correct religion. In fact it seems that they all share so many of the same stories and beliefs, I feel they were all born from the same original source.

I am not going to single any religion out as the problem is the same regardless of the religion. They all believe that their god, belief or ideology is the one and only true and correct belief, and therefore other religions are wrong or inferior. To protect these beliefs they in the name of their religion go as far as war, murder or terrorism. The moral beliefs and ways are forced upon others who believe differently. It is easier for others to conform to your beliefs than it is to revel in the true virtues that your religions actually represent. After all if the ideologies of ones religion make you right then that must make the ideologies of another’s wrong. Religions have become divisive and a core of hatred instead of inspirational and unifying. The Christian 10 commandments have become a rule book for others to live by, but those same that wish others to live by them fail to do so themselves.

Instead they break the rules and indulge in the seven deadly sins and use their religion as mask of virtue and righteousness even though they themselves are not what they preach or expect from others. Are the teachings of the Jewish or Islam, Mormon, Scientology faiths any different than the other Christian religions? No. Because they all feel they are the one and only correct religion and those that practice or believe any other religions are heretics, evil, immoral and need to be saved, converted or destroyed and find or create passages in the scriptures to show justification for their actions.
The sanctity, benevolence, ideology and divinity of the religions have been corrupted and lost beneath all the divisiveness they promote.

These traits carry over to every part of our modern society just as they did in the Roman Empire. Bush while president in talking about the Iraq war says our Christian god is on our side and will provide us victory, in essence just as Joshua and Isreal were given victory in Jericho. Is that not making it a religious war against the religion of Islam just as they have claimed this to be a Jihad?

Anyway- Back to modern day society.

The Banking, Housing and financial scandals are all born out of greed and corruption. The banks and financial companies involved made deals that they knew could not be paid for by their customers they made the deals with. They knew they would have to absorb defaults because of their practices. They were bailed out by their customers the taxpayers and they continue the same practices. Now with Credit cards they are raising rates to levels they know will push customers to default. Instead of maintaining a steady guaranteed profit margin and maintaining a happy customer base that will use their product they are using greed and corruption to line the pockets of CEOS and stock holders and destroying their customer base. They too will fail if they continue on this path of corruption, and already would have had the taxpayers,their customers, not bailed them out.

The fight for Health Care has so clearly portrayed all the problems. Like in the financial problems, those making the rules, our government are themselves being bought off to protect the needs of the industry. They care more about the lobby money they receive and represent those interests to retain their jobs instead of working to meet the needs and wishes of those that elected them. The companies themselves are making the deals and then changing the terms. Pharma is raising their prices to cover the cuts they agreed to make once again hitting their customers. Insurance companies are on track to strangle the economy with skyrocketing costs. They all are doing everything to wring the very last penny from the blood of the people before their empire collapses.

Resolving the financial and health crisis has created battles between the Liberals and Conservatives, media and the general population of the world. The arguments have become as divisive as any religious battle and escalated fears,hatred,bigotry, greed, selfishness and racism. What we are seeing is a society collapsing under the same weights that religions have failed in. We are witnessing a society where the values of greed, personal egos and self worth trump values of compassion and a common good that should benefit and unify us all. We have instead become a society heading down a path of corruption and revolution or total collapse. And no one seems to be listening or cares because everyone is right and everyone else is wrong. Who knows maybe the Mayans were right and they were foretelling our path to self destruction.

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