52 Thoughts to “ANP: Prince William County Home Foreclosures”
Comments are closed.
Archives
Categories
Blogroll
- 9500Liberty
- Bacons' Rebellion Blogspot
- Bearing Drift
- Blue Virginia
- Citizen Tom
- Counts of Monte Cristo. The
- Derecho, The
- Dixie Pig, The
- My Side of the Fence
- My Star Journey
- NARAL Pro-Choice VA Blog
- New Dominion Project
- Nova Common Sense
- NovaTownHall Blog
- One Libertarians's Point of View by Al Alborn
- Pete Candland's Blog
- Potomac Local
- Prince William Muckraker
- PW Conservation Alliance
- PWC Moms
- PWCPolitics.com
- PWCPolitics.com
- Red NoVA
- Shad Plank, The
- She the People
- State of NoVA, the
- The Jeffersoniad
- Townhall
- VEA Daily Reports
- VivianPaige
- WDGolden.com
- You, Me and the Lamp Post
All contents copyright Moonhowlings.net
Blogroll
- 9500Liberty
- Bacons' Rebellion Blogspot
- Bearing Drift
- Blue Virginia
- Citizen Tom
- Counts of Monte Cristo. The
- Derecho, The
- Dixie Pig, The
- My Side of the Fence
- My Star Journey
- NARAL Pro-Choice VA Blog
- New Dominion Project
- Nova Common Sense
- NovaTownHall Blog
- One Libertarians's Point of View by Al Alborn
- Pete Candland's Blog
- Potomac Local
- Prince William Muckraker
- PW Conservation Alliance
- PWC Moms
- PWCPolitics.com
- PWCPolitics.com
- Red NoVA
- Shad Plank, The
- She the People
- State of NoVA, the
- The Jeffersoniad
- Townhall
- VEA Daily Reports
- VivianPaige
- WDGolden.com
- You, Me and the Lamp Post
It’s shocking to hear that half the homes in the Georgetown South neighborhood have been foreclosed. It was just piss poor timing for the Prince William County Board of Supervisors to have enacted this anti-immigrant policy that has had the affect of decimating our local real estate market and tax-base.
If it took a YEAR to OFFICIALLY( red tape BS) state that we are NOW in a RECESSION, how long will it take to declare a DEPRESSION with the big wigs running to DC for a bail out ( of OUR pockets) and the hand outs are slim at the local food banks, unemployment is the highest in 34 years( thanks info. for the info on the other thread), etc., etc.?
WHO will be left to help between being bailed out and helped out?
After some more thought, I would like to upgrade my question to when and why would they declare a DEPRESSION at the risk of civil unrest , etc. ? It sounds to me like the denial and buying of time is……working out?
It would have been nice to have gotten some credit for forwarding this on to you…others get such for forwarding stories.
Whatever.
It’s an excellent story nonetheless – and heartbreaking.
I found that story just heartbreaking. There is nothing else to say.
Moon-howler,
It IS very heartbreaking and ALL of us are at risk.( if the big wigs go asking for help…) It may not be NOW but never say never. I think this is where everyone’s mind set (heart) should be.
I have to place this Bible verse here as Robb P brought up on another thread but speaks TRUTH. ( aka karma)
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
Thanks for forwarding Bubba,
It looks like Alanna just wanted to put it up ASAP for people to comment, she is probably busy with kid stuff 🙂 We do appreciate when people make us aware of important videos and articles.
This was a very sad story, one of too many these days. I believe we have not seen the real time consequences yet of this economic collapse. We are hanging on by a thread, and with the continued job loss, we may soon begin to see the “bread lines”.
“There but for the grace of G-d go I ” I hope this man finds a warm bed and kindness to get him through this difficult time.
NotMeBubba,
I hadn’t checked my email until reading your comment. So we both independently found this story but thanks for forwarding this on to me. I do get ‘News Alerts’ from ANP and had received one the other day about Obama, Assassination and White Supremacists. I went back today to get that video and post it when I found this one.
Let me do take this opportunity to thank everybody for contributing. 🙂 I do get emails frequently from people tipping me about a news story in a paper. Sometimes I use them and sometimes I don’t but please do keep sending them my way.
And, thanks Mackie for sending the youtube videos of OJ.
Bring it On,
The clip stated half of the 67 houses for sale are in foreclosure. Not that the entire subdivision of Georgetown South is vacant. Also, Georgetown South is the City of Manassas, and the resolution effects PWC residents.
This is a sad story, but there are many more stories just like Julio’s, and it’s NOT all immigrants loosing their houses either. Foreclosures are effecting all types of people and from all walks of life.
The resolution did NOT cause the foreclosures! That’s just an insane thought. I think most know I’m title examiner for the one of, if not the busiest title company in No. Va.. I will tell you all this the foreclosures had already begun at pretty rapid pace well before the resolution was even introduced. I stated this at couple of BOS meetings in June of 2007.
I’m very saddened every day by the number of foreclosures I read in the paper, do titles on, and see the auctions happening at the courthouse. I have no desire to see any human being homeless. However, it’s unfortunate that the banks are not working with people like we hear about on the news. I will say the banks have very generous in many foreclosures with the amount of time they are allowing people to reside in the house, even after the bank has taken possession of the house. This gentleman Julio, got to stay in house for 4 months after the foreclosure, and it was RENT FREE. Folks are getting free rent from the banks for months after at least six months of non-payment of the mortgage. I can’t stand the thought of anyone loosing their house, but just think about it for a minute. How nice to have free rent for almost a year.
I have many true stories on foreclosures here in PWC that would blow you away. Hell, at one point 12 out of 30 houses on my block had all been foreclosed. Talk about looking like a ghost town. We only have 3 vacant houses now. That’s a vast improvement. We’ve had a variety of new neighbors move in, and thank God it’s all families. There were 10 “boarding houses” at one time on my block, and I’m glad there are no “boarding houses” now.
It is good to hear Chris’s story of neighborhoods being revitalized with families.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have declared that they will not move forward any foreclosures during the holiday season and some other banks are following their lead.
But with all this going on, why would anyone pay their mortgage if they owed more than the house is worth, and even because of a job loss or pay cut but because they could save up the money or spend it on other things. If I had a variable rate that was about to go up on a house that was overvalued with no equity in it, even though our income wasn’t suffering, what would be the reason I would continue to pay my mortgage? Personal pride? Worry about credit? Hassle of moving? Stigma within the neighborhood of what you’d done?
My sibling is a CPA and I have been horrified at the stories of wealthy clients that are squirreling away funds and not paying mortgages to purposefully work the system of the new “help the homeowner climate”. One client with no loss of income, is not paying their mortgage and instead sending the money to the middle east, thinking they’ll take advantage of the new programs, get resituated in an even bigger home and then get the money back from the middle east. And then they bragged about it to my sibling encouraging them to do the same thing. OMG! as my kids would say.
Everyone is trying to help keep people in their homes, but are we creating a situation that people are now incentivized to walk out on their mortgage?
mmo5,
I do think some banks are doing somethings to help those with ARM’s. I know as of December 1, 2008 Countrywide began offering program to those with arm’s to rewrite the loans. I don’t know all of the details. Hopefully, this will help keep people in their homes. I do feel these are difficult times for many people. I truly hope the loans that get rewritten will not end up in foreclosure too.
I talked to a person at a settlement attorney’s office, and she said they are being asked to watch their fees, because many clients don’t even have a hundred bucks extra to bring to the settlement table. This was for a settlement with less than $700 being put down. Now, it seems to me that really is cutting close to go to the settlement table,and seems like things will be even tighter once paying a mortgage payment. Again, I don’t want to think of these people going into foreclosure.
I think many continue to pay their mortgages because that’s the right thing to do, and also think not all are aware of what’s really happening with some of these foreclosures too.
I’m glad to see the hold on new foreclosures over the holidays. However, that does not do anything to help those that already have a scheduled auction date for the month of December. I know Dec 16, 2006 a yellow cape was foreclosed on and they vacated that day. That house is still vacant. It was finally purchased a couple of months ago, and they are still steady working on getting that place to a habitable condition.
Chris is right – Georgetown South (800 homes) is in the City of Manassas and
the foreclosure number is far closer to 40 than 400. GTS, through the
years has gotten some bad raps, some of them deserved – most of them not.
A lot of really good people live in GTS.
So – this guy was living there all by himself? Or did he take the house out figuring he could rent out rooms to the gills despite zoning ordinances?
Is anyone mad at the real estate agents who marketed the house to this guy, probably in Spanish? They still market homes in Spanish on the sides of buiuldings, I can show you places in my town (Manassas out by Bull Run).
The two houses on my block formerly owned by people renting to illegals are now owned by American families, who were previously renting … so I say … where’s the tragedy? And why does your heart bleed that a house painter can’t afford a townhouse here by himself?
The homes in Georgetown South must have been beautiful in their day. And, I think that neighborhood could turn upscale if it was really given a lot of attention. It’s location isn’t bad (except for the run down shopping center), & it’s not too far from the VRE train station. I believe the homes for the most part are complete brick or at least brick front, and it looks like they could have wood flooring. It reminds me on a brownstone in georgetown, dc. maybe that was the intent when they were built.
If I’m not wrong they police department did at one time have a substation there. But things improved and they were able to close it.
I’m just wondering if the fact that PWC rushed ahead of the rest of the country into the foreclosure crisis means we might also be the first to come out of it. Maybe we will get more federal aid, or the process might run its course a little faster and we recover sooner.
Alanna
I ready an article sometime in the last year about a couple that live in western Loudoun County (or maybe it was quite far out in Fauquier) that have a really nice house and land there, but were looking at a TH in GTS to live in during the week. I think they both worked in DC and the high gas prices were forcing them to consider doing it. I can’t believe gas prices have dropped this far! It’s amazing! We were paying over $4 a gallon all summer to run our waverunner and all the trips to Lake Anna were expensive!
Well I’ll tell you that VRE was a Godsend. And I didn’t fully appreciate it until we moved to Haymarket. I rode the VRE for the better part of 6 years and then after we moved to Haymarket the commute became UNBEARABLE. If they extend the VRE to Haymarket, I would be the first in line to ride. Maybe by the time all the kids are back in school full-time in another 2 years 9 months and a few days (depending on where labor day falls that year) but who’s counting 🙂 I might consider making that commute again. Then again, it would be even better if the idea of commuter offices or tele-commuting catch on, who knows.
I do need to take the VRE more. I started using it after election day in 2007 when it took me 6 hours to get home from work that night because of icing on the 95 flyover ramps. I left my office in OT Alex at 5:30 and didn’t pass the 95 exit on 495 for over 41/2 hours! After that, any sign of bad weather had me on the VRE. Then my son’s school called one day…he was sick. You are supposed to pick them up within one hour. They called at 1:15. The only mid day train out of there was at 1:30! I gathered my computer and ran across the street to catch it because I couldn’t reach my husband…as luck would have it, he had dropped his cell and broken it over the weekend,so I had no way to reach him. I haven’t ridden it since that day, but I actually did kind of like it.
My aunt was an original owner in GTS and her place was very nice. I know it may be hard for some of you to believe, but it was once upon a time “the place to live”. Poor Richard is right. There are many long time residents still living in GTS.
Yes, there was a substation in GTS at one time. WestGate Apts. has a little one too. It really does make a difference when you have officers stationed in the community. It vastly improves the response time, and I feel they really become connected with the community and what the people are really about. It helped improve things in WG Apts. too.
Gainesville is a better location for VRE.
Hi Chris,
You definately have a birds eye view of the forclosure tsunami. I don’t believe I ever claimed the resolution caused the crisis, but I can’t help but tie the closed down shops in the more highly concentrated latino areas along with the unprecedented drop in ESOL and wonder, how MUCH of an impact did the resolution have on our immigrant community, legal and otherwise, deciding to leave PWC. It is a question that deserves to be answered. Unfortunately, due to the lack of comprehensive research and analysis done prior to enacting the legislation, we will probably never know.
Of course the resolution had a large effect on the foreclosure crisis.
Or perhaps all those working class Latinos were camping in the woods all this time.
I’m with Mackie this time.
Prominent loons in our local anti-immigrant lobby claim that the Immigration Resolution is working based on less Latinos living here. There are less brown faces at the bus stop, and that Greg Hag what’s her name even went before the BOCS with a list of foreclosed houses and bragged about how many of the names were Spanish sounding. All to make the claim that the Immigration Resolution “is working.”
But oh no, don’t blame the fact that PWC’s home foreclosure rates are off the charts compared to neighboring counties, and have BEEN off the charts for a year now, on our precious Immigration Resolution. That’s all because of national trends.
First of all, if it was all based on national trends, you wouldn’t see PWC stand out as the worst in the entire region for home foreclosure and property value.
Second, if it’s all based on national trends, you might want to inform Greg Hag, Inc. that they ought to stop bragging about all the ethnic names on the home foreclosure lists.
The net change in ESOL was less than 300 from Sept 2007-Sept 2008. Not significant but not unnoticable either.
I don’t believe we can say one way or the other how much impact the Immigration Resolution has on the foreclosure situation. It certainly didn’t cause it but I would be hard pressed to say that there was no impact at all.
What I find UFB is that while the dark side wants to take credit for running the ‘illegals’ out of town, it doesn’t want to take any blame for the foreclosures. Sorry HSM and minions, you cannot have it both ways. If you helped run the ‘illegals’ out of town, you must also bear some responsibility for the extreme foreclosure rate in PWC. Remember, PWC has the highest foreclosure rate in the state of Virginia. That is a dubious distinction to say the least.
While some of minions are sneaking over here and lurking, how about justifying how we can have the highest foreclosure rate in the state, you all ran off the ‘illegals’ but you had nothing to do with the foreclosures. I just haven’t figured out that part yet.
it sounds like some people just want to have it both ways. Fess up. Devils or angels? heroes or villans?
When did this Greg Hag spout her bile up all over herself? Which BOCS meeting?
Elena,
Birds eye view, indeed!
We will never know the real reason why people left PWC. I think it’s a combination of many things. The reasons are bad loans went into foreclosure, the jobs were drying up, the resolution, and the economy in general. Let’s face it this is one of the most expensive regions in the nation to live in. I know some legal immigrants left as well as though that may have been legal. I’ve never claimed to know who’s legal and who’s not.
Mackie & Not GL,
The foreclosures are at record high levels nationwide. There are NOT resolutions nationwide like that of PWC. The foreclosures have all kinds of last names. The last names are Latino, “traditional American”, African, Asian, middle-eastern, etc. The foreclosures have effected those from all ethnic backgrounds and walks of life. I believe PWC leads the Commonwealth in foreclosures due to the boom of new houses being built at record paces, and PWC was an affordable, safe, and decent schools that made it very attractive to those first time homeowners, and for the most vulnerable to be taken advantage with all the “creative financing” that was going on.
It was one of the meetings in April, Mackie. There was another woman who went up there some time later. She was Caucasian, and she looked right at said Greg Hag and said something like, “My last name is Latino, what do you make of that?”
Chris, are you saying that the bragging being done about all the Latino names on the home foreclosure lists is a misrepresentation? Or, are you saying that it’s true but we can’t necessarily attribute it to the Immigration Resolution?
I’m asking because it seems to me that the climate here was very uncomfortable for Latinos and other people of color a year ago, and that was when the home foreclosure rates spiked.
Also, I know a lot of Caucasian people who prefer not to live in a place where there is so much racial tension.
So, if what the Greg followers are saying is true, that the foreclosure lists have a lot of Latino names, it could be true that all the other national trends are affecting Latinos disproportionately in our county.
But at the time when the person I mentioned above bragged about the Latino names during Citizens’ Time, it was a lot scarier to be a person of color here than it is now. Things have died down a lot.
So the way I look at it, PWC is currently experiencing a lot of home foreclosures for reasons that can be explained with national trends. But the huge spikes we saw in home foreclosures a year ago were compounded and accelerated by the frightening prospect of seeing racism institutionalized as part of our local government and police policy.
I can’t describe to you how frightening that is. If I didn’t know my rights, I might have left too.
Sorry, one more thing, Chris.
Let’s suppose that the huge spikes we saw in PWC home foreclosures during the height of the Immigration Resolution wars were in part due to the unwelcome environment here for Latinos and other people who are not so keen on racial tension.
Isn’t it true, then, that last year’s sudden spike in home foreclosures would have driven home prices down? I think that’s what I read. So then, with home prices falling off the table, there could have been a chain reaction with more and more people finding out they owe more on their houses than the houses are worth.
Thus, the names on the home foreclosure lists today are a lot more diverse and not dominated by Latino names. But we are still leading the DC metro area by huge margins in home foreclosure rate. And, you could argue that last year’s sudden spike during the Immigration Resolution war has fed into the continued sky-rocketing home foreclosure rate in PWC compared to neighboring counties, and the continued fall in our property values compared to neighboring counties.
NotGL,
I think it’s important to point out the mortgages with ARM’s were for loans made in 2004-2006. The ARM’s usually adjust in 2 or 3 years meaning that’s when those loans would begin to go into foreclosure. So, as you can see there were going to be problems making the new larger payments starting in late 2006, and that’s when the foreclosures started.
Now, there’s a misrepresentation out there and we can’t attribute all of the foreclosures to the resolution. Now, I’m sure that there were those that were having trouble meeting their monthly obligation, and then the resolution came along and that made some simply walk away. Although, I’ve seen one house on the next street go into foreclosure. They said they were going to let that house go into foreclosure that they purchased for peak price in 2004, and they bought another house with an “investor” around the corner because it was the same style house they were living in, and it cost half of what they paid for the house that lost to foreclosure.
You know I’m really glad you brought up the misrepresentation of the names. I read on bvbl in the last couple of months that Chris a/k/a Lafayette(like that was some big secret or outing-lol) said that 90% of the foreclosures where latino names. Well, that was true fall of 2007. However, the “demographics” of the foreclosures has shifted a fair amount since then. I would say I about 65% of the names are latino, 20% other “foreign names”(Asian, African, etc.), and 15% “traditional American names”. I’ve NOT posted on bvbl in ages, and will never do so again. Therefore, I didn’t correct this misquote of me. I do take grave exception to my name be misquoted in such a manner, especially since this does regard how I make a living and provide for MY family.
Thanks Chris. To make sure I understand you: 65% are Latino names TODAY? And it was higher than that during the peak of the Immigration Resolution war?
I just re-read your post and you made yourself clear. Nevermind….
NotGL,
You understand me correctly.
I just saw your second question. I believe the number of new housing units and those “white flighters” moving to Gainesville/Haymarket put a lot of affordable houses on the market and they got bought up by the most vulnerable for the sub-prime loans.
Here’s the lie that was made about my assessment of the foreclosures. I doubt this individual has spoken to me since early spring, and therefore has no idea what my current assessment of the situation is.
DPortM said on 24 Sep 2008 at 5:17 pm:
Just ask Chris a/k/a Lafayette about the foreclosures. She works in the business and she indicated that 90% of the foreclosures in our area were people with Latino surnames.
Well, I never read the old blog and I wasn’t at all referring to you, Chris.
And what was the point of dportm making that statement? And how many phone calls did you get with people ‘just asking you?’
NotGL,
I didn’t think you were referring to me.
MH,
I did get a couple of calls from some legitimate reporters that inquired over the past year and even recently. That comment was true in Sept 2007, however nothing more than a big lie Sept 2008, and they could’ve been clear that was an out of date percentage they were quoting.
Names seem to be thrown around rather cavalierly without permission or proof. NC!
NGL, this is from a recent WaPo article and may explain further why there are so many foreclosures among minorities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112801568.html?sub=AR
Just look at the large leap in the monthly mortgage payment experienced by the man portrayed in the video. If a person faced that type of increase, coupled with the hostile environment created by the resolution in PWC, he or she might easily choose to walk away.
censored.
The payment increases are enormous and impossible for one to absorb the additional costs. The house across the street the payment went from $1,500 to $3,900. Now, that’s damn near impossible unless you’ve been saving for the day your ARM adjusts. I seriously doubt many have the means to this. All ethnic backgrounds took sub-prime loans, but clearly some groups more than others.
corr: I seriously doubt many have the means to *DO*this.
NotGL, et. al.-
I would like to be clear my percentages where “guesstimates”. Although, I think they are very accurate given the amount of foreclosures I see in the course of a day. I certainly feel I’m more qualified to give my assessment than someone who more than likely has had zero contact with me.
Is this like when you miss a credit card payment and then the rate goes up astronomically? What triggers the sudden hike of mortgage payments?
NotGl,
The mortgage(or deed of trust) has an Adjustable Rate Rider(ARM) attached to the trust and there within lies the increase in the interest to be paid. Also, many mortgages with ARM’s usually have interest only riders, and that means they pay the lower interest only for the specified time in the arm, and then the interest rate goes up, and on top of that they also, need to start paying back the principal. The principal amount due on a mortgage the size they were made for during the time frame earlier mentioned earlier is significant.
Each of these individuals have signed on the dotted lines and have left their initials on every page(usually). They have most certainly have signed each of these riders in addition to the actual mortgage itself. There’s no excuse for not know what to expect. I’m sorry everyone understands numbers and when it involves money they can see the difference between. It clearly states interest is X% for X amount of months, and then at that that interest rate can double to Y%, and the interest can almost double. Now, I’m not saying everyone knows each and every word of the documents they are signing completely. However, those that friends/family, etc. that go along with someone to settlement should make sure the person signing these documents understands exactly what they are signing up for. There were those that simply didn’t care, just get them in the house, and they’ll worry about the rest later.
NGL, it’s as Chris says – the buyer signs agreeing to the terms. The problem is that people buy houses so infrequently – and for the first time – that they may not be aware of the implications. Plus- and it’s a big “plus” – I doubt that most people read every line of the documents they sign. Many rely on their lawyers and real estate agents (who are usually there when the papers are signed) to guide them through the mass of papers. And it’s generally to these people’s advantage that the sale go through.
Buyers were encouraged to use liberal financing to buy more house than they usually could afford with the “warning” of “You’ll probably have a salary increase by the time the rate adjusts”.
It’s like this, in my neck of the woods. I understand that this picture does not correlate to the national phenomenon.
In my part of PWC, damn near every home bought circa 2005-2006 was bought bt Latinos who intended to rent roioms and cubes to illegal aliens. Because they had more buying power than single families, prices went sky-high.
And then when the loans ballooned in 2 years, they were nearly all out.
It was nearly all Latinos around here foreclosing because illegal aliens who were Latino did so much of the buying during the “invasion” as I would call it.
I could see it coming. A house would be a flophouse and then 2 years later people would move out. 2 years to the day. A few of them I waited out, thinking a few more months till the loan balloons and then they’ll be gone. And they are gone.
Rick, why do you think what happened in your neighborhood is any different from the national trends? Let’s just pretend that all the buyers there were illegal Irishmen who populated the lower end of the economic scale. Your neighborhood would be less “brown” but would probably have the same problems. People with lower wages often need to double or triple up to afford a house.
You’re blaming the people who took advantage of liberal loans rather than the designers of those loans. I don’t like bailing out people who bought more house than they should have bought either, but it’s certainly not a problem limited to Hispanics and we haven’t seen the end of mortgage foreclosures . There are loans made to people with better credit that are due to have rate escalations in the very near future.
A great blog that I’ve recommended before is thehousingbubbleblog. These men and women have been way ahead of our government in figuring out where the economy was headed because they work in fields related to housing.
NGL,
Why doesn’t a reporter ask that obvious question to Corey.
“Chairman, I see that you take full credit for the drop in ESOL rates and less births at hospitals, conversely, do you also take credit for Prince Williams County’s dubious honor of having the highest forclosure rate?”
The culprit here is greed.
The buyers can be blamed for not being educated on the type, cost and terms of their loans – just look at how many people have been duped into thinking that leasing a car is better than buying a car.
The Blame must go to the lenders who crafted loans and terms – and then gave the money to – people who obviously did not understand the loan, and did not have the means to pay the loans. Come on people – the lenders know who can pay the loan and who cannot. A reduced rate ARM, or interest only loan can work for some people, but not for most.
Pat,
I agree greed is the culprit on many levels.
The banks, loan officers, brokers, real estate agents, and the list go on knew they were watching people sign on the dotted line for their commissions. You are right, they knew that most would not be able to meet the terms of the deals that they signed.
Also, I’ve talked to one Latino real estate agent about 5 years ago, and he told me many people never even saw the house until after settlement when the keys were handed to them. The agent was very concerned that people were taken advantage of in such a manner. I believe this man to have been honest and truthful in his words. I believe he addressed the BOS with the same concern. I also, believe no one ever told them that the possibility of loosing value on their home existed. The market couldn’t continue to climb at the already overpriced point it had gotten to. What goes up..must come down.