Mayor Newsom isn’t suggesting a government sponsored bail out for local homebuyers who end up facing foreclosure. Instead, he’s asking the shareholders of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Washington Mutual (amongst other lenders) to do the bailing.
And if the Chronicle is accurate, Mayor Newsom is also asking the lenders to “[s]top administering stated-income or no-documentation loans” (which would impact far more buyers in San Francisco than simply the subprime).
∙ Newsom asks lenders to offer more help to those facing foreclosure [SFGate]
I haven’t heard Newsom asking big lenders to “[s]top administering stated-income or no-documentation loans”. And probably we wouldn’t hear him today if the appreciation is still moving up.
Anyway, it’s probably a good time to stop paying for a mortgage.
It should be: I haven’t heard Newsom asking big lenders to “[s]top administering stated-income or no-documentation loans” year or two ago.
Bailouts galore. The gov’t won’t let the US market fail. Anybody know the last time the US went into recession during a Presidential election year? I have to imagine hardly ever?
Hey Anon, I remember the last time the US market went into a recession during an election year: 2000.
To check the feasibility of this proposal for bankers to bail out borrowers, see the sculpture of “The Banker’s Heart” in the plaza of the old Bank of America building at Kearny and California.
Anyway, Newsom still hasn’t delivered on his promises of free city wi-fii, or free health insurance (for people earning more than $10,000 a year), or free MUNI.
How about a 24-hour open bar for San Francisco, Gavin?
We were well on our way to recession in late 2000. One quarter of negative growth in 2000 and a stock market that was tanking during a presidential election on less. Check back on some stock charts for detail.
Election years can’t save the stock market.
The government will take steps to stop a recession, but that doesn’t imply a housing bailout. There are lots of way to provide fiscal stimulus (and thereby prop up the economy) other than by bailing out housing. The easiest way, and the way that Bush has preferred in the past, is a tax cut. The Dem’s might balk at more cuts for the rich, so maybe this time it will be a middle and lower class only cut, such as exempting the first $10K of wages from social security temporarily. Or eliminating the AMT. Or cutting corporate tax rates. Or maybe the Republicans will finally cave in and give the country a national helathcare plan, to steal some of the Democrats thunder. I don’t see any reason why the government would prefer bailing out housing to other possible fiscal stimulus options.
Kindly requesting banks stop making loans to NINJAs constitutes a bailout? Wow, I didn’t know math was so hard.
As for the unrelated swipes WiFi isn’t really done that way anymore, so it is best for everyone that the deal with Earthlink failed, the health insurance thing is making slow progress which is different from no progress at all, fixing MUNI is turning out to be a hard problem that costs money, and round the clock bars have never been on the table because of crime. Honestly, why not engage political reality instead of going for all this hyperbole?
“Kindly requesting banks stop making loans to NINJAs constitutes a bailout?”
More political theater. NINJA loans were already drying up as banks ran out of chumps (err, sorry, I mean investors) to sell those mortgage backed securities to. The implosion has begun. For politicians it’s all about looking like you care and looking like you’re doing something while making sure that nobody gets the idea of blaming you.
What a joke. The cocaine rumors must be true. Anyone stupid enough to sign up for a subprime loan deserves to lose their home, in my opinion. Take some responsibility for yourself and do some financial planning along the way. The loans payments reset? What? Maybe Newsom should focus on the more basic homeless problem before tackling the banks that provide thousands of high-paying jobs for San Franciscans.