Financial Horror Stories

I had gotten over $20,000 in debt from credit cards and car payments. There were no good paying jobs for me to anywhere so I had to get deployed to Iraq in order to financially recover.
 
I found this interestion

GOP Lawmaker Wants Regulator
 
Sriracha said:
HARP 2.0 - “Access to HARP 2.0 provides much needed relief to underwater borrowers who have been making their payments but unable to refinance due to lack of equity in their homes.” http://www.themreport.com/articles/harp-20-continues-to-progress-throughout-industry-2011-12-23

We'll see. :rolleyes:
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Yeah, we'll see about that. God help those that apply is all I can say. They better have the meddle to stay on top of their application, because if this HARP program is anything like the HAMP program, the banks will pull out all the stops when it comes to stall tactics.
Even though I wasn't behind on payments, I applied for a HAMP loan modification in June 2009. I didn't get the final modification until Feb. 2011.
What a freakin' nightmare dealing with Bank of America!
It wasn't until after I filed formal complaints with the office of the MN Attorney General, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that regulates and supervises banks against Bank of America was I able to get the modification, that changed my mortgage from an adjustable rate to a 30 year fixed.
I know of several people that eventually threw up their hands and told the banks they give up. Just take the damn house!
Oh. And after it was all said and done I still had to fight with then to remove the negatives they unlawfully reported to the 3 major credit unions.
During the trial payment period of the process, under the guidelines of the program, they are not allowed to report you as being behind in your payments. But they did anyway.
 
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I'm old fashioned.

Jim's Scots Frugal Tips for Avoiding Financial Malady

Never take credit unless it is for a house or a car.
Generally try to stick to 3x Primary Salary to buy a house, try to aim for lowest interest rate usually 25% or more of equity.
Do not buy a car you can't replace within 5-10 years by saving up the money to replace it.
Credit cards should be paid off before the end of the month and should only be for flights and large purchases or business.
Always keep a safety net of 3 to 5x your monthly salary after tax in readies.
Cut your coat to fit the cloth available: When you are out of work act penniless - beans on toast and pasta / student living.
 
at last I can agree with InvisibleJim
 
Stu said:
at last I can agree with InvisibleJim
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Embry%20and%20Snuggle%20Bunny%20Wallpaper__yvt2.jpg
 
Financial disaster= The creation of the federal reserve bank in 1913 thereby giving the USA a central banking system which is pretty much what they had fought the British to get away from

And hows it workin out for folks?
 
interesting thread is interesting.

my horror story: i used to give a bunch of money to schoolmates who didn't have anything to eat for lunch. imagine if i had invested that? i'd be rich. =/
 
Financial horror story: The Chinese raped their land in order to gain the upper hand on the entire world economy. How do you fight a man who has nothing to lose?
 
I spent >10k on an education I didn't even use and if I had invested that in even the most low-risk mutual funds back in 2009 then I would be rich instead of poor.
 
I googled " We don't qualify. Wells Fargo owns the loan. HARP 2.0 " and came across this exchange on Retireby40.org

http://retireby40.org/2012/01/harp-2-0-not-working/

"Sam February 26, 2012 at 1:13 pm

Hi RB40,

Did you try aimloan or amerisave before going with quicken? Both seem to offer great rate (4% or less) for 30 year mortgage if ltv 125%. Wells Fargo is offering 4.5% (harp 2.0) for 30 years with no points and about 3k in closing cost. FICO > 800. Wondering if it would be worth waiting for March 17.

Reply

retirebyforty February 26, 2012 at 1:29 pm

That
 
Stu said:
I googled " We don't qualify. Wells Fargo owns the loan. HARP 2.0 " and came across this exchange on Retireby40.org

http://retireby40.org/2012/01/harp-2-0-not-working/

"Sam February 26, 2012 at 1:13 pm

Hi RB40,

Did you try aimloan or amerisave before going with quicken? Both seem to offer great rate (4% or less) for 30 year mortgage if ltv 125%. Wells Fargo is offering 4.5% (harp 2.0) for 30 years with no points and about 3k in closing cost. FICO > 800. Wondering if it would be worth waiting for March 17.

Reply

retirebyforty February 26, 2012 at 1:29 pm

That’s pretty good. I didn’t try aimloan. I should have made sure. :(
I think waiting a bit to see how the national foreclosure settlement works out is a good idea."
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We got a different answer from each person to which we spoke. The main thing is we'll have to wait until March 17th and ask again. Husband is thinking of filing for a hardship loan. The worst is they tell us no, which they have been good at doing. More than likely we will have to short sale the house when it comes time to move. A loan modification with reduced interest rate would save us about $300 a month.

(... and with that money we will put our 7 year old in Phase I of braces since his permanent top teeth will be mangled when they come in.)
 
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InvisibleJim said:
I'm old fashioned.

Jim's Scots Frugal Tips for Avoiding Financial Malady

Never take credit unless it is for a house or a car.
Generally try to stick to 3x Primary Salary to buy a house, try to aim for lowest interest rate usually 25% or more of equity.
Do not buy a car you can't replace within 5-10 years by saving up the money to replace it.
Credit cards should be paid off before the end of the month and should only be for flights and large purchases or business.
Always keep a safety net of 3 to 5x your monthly salary after tax in readies.
Cut your coat to fit the cloth available: When you are out of work act penniless - beans on toast and pasta / student living.
Click to expand...

:)
 
This isn't a horror story, it's just some information about housing so that INFJ's don't end up with horror stories of their own.

Most Americans think that housing is bottomed out because... because that's the word on the street yo! In reality housing is being propped up by artificially low interest rates that can't be sustained. Housing is a function of employment (median inflation adjusted income historically equals slightly less than 1/3 of median inflation adjusted housing prices). Housing is also a function of rent, but right now rent prices are also inflated from the recent waves of foreclosures. People are buying houses right now so they can "lock-in that low-interest rate". But what they don't realize is that low interest rates aren't that great because people buy the monthly payment, not the house. So when interest rates drop, housing prices go up. And when interest rates rise, housing prices go down. What they also don't realize is that a house isn't an investment and it's never been one, a house is an asset. My point is this; people buying houses right now are taking a big risk. Realtors will tell you now is the time to buy, but they were also saying that in 2006. Never buy a house because you want to take advantage of low interest rates.

If you are considering buying a house right now you should watch these videos about housing. These videos were made before the housing bubble began to burst in 2006.

[video=youtube;uyOWuczlJCA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyOWuczlJCA[/video]
 
chulo said:
If you are considering buying a house right now you should watch these videos about housing. These videos were made before the housing bubble began to burst in 2006.
Click to expand...

[video=youtube;YrWuZQ9770c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrWuZQ9770c[/video]
 
chulo said:
If you are considering buying a house right now you should watch these videos about housing. These videos were made before the housing bubble began to burst in 2006.
Click to expand...

[video=youtube;ILW8OolM0Lo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILW8OolM0Lo[/video]
 
Yup they're building another housing bubble at the moment. A year from now there will be another spate of house repossessions

One of the most important parts in the videos posted above is when in the second one the guy says at 3.50 that Alan Greenspan (head of the central bank...the 'federal' reserve which is not federal at all but privately owned) was lying to the public or as he calls it using 'spin'; he then goes on to say how it was Greenspan who had driven the whole housing bubble

The federal reserve is owned by large banking houses like JP Morgan Chase Bank so its these private interests or power elite who brought about the housing crisis

He also says at 3.50 in the third clip that the US has never seen a bubble this size and he's only talking about housing!
 
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