Comments on: Oppenheim Law on South Florida Mortgage Morals and Ethics: To Strategically Walk or Not?

By: Glenn

Glenn — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:29:43 +0000

Wow, this is ineradicable stuff! This is exactly the topic that keeps me awake at night, really awake. Short story, I am hard working guy 3 kids great wife 20 years together. the 1st 10 years were the classic story young kids barely making ends meet, sometimes work 2 or 3 jobs to pay the bills. Funny at the time I thought this was hard living. Now the last 10 years have been the classic American success story (or so I thought), my hard work has paid off, bigger and better jobs, moving into promotion that would require me to move every 2 or 3 years, to today where at 47 I have a income I never thought possible…and now 2 houses with $2000 a month mortgages on each that are completely upside down($100K each)! On top of this one of my family members has been out of work for months with end in sight (I keep pumping money to keep his family afloat) Now I am at a point where i have “white knuckled” 3 rounds of layoffs and know that at least one if not 2 are in the works. How does one even start to get out of this mess? The way I see it I would be a complete fool not to do something “defensive” while I have some control (income) but what is that? I have had people tell me “just mail in the keys” another real estate agent is trying to get me to buy a new (much cheaper home) while I short sale the 2 homes I own…how can that work! Is there a real option for someone with a good income to unwind a mess like this? The way I look at things best case maybe my current homes hit the break even point when I am 65! That ain’t gonna work.
Any ideas are welcome…action must be taken, I can’t take this pressure any more.

By: Mike M

Mike M — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:18:53 +0000

I understand the importance of honoring a contract such as the one between homeowners and their mortgage company, contracts and good faith is what our system is built upon BUT at this stage in this debacle to ask homeowners to destroy their family’s future because of some personal morality is self defeating and hypocritical. The banks and other corporations do not do the same so how can they ask this of the people they build their empire upon. NOT TO MENTION the banks are supposed to the experts and gov’t elected officials are supposed to protect all of us… You cannot tell me or any other sane, resonable person that the “powers that be” didn’t know the market was a house of cards build on the dreams of the people who’s greed runs only as far as the system allows them. If the banks & govt didn’t know this was going to collapse the bank exec’s should resign because they are not qualified to run a company. Also the govt. official should also retire and return the hush money he or she received as accomplices in this theft of the American homeowner’s dreams and home equity.

By: David

David — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:54:52 +0000

This is all well and good. Yet no one is talking about the effect that this is having to good hard working people who have been laid off from blue collar jobs (such as construction related workers) white collar professionals who are between the ages of 45 and 60 that can not get a job making a third of what they use to make. These people want to work and they want to pay their obligations and not walk away from their homes. Worst to be thrown out into the street with (family and children and) the possessions you have had to work hard to acquire. Let not talk about the couples that are breaking up do to the fact that the financial stress is to much to bear. Or the man (or woman) who commits suicide because they have no where to turn and no one to help them. You call the lenders or servicers for help and all they have working are people who have no compassion or desire to “make home affordable” or even care about helping. It about time that we all (and you all) stop pointing fingers an start finding solutions. All I see is a group of people getting richer while making the money on the misery of other Americans. Hey there are thousands of investor from all over purchasing these same home at 25 or 35 cents on the dollar.

By: RoyOppenheim

RoyOppenheim — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:48:08 +0000

I appreciate your comments. I had no idea that the guy was truly two-faced. I thought that he was just hypocritical.

By: Bruce Trout

Bruce Trout — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:16:45 +0000

Why don’t you ask Mr. Courson why he walked away from his mortgage company without paying his employees what he owed them? I had $63,000 in defered compensation coming to me but he spent it all trying to save his sinking ship. Hundreds of branch managers lost their money too. One guy lost close to half a million. Besides the managers the rank and file hourly people did not get paid for the last two weeks of work they did. The managers money was also to pay employees, he spent it all before closing the company. He just closed the company with no advance notice and said no money for payday. He did pay off a lot of his buddies that loaned him money so he had money. He never filed bankruptcy so he was still solvent. He should be in jail