The housing crisis, as seen by blacks and whites

Mr. Austin

Very nice, balanced, well thought out piece leading to specific recommendations for diagnosis and treatment. I particularly like the emphasis on nailing down the diagnosis before deciding the treatment. It's amazing that there would be resistance to the study you reccomend. It's relatively straightforward, clearly needed, and an informed decision must be made soon.
Since our economy tends to manifest domino effects, my bias would be that preventing mass forclosures would be in the national interest even if some of those involved were unscrupulous. I actually think the advice has been for a long time that you should buy as much house as you can as early as you can. It is a critical step toward financial stability, so I don't think most buyers were intentionally scamming in doing so. I think it's what any reasonable person should have been doing during the past decade. Most of us are not trained to make better fianacial choices than that, it's usually damn good advice.
The responsibility lies with banks and loan officers to appropriatly assess the buyers and the markets before loaning money. Had they been stricter, though, the question of discrimination would still have arisen for all of the above reasons. Most of us thought it was a very good thing all around when more and more of us could afford to begin the path to home ownership.
There is a big difference between a misjudgement and a bad choice. ask any doctor who's ever been sued for lack of omniscience.
I'm guessing that we should use your study to identify those who frankly abused the situation, and amortize their responsibility by using judicious loans to prevent forclosures without negating responsility. This probably means long terms and interest rates calibrated to the borrower's economic situation relative to the evolving economy. I visualize this as applying to both the homebuyers and the lenders. The idea would be to prevent collapse without encouraging future "speculation" binges.
I don't want to pretend expertise I don't have, but perhaps ideas like this could begin some brainstorming by the experts.
Anyway, thank you for reminding us to think in the middle of a crisis.

I happen to be a white man.

I'm not sure that race directly had anything to do with the problem. It seems to me (as I have posted elsewhere) that the basic problem is that financially naive people were unfairly induced to buy homes that were beyond their means to buy. Many people are not financially astute and depend on good professional advice when making financial decisions; they did not get good advice.

Loan officers and real estate agents have a responsibility to determine whether a person can afford a home that is being purchased with a mortgage. It looks as though loan officers and real estate agents were so hungry for money that they neglected to carry out that responsibility. Now they seem to be getting off Scott-free at the expense of people who are loosing their homes. Moreover, the entire economy of the U.S. is being affected. In addition, because foreign investors have invested in U.S. mortgages, the economies of other countries are being affected as well.

Some people will blame the home buyers. I'm not saying that home buyers have NO responsibility, but these transactions are so complicated that inexperienced people cannot be expected to understand them adequately without good advice, and they did not receive that good advice.

For historical reasons, black people may be more likely to be financially naive than white people, a problem which I hope will eventually cease to exist. That would explain why blacks would be more likely than whites to be loosing their homes. Part of the answer lies in regualtions to protect people from entering into financial transactions that are beyond their means. Also, our high schools should do a better job of teaching money management skills.

I hope that suitable corrective action will be taken to prevent this from happening again. It may be that those who are loosing their homes should be assisted in some manner since I think that many of them were taken advantage of, but I don't have all the answers.

Well, I don't think that its a matter of race here, its about educating yourself before singing on the dotted line. many of these people who bought homes, especially those with those crooked sub-prime loan rates never should have been allowed to buy a homes, that said, both the banks and the person who signed on for a mortgage that they knew they could not afford should both deal with the consequences, and, the only time, I feel otherwise is when they have went in and taken advantage of the elderly. Bands should get no help take the loss, and, the person who made the worst buy of their lives should get a chance to refinance, but, if, they have bad credit, and, can't afford a mortgage, they should not be in the house, which sounds horrible, but, anytime you deal with investments of any nature, you have to know what can happen. Most major cites offer free home buying classes, too bad many fell into the trap of easy money to be made with a house and viewed it as an ATM which a whole lot of folks did.

I am begining to think that too many blacks who are in a position to make headline getting comments about how this mess has effected the black community are afraid to do so because the majority of the people who got suckered(there is just no other way to put it) into this subprime mess are not only single black mothers with children and mderate income earning families (with husband present)but were also suckered for the most part by black realtors who preyed on them.

Please do not even try to say tha black realtor and loan officers are not guilty in this mess too. I am black and I am calling a spade a spade.

Now is the time for the black church to step in and help divert what sure as hell is a crisis that is on the same level as the AIDS crisis that they sat idly by and watch until it got completely out of control.

If you loose your house you have to have somewhere else to go, don't you? You are not going to get very far nowadays with a bad credit report are you?? Public assistance is just about non-existant isn't it? Rents are sky-high and credit reports are done to see what type of risk you are. And that is just for housing. Employment involves credit reporting as well.

The black church needs to come forward and tell congress what the right thing that needs to be done here: What is going to happen is you (the lenders) who knew these people could not possibly repay these loans at these rates are going to accept a fixed rate that is fare to all. No you are not going to get rich but the rest of the country is not going to get dragged down becuse of what nothing else but your greed created.

People who did not make $50,000 a year being granted $300,000 loans at an adjustable rate and had children to boot and no one caught it??? Too many flags had to have popped up regarding the ability of these people to repay this thievery. Since they obviously chose to ignore this people who honestly were led to believe that they now have a piece of the american dream should not be allowed to end up as our version of India's untouchables becuase they were suckered into it.""Why worry when the value of the house is only going to go up"" and other such foolishness.

It is time for the black church to step up to the plate and start shouting. As scary as it is that is the only instutution that is regarded as a power base with clout in black communities. Maybe it is time for the black community to rethink them as well. I don't know about the rest of you all but I am starting to wonder what the hell are they waiting for.

It's much easier to say what is not when your race is not adversely affected. As was stated, it is through the lens of your experiences you bring into discussions like this.

Although predatory lending ran rampant across racial lines, the disparate impact of such practices adversely affected minorities/blacks. This may be the reason that whites are less inclined than blacks to see race in this.

Brucito, the black church should not act as a fill-in for what our elected officials aren't doing. I believe I've seen you ask the black church to interject themselves into situations before. I wonder are you a regular "black" church-goer or simply a critic. It seems you are the latter. I say that because you are asking it to become a political institution, which it is not nor should ever be..

It is your locally elected officials who should go to Congress and demand what you offer here not the black church. Maybe it's time for the black community to hold their officials to a higher, results-oriented standard.

The black church should lobby congress for lending reforms? How feasible is that?

Xx you are correct. I am not a church goer. I am a black male living in Harlem who watches PBS specials, the local and network news channels and the Discovery and History channels on cable. I also read the NY Times, Washington Post, St louis Post-Dispatch, the Monroe-Star (Monroe, Louisiana) and LA Times everyday online to try to see the mood of the country as a whole. Yes I am a news hound so to speak. And no I am not a hispanic black male either. And I dispise hip-hop for the mentality that it installs in too many black youth.

When politicians are running for office I do not read very often where they go to predominantly black colleges and give speeches when they are suckering people for their vote. I read about them going to the large congregation black churches to show respect for the black church and it's people, or so they say. I do read from time to time where they do address the congressional black caucus or the NAACP (which I have always felt is nothing more than a gathering of black clergy leaders) or the National Urban League(with Rev. soandso sprinkled throughout it's various committes). Did I leave anything off the list? I will not feel as though I am being told off if you are nice enough to tell us.

The way I interpret what you wrote you are saying what I knew all along: There are 40 million black folks in this country that are brain dead and don't realize that we as a whole are irrelevant to the rest of society after election day.

I understad where you are coming from when you say that the black church should not act as a fill in for elected officials. However it is more than obvious that these ignoramusus who get elected and then act as though they are a pope of their respected communities due so with the churches blessing and backing(endorsements). By not being challenged by upcooming blacks because of the protection that they recieve from the black church can only mean that if it does not effect them personally (clergy and elected officials) then to hell with them. Their mortgages are paid and for their immediately families health insurance is available too.

You are correct that this not how it should be but these people are now on the way to being homeless, jobless and even worse in some cases unemployable till they get their credit straitened out. Who else is out there to help them from the grassroots level? I saw on tv where a woman was in church crying about her situation with her mortgage. I was not in church with her. I am not going to engage in nit-picking and please don't do the same to me.I am looking at it from where these people actually are. Up the creek without a paddle. And the thieves who stole their money are living happily ever after.

Where else can an uprising began if not in the church as far as the black community is concerned? If I am not mistaken I do believe that there were no Civil Rights leaders not connected with the church that fought injustice back in the day. With a scenario like this unfolding that is effecting for the most part the black hetrosexual community here is their cause for the new millineum.

Or will this go the same way as their response to the AIDS crisis. It ain't my son or daughter, niece or nephew....................

Brucito, please excuse my ignorance. But, what do the number of news mediums you peruse have to do with this discussion? What does hip-hop have to do with this? Also, who said anything about you being Hispanic?

It seems you are making a lot of assumptions and criticisms which aren't relevant to the post I addressed to you.

The fact that All politicians chose to campaign in churches is nothing new and reaches across the same racial lines you espouse we rid ourselves of. So it's not just in "black churches" that it happens.

If you really feel irrelevant after election day, then you need to become more politically active to ensure that we don't. That way we can reverse the feeling of irrelevance or at least become part of the solution and not the problem.

You are part of the black community. You (like many others) also are not a church-goer. Therefore, the uprising must also begin outside of the church.

Xx you have your opinion and I have mine. Tell me this. If you were in a housing situation like this where would you turn to?

Maybe you know something that the rest of us ought to know.

I do have a feeling that you do not live in NYC.

I belive in all people and all countries .
I always remeber these words I Have a Dream , a visionary siad these words
I also have Dream to help all people and all countries work together
I see in is in a word FUTURE can do this iv invested all that i have and am only to be set up ... ;
Best
KGA
FUTURE sm/tm
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Brucito posted:

'If you loose your house you have to have somewhere else to go, don't you? You are not going to get very far nowadays with a bad credit report are you?? Public assistance is just about non-existant isn't it? Rents are sky-high and credit reports are done to see what type of risk you are. And that is just for housing. Employment involves credit reporting as well.'

this is what is causing me a growing amount of concern, should we deny people a place to live, employment? based on credit? this dangerous - i think its bad enough that those that can least afford higher rents, insurance, and lack of employement are the ones paying the higher prices, suffering the most employment- sure use credit ratings to determine the risk to loans,credit cards - if the lenders in the housing crunch had done thier jobs, not been greedy, a huge portion of the foreclosures would never had happened-- i think it was all intensional and those behind it all are raking it in as we speak (no, i dont know who 'they' are.. but i know several big corps are having a field day with all the new real estate they own). i am white btw - and yes im uneducated, poor.. so therefore am a bit defensive by the use of credit checks and god forbid i ever start earing more because this lending fiasco made it a much harder climb to home ownership for all of us poor folk - black,white,purple or green.