February Foreclosures are Up 30% over 2008; Does Obama Own the Crisis Yet?

Question

We posted an article in the BiggerPockets blog today that seems to be striking a nerve with some:

February Foreclosures Up 30% from 2008; Does Obama Own the Crisis Yet?

Come and join the discussion on the blog or here.

Account Closed · Answer

It seems pretty obvious that the pres is interested in long term results, and is satisfied letting the economy struggle for now.

Terry Kubiak · Answer

Joshua,
Great blog, thats wonderful how you have laid out a solution for homeowners.

I espeically like the WJR radio station where they are saying the gov should make it desirable for the home owner to stay in his home. What sense is there to have the monthly payments go up as the value goes down. What were they thinking!!!

This is not my situation but my husband and I do have a mortgage that we were hoping to have paid off by now.

Eliott G. · Answer

It is not about politics as you all want to think...

Yes, the current crisis was born during the Clinton Administration...enhanced by the Federal Reserve and the Taliban (9/11) during the Bush Administration and now lies in the hands of the Obama Administration.

I don't care who started it or who fixes it...I just want it to be fixed. But heck...while it is broken...let's all make so money!

J Scott · Answer

This question seems analogous to having an HOA officer come to me the day after I buy a burned out REO property and say, "Hey, you've owned this property for a whole day now, why isn't it all fixed up yet?"
            
            Whether he likes it or not, Obama has "owned" the crisis since the day he took office (just like I own the example property above from the minute I close on it), but fixing the "previous tenant's" mess could take a little while.  
            
            In this case, there are multiple previous "tenants" at fault -- going all the way back to the first George "Read My Lips" Bush...getting worse with Bill "I Have A Plan But Can't Execute" Clinton...and finally capped off with George "Let's Kill Pay-As-You-Go" Bush...
            
            Complex problems take time to remedy...plus, I'd think people on this forum would be perfectly happy for the crisis to continue for a bit...the more foreclosures out there, the more deals out there...

Adrian Pillow · Answer

You are correct Obama inherited this problem form the previous Clinton administration...  Don't worry the same players who F'ed it up then are F'ing it up now.

Barney Frank...  What a joke.

Bryan Silver · Answer

Does he own the crisis?  Well...he definitely inherited foreclosure crisis from prior administration.  Once he gained the oval office, he adopted all the troubles, problems associated with that position.  From this point forward, it is his responsibility to resurrect economy, housing market.
            
            I do however suspect that Obama will need more than 1 quarter (1st quarter of 2008) to reinvigorate financial, housing sector.  lol

In the meantime, it is up to us to demonstrate patience.

Harrison Painter · Answer

Josh, it looks like you might be a guy ahead of your time!  :lol:

Where I come from, that is a good thing!!!!

Harrison Painter · Answer

I think the buck stops on the current Presidents desk!  :lol:

Look, these folks saw an opportunity to get everything they wanted by taking full advantage of the economic crisis. They did it with a slick marketing campaign of pulling on the heart strings of average Americans, and passed an earmark/pork filled bill that nobody even read.

Just a couple of quick facts:

- Secretary of the Treasury made an "error" on his taxes (For SEVERAL YEARS). Is this really the guy we want running our finance and monetary matters? This is the PRINCIPAL ECONOMIC ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT after all.

- Henry Paulson was the runner of for "Person of the Year" by Time magazine in 2008. Am i living in bizzarro world here? He ran Goldman Sachs, a company that made A TON of money from the dog and pony show of the 2000's mortgage bubble. Well, maybe if you believe in the "You broke it, you buy it" philosophy. it might have been a good choice. LOL

All I am seeing is a blazing path to Socialism, and I do not like it.

Adrian Pillow · Answer

Long term as in completely devaluing the dollar?  Or long term job creation for illegal workers, like 15% of the "shovel ready" jobs = 300,000 jobs to non-US citizens?