Old Wine in New Bottles Thanks to a rising housing market, there are now far fewer underwater homeowners. However, they’ve hardly disappeared. In fact, something like 20% of all homeowners with a mortgage — about 5 million people nationally — still owe more on their homes than their home is worth (that’s down from closer to...Read More
“Hurry, Bank of America, This Offer Expires Soon!” If you owe the bank $100, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the bank’s problem. –John Paul Getty Why can’t a [debt restructuring process] be put in place to help the millions of American homeowners who for whatever personal reasons ” usually no...Read More
Business Decisions, Big and Small What happens to a homeowner who strategically defaults? (that is, they walk away from their home because it’s worth less than what they owe). Their credit is damaged — if not wrecked — for as long as seven years. What happens to a commercial property owner who strategically defaults? If...Read More
Strategic Defaults Driving Retail Sales? A penny saved is a penny earned. –Benjamin Franklin, circa 1780 A penny defaulted on is a penny earned. –Benjamin Franklin, 2010?? No, I have no way of knowing whether a modern-day Benjamin Franklin would have uttered the second quote. In fact, he didn’t even say the first one (that...Read More
“Rich in Time,” or, Making Lemonade Out of Un(der)employment No, they don’t have a lot of disposable income — that’s kind of the whole point, actually. But it turns out that the nation’s 20 million-plus un/underemployed represent a huge, untapped market — and companies with a recreational and/or social networking angle are catching on. Apple...Read More
From Stigma to “the Norm”I was at an industry conference yesterday where the speaker compared “strategic default” — making a business decision to walk away from an “underwater” mortgage — to society’s notion of divorce up until the 1970’s. Back then, relatively few people divorced, so there was a stigma attached to it. Fast forward...Read More
