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It Looked Like It Might Be A Good Deal And Didn’t Work Out

A report from the Herald Tribune in Florida. “More Southwest Florida homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgages. The number of residential properties with a foreclosure filing rose 23% as of mid-year in the Sarasota-Manatee region, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. The local increase was not that unusual. Foreclosure starts were higher in four out of 10 metros across the country. Florida reported the third-longest average foreclosure timelines, from filing to completion, at 1,073 days. The national average was 716 days.”

The Asbury Park Press in New Jersey. “Has Toms River’s abandoned property registry helped encourage owners to fix dilapidated houses? In many cases, vacant houses are owned by banks that took title to the property through foreclosure but have not maintained it, said township Administrator Don Guardian.”

“For guidance in setting up a registry, Toms River officials turned to towns that have already created a list of abandoned properties, including Montclair, Cherry Hill, Brick, Manchester, Upper Township, and of course, Atlantic City, where Guardian previously served as mayor. Those towns, like many others in New Jersey, have adopted abandoned property registries to deal with problem of ‘zombie homes.'”

“Zombie homes are properties whose owners have walked away from them during the foreclosure process. With New Jersey’s foreclosure process one of the longest in the nation — an average of 982 days — abandoned houses that are in foreclosure often aren’t maintained. Grass becomes overgrown, roofs collapse and animals, such as raccoons, possums and even feral cats, can move in.”

From The Day in Connecticut. “It’s not like the residents at the Five Corners end of Benham Road want to be living in apartments that have yielded complaints to the health department over the past few years of bedbugs, broken windows, rats, crumbling stairs and black mold. But between fixed incomes and reliance on public transportation, moving somewhere else may not be an easy task.”

“Foreclosure proceedings wrapped up on these properties in March, after owner John F. McDonald III — under the business name Real Estate Rescue Services LLC — failed to pay back a $377,000 mortgage loan, and after years of unpaid taxes to the town. ‘It was a bad investment on my part,'” McDonald told The Day Friday. ‘I had tenants that didn’t want to pay the rent, so if they don’t pay the rent, you don’t have money.'”

“McDonald told The Day of his original decision to purchase the properties, ‘I don’t know, it looked like it might be a good deal and good piece of property to purchase, and didn’t work out.'”

The Los Angeles Times in California. “To help fill its 648 apartments, Dobbins’ Hankey Investment Co. and its partners splurged on communal spaces such as a wine-tasting bar and a quiet library where shelves are filled with books arranged by the color of their covers. There are yoga and spin cycling classes for residents.”

“As is growing more common in high-end residential buildings, the gym is lavishly appointed with the latest equipment and occupies its own glassed-in building on the plaza instead of being tucked in a windowless corner. Every day an attendant puts fresh washcloths scented with eucalyptus oil in a cold refrigerator for people who want to mop their brows while exercising.”

“Because few can or want to pay such rents, owners of deluxe buildings turn to ever more swanky amenities to attract well-heeled tenants and keep them renewing their leases, said economist Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. ‘New luxury stuff is having some trouble leasing up, so they have to compete with one another,’ Green said. ‘Their calculus is that it’s more profitable to compete on amenities than by cutting rents.'”

“Such attentive services including concierges are pushing Los Angeles into a realm previously associated with high-rise living in dense urban centers like New York and Chicago, said Los Angeles developer Walter N. Marks III . ‘There is a ratcheting up because there is this race to get your place occupied,’ Marks said. ‘Maybe if you get it right and your amenities are really thoughtful and well planned, tenants will stay longer and not jump ship for the next shiny building.'”

From 48 Hills in California. “On Sunday afternoon, Excelsior residents and community-based organizations gathered to march, drum, chant, perform, and express their collective anger and distress over the rise of luxury development that has started to seize the largely immigrant and working-class neighborhood of the Excelsior.”

“‘We started at 5050 Mission Street because it’s the largest already-constructed housing development in the Excelsior,’ said CUHJ program manager Jessie Fernandez. According to Fernandez, for months after the ChesHill apartment complex was completed, many of those units were vacant.”

From Seattle Mag in Washington. “I’ll see your 360-degree-view rooftop barbecue pit and raise you a pet-washing station…and Tesla ride-sharing! Following in the footprint of a high-end apartment building boom, we are about to be spoiled with amenity-rich condominiums. And while it is fun to make fun of their ever-expanding amenity menus, this is a high-stakes business as more condos vie for the eyes (and wallets) of buyers.”

“In the next few years, according to condo-marketing company Polaris Pacific, some 6,000 condos will open up in Seattle and Bellevue. Downtown Seattle alone is expected to welcome some 1,660 luxury condos by 2022. And all will be bringing those eye-popping perks.”

“‘The amenity war has really taken a strong hold in the apartment world and as a result of that, condos are now having to deliver a nicer, better product, because now we are trying to attract these apartment renters, who we want to turn into buyers,’ says Josh Nasvik, Polaris Pacific vice president.”

The Mail Tribune in Oregon. “Jackson County’s real estate market is looking good for buyers, according to recent numbers released by the Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service. ‘It’s still a great time for buyers,’ said Colin Mullane with the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors. ‘It’s actually, if anything, a better time than it’s been for several years.'”

“Mullane said greater competition — due to more new houses being on the market — is allowing buyers to take their time and potentially negotiate better prices from sellers. The median price for new homes fell slightly from this time last year: a loss of 2.1% from $347,450 to $340,163 in 2019. The number of houses on the market in Jackson County as of July 31 was 12% higher than the same time in 2018.”

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This Post Has 62 Comments

  1. ‘In the next few years, according to condo-marketing company Polaris Pacific, some 6,000 condos will open up in Seattle and Bellevue. Downtown Seattle alone is expected to welcome some 1,660 luxury condos by 2022. And all will be bringing those eye-popping perks’

    ‘The amenity war has really taken a strong hold in the apartment world and as a result of that, condos are now having to deliver a nicer, better product, because now we are trying to attract these apartment renters, who we want to turn into buyers’

    You are fooked Josh.

  2. ‘New luxury stuff is having some trouble leasing up, so they have to compete with one another…Their calculus is that it’s more profitable to compete on amenities than by cutting rents’

    But USC, wa happened to my shortage? If they are “having trouble leasing up”, they aren’t profitable at all. I said this was going to happen 5 years ago. No crystal ball required. I could see these guys were building for a greater fool, not to rent out.

  3. ‘foreclosure filing rose 23% as of mid-year in the Sarasota-Manatee region…The local increase was not that unusual. Foreclosure starts were higher in four out of 10 metros across the country’

    Ahem…

    1. If stocks had an up move like the one underway today in Treasurys, the MarketWatch cheerleaders would be soiling themselves in excitement.

      Treasury yields extend plunge as geopolitical tensions heat up
      By Sunny Oh
      Published: Aug 12, 2019 7:31 a.m. ET

      Treasury prices rose on Monday, pushing yields lower, as protests in Hong Kong underlined geopolitical worries.

      How are Treasurys doing?

      The 10-year Treasury note yield (TMUBMUSD10Y, -4.70%) slipped 4.1 basis points to 1.690%. The 2-year note yield (TMUBMUSD02Y, -3.22%) was down 3.3 basis points to 1.596%, while the 30-year bond yield (TMUBMUSD30Y, -3.94%) retreated 3.8 basis points to 2.203%. Debt prices move in the opposite direction of yields.
      …

      2. Looks like we are really close to a 10 year – 2 year inversion… That’s the classic “oh sh*t” moment.

    2. Markets
      Stocks and Bonds Are Talking Past Each Other
      Investors struggle to discern how stocks can churn higher when bond yields are signaling a downturn may not be far off
      By Akane Otani
      Aug. 12, 2019 8:48 am ET

      Global stocks are holding fast to robust 2019 gains, even as trade turbulence has sent bond yields to multiyear lows and pushed oil into a bear market.

      The yawning gap between markets is perplexing some investors, who say they struggle to discern how stocks can churn higher when bond yields are signaling a downturn may not be far off.
      …
      To Read the Full Story
      Subscribe

      1. Chao$! Chao$! Chao$! …

        Eye like$ it, eye love$ it, eye’$ want$ some more$ of it!

        “Market$ react badly when they realize they were $cammed. We are living a fictitiou$ economy and the government is not giving answers,” Fernandez said in a radio interview Monday morning.

        Argentine pe$o cra$hes after Macri gets thumped in primary election

        Nicolás Misculin, Cassandra Garrison | World New$ | Reuters

        The comprehensive victory by Peronists Fernandez and Kirchner “paves the way for the return to left-wing populism that many investors fear,” consultancy Capital Economics said in a note to clients.

        “With a renewed focus on sovereign default risks, bonds, equities and the peso will come under severe pressure in the coming days. That said, falls in the currency might be tempered by intervention in the foreign exchange market,” it said.

        The primary result indicated that Fernandez had enough support to clinch the presidency in October’s first round

  6. ‘Zombie homes are properties whose owners have walked away from them during the foreclosure process. With New Jersey’s foreclosure process one of the longest in the nation — an average of 982 days — abandoned houses that are in foreclosure often aren’t maintained. Grass becomes overgrown, roofs collapse and animals, such as raccoons, possums and even feral cats, can move in’

    I rarely bother to post the hundreds of zombie shack articles every week.

    ‘NEW YORK — The City just got new funding for a new team focusing on cracking down on NYC Zombie properties, which have been abandoned and are in the foreclosure process. Christie Peale, the CEO of the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, a group that helps families stay in their homes , says zombie properties not only bring down property values, they also frustrate the families who live next to them.’

    ‘Zombie properties are magnets for rodents, squatters and garbage. “They are in every neighborhood they are especially in neighborhoods hit hard by the foreclosure crisis,” said Deputy Commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development Lelia Bozorg.’

    ‘Bozorg estimates there are between up to 4,000 zombie properties right now making neighborhoods look bad all across the city. “What we are able to do is hold the banks accountable, maintaining these properties while they are in limbo during the foreclosure process,” said Bozorg.’

    https://pix11.com/2019/07/31/city-launches-zombie-team-to-track-neighborhood-eyesores-turn-them-into-affordable-housing/

  7. “…Every day an attendant puts fresh washcloths scented with eucalyptus oil in a cold refrigerator for people who want to mop their brows while exercising….”

    ‘…Their calculus is that it’s more profitable to compete on amenities than by cutting rents….’”

    “…Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate….”

    Richard Green. Oh sure, there is an endless supply of tenants [1] who can hardly wait to pay extra for cold eucalyptus oil washcloths.

    [1] Especially those who pay 50% of spendable income on rent or are drowning in student, car, medical debt.

    1. Somebody should ask Dick why there is a $1 billion tower stalled in downtown LA. At a time when credit is sloshing around the world, nobody will touch this debacle.

      Construction at massive Oceanwide Plaza in downtown L.A. remains …
      https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oceanwide-project-stalled-20190223-story.html

      Feb 23, 2019 – Construction of Oceanwide Plaza, a $1-billion real estate development in downtown Los Angeles, remains stalled amid questions about …

      white el·e·phant
      /ˌ(h)wīd ˈeləfənt/
      noun
      noun: white elephant; plural noun: white elephants

      -a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of.
      -“a huge white elephant of a house that needed ten thousand spent on it”

      1. Cut from LaTimes article:

        “….It’s in a prime, 100% location around Staples Center,” she said. “I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be of interest to a major developer if there is a problem or a default…..”

        Oh, its a prime location alright.

        Walk out the front of Staples, walk 7 short blocks down W 11th street, hang a short left on Main Street and presto! you can visit Skid Row.

        Certainly you won’t mind piles of trash, the poop, and used needles on the sidewalk.

        1. Walk? … walk, nix,nix,nix, …lyft on down to the Goldline, 16 mins & $1.45 ya can step on to the platform of $outh Pa$adena, just steps away from Barristers Nursery & Garden Center … Library just x2 short blocks away, enjoy a loverly $troll!

    2. 1] Especially those who pay 50% of spendable income on rent or are drowning in student, car, medical debt.

      We are opening the next phase in our complex. Phase 1 is completely leased up. One of the “amenities” we offer is a complimentary transit pass (buses, train, and light rail). It’s a partnership with the UTA transit authority. There are many urban professionals working for places like Goldman who can do the carless thing, or share one car between a couple. The Tesla car-sharing idea sounds intriguing. I have thought about trying lobby the other ownership groups about a EV car-sharing service. People don’t realize that vehicles are extremely expensive. Opting out of vehicle ownership (if possible) creates a lot of extra cash.

      1. It’s disappointing so many of the new tech jobs are being built down south where UTA is not nearly as effective. More jobs in downtown would encourage public transit use.

        Despite being expensive, the costs of car ownership for a 30 minute commute versus a 90 minute commute is worth every penny.

        1. Lots of tech workers get off on Front Runner at Lehi station. I see them all the time. My sister works for Domo and they pay her a good amount monthly if she commutes with transit vs taking a vehicle.

          1. It definitely matters if you live up north or south.

            I live up north. It’s a 30 minute drive versus a 1 hour 15 minute estimated travel on public transit to get down to Lehi. That’s a lot of extra time over a 5 day work week.

            I would need really big cash incentives to justify spending an extra 5+ hours a week on a bus when that time could be spent on projects, new skills, or leisure.

          2. I would need really big cash incentives to justify spending an extra 5+ hours a week on a bus when that time could be spent on projects, new skills, or leisure.

            Agreed. One of my rules is to live within 10 minutes of where I work. I don’t take any job where I can’t make that work.

          3. I’m fortunate enough to live a 10 minute bus ride of 30 minute walk from work.

            One reason among many that I’m scared to buy a house is because of what happened to a buddy of mine — he went from a 20 minute drive to a 70 minute drive. Yikes.

        2. Despite being expensive, the costs of car ownership for a 30 minute commute versus a 90 minute commute is worth every penny.

          That is right. Musk was right, even though he has taken flak from city planners when he said that public transit doesn’t go where you need it to, when you need it to, and with who you want to go. Probably the future of public transit is fewer buses but just main lines (like Trax and Front Runner) and bus rapid transit. The only way to really do transit in the UTA realm is with a foldable electric scooter. It solves the “last-mile” problem.

          1. Musk was right…public transit doesn’t go where you need it to, when you need it to, and with who you want to go.

            Musk has no use for anyone who wants an efficient, economical and prospering community. His target is those who want luxury for themselves, have the cash to burn to be Hip and aren’t too concerned about math and physics.

            I wonder how long this farce has to play out. No idea how long his leash is on the $10 billion in debt and $2 billion a year losses.

    3. Oh sure, there is an endless supply of tenants [1] who can hardly wait to pay extra for cold eucalyptus oil washcloths.

      Maybe we’re becoming like China faster than they are becoming like us. Services like that can be provided REALLY cheaply in China. The people doing it just need a cheap place to sleep. That’s all we’re missing…

  8. What is sad is the number of people who will pay ten times what something is worth. They will not oil their own washcloths. However, despite being Mr. Banker’s best friend we need to create programs for them when they cannot repay their student loans.

    1. “However, despite being Mr. Banker’s best friend we need to create programs for them when they cannot repay their student loans.”

      I have such a program in mind that relies on information about them that includes blood types and marketable body parts.

  9. May bee Kenyan.Obama will return to his native land$ to further enhance his wealth!

    Hemp + Muguka = $$$

    ‘Green gold’: Kenyan farmers abandon food crops to grow herbal $timulant

    Kagondu Njagi | Commodities | Reuters

    But Francis Kimori, chairman of the Mbeere Muguka Farmers Sacco, a savings and credit cooperative, estimated four out of every five households around the Mount Kenya region, including in Embu County, are farming the stimulant in some quantity.

    Many have upgraded from mud huts to modern stone houses, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    “It is changing livelihoods,” he added.

    Factors like failing rains and new pests, linked to climate change, have likely played a role in muguka’s popularity at the expense of time-honored crops such as maize, said Dickson Kibata, a technical officer

    As drought and erratic weather wreak havoc across rural Kenya, a growing number of farmers are abandoning traditional crops like maize and rice for the more lucrative muguka.

    Njeru can make 30,000 Kenyan shillings ($290) in just one week selling muguka – five times more than he used to make selling maize or beans.

    “It is green gold,” he said.

    A variety of khat, which produces a mild high when chewed, muguka is fast-growing, making it less vulnerable to large swings in weather conditions, and uses about half as much water as maize, Njeru explained.

    The strain grown in Embu County, home to Njeru’s farm, is strong and so consumers can buy less than with the other popular variety, miraa, which is grown further north in Meru.

  11. ‘It’s still a great time for buyers,’ said Colin Mullane with the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors.

    NOW is the BEST time to BUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Still. STILL, I say! Meaning, it has never been a bad time to buy!!! But the subtle implication is that it may not be for much longer. So you’d better go out and buy NOW before it’s too late.

  13. What happened to the Cliven Bundy’s gang of hoot&hollerin’: $tates Right$! $tates Right$! … #$top.thee.Fed$!!!

    Trump administration moves to limit state power$ to block pipeline$, terminal$

    Valerie Volcovici | Commodities | Reuters

    He said the proposal runs counter to the administration’s promises to support so-called “cooperative federalism” that gives states broad authority to decide policy.

    “The Trump administration gives lip service to ‘cooperative federalism,’ but it practices ‘fair-weather federalism,” he said.

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Friday unveiled a proposal that would curb state powers to block pipelines and other energy projects, part of the Trump administration’s effort to boost domestic oil, gas and coal development

    “It’s a hypocritical double standard,” said David Hayes, director of the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, part of the New York University Law School, which coordinates policy with state attorneys general.

  14. State rights has never allowed violations of the commerce clause. New York is not regulating it is preventing interstate commerce.

    1. What’$ Florida doing keeping oil derrick$ from the $hores.of.Mar.a.Lago?I

      $ad.

      aqdan, another swing & another mi$$ … keep.a.swattin’!

      1. If you cannot differentiate between an interstate pipeline and an offshore oil platform I think you have swung and hit yourself in the head.

        1. “it is preventing interstate commerce”

          NO oil derrick$ on thee.sea.shore = NO inter$tate commerce!

          Florida oil = Michigan/Texa$ ba$ed oil bidne$$ drilling$

          $cratching’ yer knucklehead cap ain’t aworkin’ today.

          dtRump Exempt$ Florida From Off$hore Drilling Days After Michael Moore Threatens to Frack Off Mar-A-Lago
          The timing is $u$piciou$.

          Amelia Mavis Christnot | secondnexus

          Barely a week has passed since the administration announced a controversial expansion of offshore drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans essentially encompassing the entire U.S. coastline. But Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke already altered the plan saying the Trump administration grants an exception for the state of Florida.

          After a reported brief meeting between Zinke and Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott at the Tallahasee airport, Zinke amended the expansion with oil-drilling in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico “off the table.”

  15. The credit cycle downturn is just getting underway. This time dealing with the collapse of the everything bubble. Housing, stocks, corp. bonds, all grossly inflated by central bank easing. Public and private sector debt at new records. Consumer debt included. These foreclosures are early indicator of much more to come. Demand pulled forward doesn’t equal prosperity. Debt does not equal wealth. Not Cassandra, just stating the obvious.

    1. “Demand pulled forward doesn’t equal prosperity.”

      It does if you are positioned on the right end of it.

      “Debt does not equal wealth.”

      Wrong, for the same reason.

      1. ““Debt does not equal wealth.”
        Wrong, for the same reason.”

        Care for a $tatu$ po$ition in dtRumpsis admireme.admini$tration?

        (Eye’ll let “NutCracker”Kellyanne yer intere$ted!)

        Think.of.the.Pre$tige!

  16. “Demand pulled forward doesn’t equal pro$perity”

    Geez, seems there’$ no $torage room vacancie$ for all those China import Container$

    $ad.

    In Trump’s trade war with China, L.A. port$ are ground zero

    LA Times | SAMANTHA MASUNAGA STAFF WRITER |
    JUNE 9, 2019

    There’s no space inside,” she said. “We don’t have anywhere to put the materials.” Meanwhile, despite the bottlenecks, “We’re having to bring in more because there’s so much uncertainty about what country is being hit next.”

    Perhaps nowhere in the United States is the tariff war with China having a more tangible effect than at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s leading gateway for trans-Pacific trade. The complex handles 47.5% of U.S. containerized trade with China — including toys, bicycles, furniture, electronics, sneakers, scrap paper, cotton, soybeans and auto parts.

    The tariffs have thrown a giant wrench into Southern California logistics industries, rippling through a broad web of companies that handle shipping, trucking, railroads, warehousing, construction, manufacturing and farming. Nearly a million jobs in the five-county region are tied to international trade.

    The tariff fallout has “really gummed up the operations of the supply chain,” said Eugene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. “We’ve got a lot of cargo coming in that just sits. Containers are stacked high. Truck lines are long. And warehouses are bursting at the seams.”

      1. “And Xi said he was gonna stop it and didn’t.”

        Yeah, well this Xi guy may just be doing us a favor. Check this out (from the link):

        “’Fentanyl knocked me on my back for nine hours,’ he said. ‘I just sniffed a tiny piece — dust! It wasn’t shit! And it knocked me on my back. I woke up hella turnt and it was like that for three fucking days.'”

        Now for the punch line …

        “‘And that is an experience I don’t want to experience again.’”

        Thank you, Xi.

      2. dtRumpsis demand$ lower drug price$ & “made.in.thee.U$A”?

        Fentanyl was first made by Paul Janssen in 1960 and approved for medical use in the United States in 1968

        100 microgram vial, the average wholesale cost in the developing world was US$0.66 in 2015.

        In 2017, the price in the United States was US$0.49 for that same amount.

        It’$ all china’$ fault!

        1. I didn’t say it was all their fault. But I have been blogging about money laundering/drug gangs for many years and the Chinese mafia, which is affiliated with their police BTW, are bringing this drug in like crazy and have for years. And they are taking the profits and laundering it through real estate, which is one reason I am aware of it.

          2. Eye know you’ve been smackin’ the cartel$ & Mafia$ & ALL Thee Trouble$ they bring into our bee.ute.tea.full USA Mr.Ben & THANK YOU!

            (Reckon $elf.di$cipline & $elf.Reliance aren’t required reading$ any longer.)

          3. “the Chinese mafia, which is affiliated with their police BTW, are bringing this drug in like crazy and have for years.”

            Well that has nothing to do with Walmart kids bikes costing $12.50 more, gun control or “dtRumpsis” so stories like that will fall on deaf ears.

            Fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. have been doubling every year

            By MELISSA HEALYSTAFF WRITER
            MARCH 20, 2019

            This powerful synthetic opioid seemingly came out of nowhere and is now killing tens of thousands of Americans each year.

            https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-fentanyl-overdose-deaths-skyrocketing-20190320-story.html

          4. Im still kinda old school, once you get to this point of shooting and od’ing there is a slim to none chance you will every get sober enough and make enough money to pay back society. Yet responsible people who need help are denied treatment because medicare or medicaid wont pay for it.

          5. “This powerful synthetic opioid seemingly came out of nowhere and is now killing tens of thousands of Americans each year.”

            I consider this rampant opioid distribution to be an unsound business practice in that the efficient parasite does not kill the host.

  17. Lower! More! Lower! … Don’t … $top! … Don’t!$top!

    A Danish bank is offering mortgage$ with negative intere$t rate$ — why you shouldn’t wi$h for that to happen in the U.$.

    MarketWatch | Jacob Passy | Aug 12th 2019

    In Denmark, the ultra-low interest rate environment has in turn caused home price$ to increa$e as borrower$ could afford pricier home$. “Prices in the bigger cities Copenhagen and Århus have been boosted,” said Helge J. Pedersen, group chief economist at Nordea. The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority has consequently taken measures to counter this effect and prevent a housing bubble from forming, Pedersen said.

    A boom in refinance$ would also likely occur, as has happened in the U.S. every time mortgage rates have dropped to record lows, Fratantoni said.

    But while a negative-rate mortgage offers a major opportunity for savings, borrowers could have trouble accessing it. Given the risk this would present to lenders, they may restrict access to only the most creditworthy borrowers, excluding those with poorer credit scores. Sources of liquidity could also dry up for lenders, meaning they’d have less money to offer borrowers.

    dtRump, Mnuchin, $helton, Navarro, Ha$$et, & Ro$$ LLC & Companie$ : “plea$e plea$e, the eCONomy is hurtin’$ $ooooo bad!, Damn it, lower the FedFund$ Rate$ Now!!!”

  20. “On Sunday afternoon, Excelsior residents and community-based organizations gathered to march, drum, chant, perform, and express their collective anger and distress over the rise of luxury development that has started to seize the largely immigrant and working-class neighborhood of the Excelsior.”

    Stamp your little feet! Stamp ’em, stamp ’em!

      1. How could Jeffrey Epstein look anything but sleazy?

        Friends of the financier may have been ignorant of his crimes but they were complicit in endorsing his lifestyle

        ‘The photograph is perfect. It’s 2001, and they’re in a flat in London. The hostess is lurking in the background, the teenage girl is smiling, and the prince looks furtive as hell. Her top is cropped; his hand, around her hips, touches flesh. There’s so much going on. What are they all thinking?’

        ‘Virginia Roberts Guiffre, now 35, was the girl. She alleges that she was at that point a “sex slave”, having been recruited by the hostess, Ghislaine Maxwell, to service the needs of the financer Jeffrey Epstein, before being “loaned” to his friends, such as Prince Andrew. Both flatly deny this. So what was the prince’s understanding of what was actually going on, instead? Why did he imagine that his glamorous friends had brought this 17-year-old Californian runaway to London? As a masseuse? Honestly? Did he not wonder? Had he not asked?’

        https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/how-could-jeffrey-epstein-look-anything-but-sleazy-r3xf7gph8

          1. ignorant of his crimes

            None of us average people are ignorant of our crimes. We just don’t believe that we are above the law.

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