Have you been hit by the U.S. housing crisis? Do you see evidence of the year-long credit crisis all around? Is a part of the story not being told?
We are inviting citizen photojournalists to send in their best photographs illustrating the battered housing market and on-going credit crunch. If you think your picture tells the story in an innovative way, please send it to pics@reuters.com.
The best images will accompany Reuters stories on Reuters.com.
Be sure to include your contact details and an explanation of the event you are capturing.
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We have been in the Real Estate business for 30 years and would like to offer our idea, to help deal with the housing crisis.
Step #1: Give everyone who has a mortgage a 120 day moratorium on their mortgage payments. This would be retroactive for anyone who is currently late on their payment. This would act as a great stimulus to the economy, especially at Christmas time when people are motivated to spend money!
Step #2: Individuals apply for Gov payoff and refinance into a 30 yr, or more fixed rate of 3% - 4%. Applicant shows decrease or loss of income. Gov will payoff the loan, same as any home owner could do at anytime they were able, and the Gov will hold the deed to these homes so will have something if the home owner still goes into default. Late, or no payments could be added to the back of the loan. If a home owner is still unable afford the payment, work a Gov Subsidized loan with them and keep them in their home, same as the Gov does with Gov subsidized housing projects across the country, only difference is that the Gov will own these homes, not the developers who build Gov subsidized housing projects.
This process would benefit local mortgage lenders and anyone involved in the process and should help create additional jobs to handle the increased work load at the same time.
In short, the big bank bailouts are not working! it’s time for the Gov to step in and do the job for them!
- Posted by Steve HulaLike dave above,
I canceled two cards then received a letter two months later stating they are lowering my credit line to $500 months after it had been canceled, both cards customer service reps said both cards were never canceled…Hmmm
Its like they’re trying to ruin your credit so you can default so they can tack on four times the fees and charges related to defaulting on a card, in which they get t reimbursed for half of the default amount…..never again credit card companies…never again.
- Posted by DeeCredit seems to be in charge right now but according to Nielsen, cash will rule 2009 and retailers will offer discounts to cash over credit. The credit market is just too unstable right now. I tried to rent a car recently which I do often. All of a sudden Ace, Thrifty and Budget require credit checks for customers without credit cards. I just thought that was way too intrusive and costly to be worth it.
- Posted by krissyMy husband and I bought our very first town home last November w no $ money down. We are paying our mortgage, bills, etc. on time with our jobs that we still have. I just wish we would have waited a few months for all of these house deals. Our place was purchased for 190 and today, similar places around our block are going for 175. Next time, we’ll get a place that’s closer to my work, too. Not 40 miles away.
- Posted by Lucky Girl 81I think some people are are going to learn that when you have no home, no savings and no credit you are not going to jump start the economy. You are wasting your time saving banks, insurance companies and various funds. They never supported the financial system before and they will not now.
- Posted by chuckTry the market at 7000 and unemployment 12 to 15 percent and 8 to 10 years to get back to where we were 1 year ago.This whole bailout is a joke and we have really serious problems…………………………………H.Steele
The ‘credit crunch’ is not the cause of the economic crisis we are experiencing. It is a contributing factor. The Stock Market greed for fast cash and instant wealth through gambling coupled with mismanagement of companies by boards, officers and managers who, through their ‘professional’ management have launched us into the most serious economic crisis ever experienced in this country (this includes the great depression). It is time to realign our priorities which includes not living on credit and investing in people, not gambling in a market.
I have never previously experienced the traumas and set-backs that I have in the past few months. I do not and have not lived on credit. Evenso the economy has crunched my cash flow and resources tremendously.
I vote for a restructured economy that is not based on the wealthiest trading stocks for profit. I think we have to invest in our people and the quality of our service and products.
Shame on the execs for their contribution to this crisis. I should think their huge salaries and bonuses are now a thing of the past. They have cost we taxpayers far more than we should ever have had to pay.
- Posted by DocI was laid off from my I.T. job in 2003.
- Posted by Greg TI earned two college degrees while looking for a job in my own field for 5 years. Computer jobs all went to Asia. In June 2008, I went back to school to learn insurance and today I work selling auto and home owners for 1/4 of what I used to make in 2003. But it pays the mortgage. Try something new. If it doesn’t work, try something else. That is what I did.
The banks are running scared and pulling the rug out from under people.
Example: I recently paid off a credit card in full and the bank immediately lowered my credit limit. WHY?
THEN I get a letter from another bank stating that my credit score dropped due to higher “debt to income” ratio (caused by me paying off my card). Since my score is lower they are raising my APR to 29.99%
I have never missed a payment or went bad on a loan. The banks in my case are making me look like a high risk when I am paying my obligations.
Its a mixed up world man!
- Posted by DavidAfter 30 years at my company they decided to outsource the IT department to India. Paid off all a credit card and back bills with proceeds from the severance package. Not spending or charging one dime on anything but the basic necessities in the foreseeable future.
- Posted by KeithOur residential lease included utilities. We were paid in full and in advance when the power and water company pulled the meters from the house and the sheriff came to the door on March 12th 2008. Turns out the homeowner hadn’t paid the mortgage OR the utilities since before we had moved in, and all three were thousands and thousands of dollars in arrears. I am the single mother of three children and owner of a construction related business in the epicenter of the construction/mortgage crisis: Cape Coral, Florida. I have had no work since March 2007 and reported unemployment is 10% in my zip code.
- Posted by CapeKellyMy credit score dropped 28 points in 3 years that included 18 months underemployed as a Temp. It was still well over 700 when the credit line on my house was frozen (as well as anyone else whose rating dropped more than 20 points since the line was written). Never a late or missed payment - just an arbitrary decision applied across the board by a banking institution with which I have had a 30 year relationship and 2 previous clean mortgages. Can you say running scared?
- Posted by T. Casswe followed a simple policy -
- Posted by krishna“never take credit or give credit”
we followed this policy strictly and lived well within our means. We purchase any item either it is a home or car or mobile phone, we use cash. we never go for credit. By following this simple principle we are able to float free of credit.
Should we not blame Bill Clinton along with greedy bankers for creating this mess in the first place? Opening the floodgates for millions of Americans who should not have qualified for home loans. The effect of his liberal agenda is truly remarkable. How many Americans are now on some kind of government benefit.
- Posted by TJThe honest hard working American tax payer can no longer bare this burden. Look for more of the same from Barak Hussain Obama.
I still could afford buying my first home, except now no insurance company would insure 5% downpayment…well I could afford 10% downpayment until the crash of my 401K plan…now I dont have this money. How stupid is that? I thought banks would want to cash-in clean credit loans…they are just so picky now they are refusing stable incomes to take a decent, not over-your-head loan. In short, they are digging more their own whole. Now I have this money I can’t invest (invest in what? ) and I can’t use for buying a house. It’s a waste!
- Posted by cristeleI know what everyone is feeling. I was laid off in 2005 and had to take a job in a different city. I put my house up for sale and decided to buy a house in the new city so that my family could be with me. I was debt free at the time except for the house payments. Well, of course my old house didn’t sell and even though I worked two jobs in the IT industry I couldn’t keep up with the payments. We have been living off of credit cards since and now we have no choice but to go into foreclosure and start from scratch since I have cashed in all of my retirement savings.
- Posted by JoshThough I accept that it is my fault that I purchased another home without selling my first one, the phsychology of the time was so frenetic so many people who I thought were smart told me that it would be ok. I did learn a very hard lesson that has certainly been very humbling.
We are going to start over and only use Cash to pay for things, that is our goal now. It is funny but I used to make fun of my grandparents who lived through the great depression. They never used credit, and kept track of their money like hawks. I guess they were smarter than I thought.
I think it is truly amazing that everyone who is in foreclosure is branded as living outside of their means. Take my case for instance, I was middle management for a mortgage lender and was laid off in the early part of 2007. I had to change professions at a much lower salary and now I am in foreclosure. I can’t sell my house because it is worth less than what I owe on it. Maybe those who are so critical should wake up and realize not everyone who is in foreclosure lived outside of their means. I just hope that our ciritics never have to endure what I have been enduring for the past 5-mths.
- Posted by sdsoftblI have a problem with understanding people who took out home loans they knew they couldn’t afford, or take on credit debt. And I am supposed to bail you out for not being good stewards of your money? No WAY! I live in a modest home with no credit card debt, 3 kids. I live on less then what I make, no 42″ plasma tv, no new car, used clothing and a ton of cash in the bank. Pay cash people. Wake up America!!
- Posted by James VinewellenI inherited a house that’s not selling so is now in foreclosure, my car died and I can’t a loan for another one, the junk debt buyers got my name on their list and froze all my bank accounts and hmmm, what else…did I mention I needed the money to get the fuel before the weather turns cold? or to put food on the table for the kids? or that junk debt buyers are MAKING fist fulls of money by getting the discharged debt for pennies on the dollar and repackaging it for resale after seizing what they can? or that they don’t negotiate…and go beyond nasty…hmmm, was that old discharged debt from credit card companies that diligently fill your mailbox with solicitations and then pummel you with percentage rates just to get you in that position?
- Posted by You BetyaAbsolutely! As an IT Project Manager I have been searching for a job/contract since July and finally decided to take a part time job at a craft store, which doesn’t pay enough to cover much more than my mortgage payment.
- Posted by C. BlevinsYes I see the crisis and am living it first hand. I was laid off last week due to the economy.
- Posted by J Collett