Florida’s Underwater Mortgages

PBS Newshour aired a segment on Tuesday’s show called “Mortgage Defaults” as part of its “Making Sense” financial series (click here for video, segment aired 25:45 to 35:00). I highly recommend that anyone interested in real estate watch this segment. Newshour picked three example Floridians who are dealing with defaults on their mortgages: A restaurant … Read more

Greek Finance Minister Blames Markets for “Attacking” His Country

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7, New International Version) This proverb is understood all too well by anyone who has become impoverished by severe indebtedness. I thought of this proverb as I read a Reuters article titled “Eurozone gives Greece 30 days to show good … Read more

Dubai Debacle to Dubai Blip…or Warm-up?

Now that major markets worldwide have completely recovered from the Dubai debacle of last week, it is easy to consider this episode just another blip on the way to eternal bliss. Not even the U.S. dollar could sustain more than a mirage of strength on this “temporary crisis” (I had thought that even after the … Read more

FHA Commissioner Stevens Tells Us Not to Worry About FHA’s Cash Reserves

The Washington Post issued an alarming article today titled “Housing Agency’s Cash Reserves Will Drop Below Requirement.” In what seems like yet another case of “here we go again,” Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Commissioner David H. Stevens tells us not to worry about his agency’s dwindling reserves even as mortgage delinquencies rise. The Post explains … Read more