Brother’s Keeper: How Far?
Does being your brother’s keeper mean you have to pay his mortgage?
In the new era of billion dollar bailouts, Americans across the country are re-examining long-held views about personal responsibility with a question that’s hitting close to home: Is it fair to make people who faithfully paid their mortgages bail out those who didn’t?
“I don’t appreciate paying for someone else’s mortgage,” said a 38 year-old Massachusetts mother. “I almost feel it’s bailing out someone who overspent on their credit card.”
“Maybe I’m too old school,” said a 52 year-old mortgage holder who’s never missed a payment. “But you sign on the bottom line, and you’re responsible for it.”
Another solvent homeowner said, “I rescued myself by buying a house I could afford and paying it off. What kind of reward do I get?”
Of all the bailouts—banks, auto makers, and people who can’t afford their homes—analysts say the housing handout has struck a particular nerve. “The average family doesn’t have a huge stock portfolio,” one bailout expert explained. “But you have 100 million families that own homes.”
Not all families in danger of foreclosure irresponsibly bit off more real estate than they could chew; some have been victims of job cutbacks in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Like it or not, some analysts say, we are linked by our lousy economy as a band of economic brothers’ keepers. “ Sometimes you have to shower money upon those who have been foolish or self-indulgent,” wrote a columnist. “The greedy idiots may be greedy idiots, but they are our countrymen. And at some level, we’re all in this together. If their lives don’t stabilize, then our lives don’t stabilize.”
Tell us what you think: Should responsible people bail out the irresponsible? By doing so, are we sending a message that irresponsibility has no consequences? How far should you go in being your brother’s keeper?
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Give A Dollar
One dollar to help a borrower facing a foreclosure sale will save a home. That is one man and a family that will not burden the community he lives in. He will appreciate the help he got from people who cared enough to share their good fortune given to them by The Creator. I am facing a foreclosure. I operate a small transportation service for the disabled. When I qualified for my loan I was producing three times the income I am producing now. When the mortgage fraud hit the economy I was I lost half of the contracts I operated for the past five years. So I needed some consideration from the banksters until I can recover. The banksters don’t want to give consideration. They are GREEDY and they have an appetite for destruction of families, communities, cities, states, the country. They intend on destroying everything this country has accomplished over all the years of it’s existence. Everything YOU have worked to accomplished also. YOU may not see it NOW. YOU WILL. If I could raise $4400 by 11/15/09 the banksters will not sell my home on the court house steps to the highest bidder. I don’t know how I can do that without asking for a dollar from as many people as I can. One dollar will buy a share in my home and help stop the banksters from taking the wealth I have worked hard to build. I did not buy more house than I could afford. I worked hard and saved to qualify and purchase my home. Now I need some help and now the banksters want to destroy our communities. Let’s not let them do it. GIVE A DOLLAR. SAVE A HOME FROM FORECLOSURE. WATCH IT SPREAD.
Darryl Collins | 4 months ago
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about lenders and modification plans
what homeowners can do when the lenders change the modification plan every 3 months?
Maria Garza | 3 months, 1 week ago
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Mortgage refinancing
I agree that people should not have overspent. However, the end of this article is what really hit the heart of this issue. There are many, many people out there my father is one of them), who had his home PAID FOR! He was in a joint-tenancy with his mother who passed away at 92 years old and it was discovered that during the time when she was suffering from slight dimensia, she wrote a living will breaking joint-tenancy and said her wishes were to leave half the property to her daughter (my father’s sister), since she was talking on the phone with her frequently. When my father found that she had written that will, he angrily insisted she change it. His sister pleaded with him to not upset her in any way. That she would NEVER do anything to take his property as she knew that even though they initially went in on the property together, the agreement was that he take care of all of the costs for the past 24 years and the property will roll over to him upon her death. He trusted his sister who immediately insisted on “her half” upon the death of their mother. He was forced to take out a loan to pay his Sister off. Because he is 62 years old, he was basically retired and had a limited income, but couldn’t lose his home. A mortgage company loaned him money with a huge ballon payment up front that they took and then lent him money at 9 percent interest. He paid the loan for 4 years and struggled. Then with the economy worstening, he wasn’t able to pay it for the past few months. He could pay it if they would lower the interest by just a couple of points. But the mortgage company is doing all they can to dodge the paperwork. This part is incomplete, that part is incomplete. It’s absurd. We all have to stand together and not judge each other as we don’t know the individual circumstances. Now is the time for us to look out for each other because no one else is. We have proven that the only power we seem to have anymore is in pure numbers. People bonding together and helping each other without judgement.We’ve fought wars together. We’ve helped each other through charities, never asking how the person got into a crunch in the first place. YES it’s time to help! We need to stop fighting amongst one another. That’s exactly what the government wants! Pull together people! Say or do something good or kind for a stranger every day without anything in it for yourself. That alone will make a difference. We can fix this!
Heather McNally | 1 month, 4 weeks ago
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not fair
i pay my morgage on time i have 8 more years then the house is paid for the company i worked for closed its doors ive been to every temp service to find another job so i can keep my house they tell me im either over qualified for a job or not enough qualification for the job but in my town alll the factorys are closing and going to mexico and nobody is hiring so now what the banks get bailed out as well as auto dealers that misuse money so were is the bailout for the hard working person just trying to save everything ive worked my life for!!!!!!!!!!!!
John Bash | 1 month ago
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