Join The Craze … Of Saving!
That’s right, everybody’s doing it! Why? Because the American Bankers Association has been teaching America’s youth to save their money for the last 11 years with their aptly named "Teach Children to Save" program. That’s why the average American’s debt burden is so low right now, right?
Those children lucky enough to receive an education in saving will, according to the ABA’s presser, "learn from bankers the difference between needs and wants, ways to identify expenses and how priorities can influence spending."
For example, some large banks NEED government assistance to keep their doors open, while their executives WANT to continue spending that money with no strings attached, and still receive above-market compensation.
One new component to the Teach Children to Save program is the new Web site, www.teachchildrentosave.com. There, children can "join the saving craze" and learn to "start a savings account and make deposits regularly."
The Teller gives credit where credit is due: saving is a good idea. It’s smart to get children started on it early so they can make it a habit.
But where are the programs for Mom and Dad? The Teller can’t help but feel like if they’d only known about this saving thing from the get-go, the default rate would be a little lower. Then maybe banks wouldn’t be forced to see so many non-performing assets on their balance sheets.
Foreclosures Expand To High-Priced Hub Condos
It looks like we’re moving away from foreclosures due to subprime mortgages here in the Hub, and toward foreclosures due to the economic collapse (which is due in part to subprime mortgages, of course).
Two swank downtown Boston condos are set to go to foreclosure auction within 24 hours of each other. On May 7, a two-bedroom condo in Harbor Towers valued at $839,000 (according to The Teller’s overlord, The Warren Group) gets the ax. On May 8, another two-bedroom condo, this one in the Residences at the Intercontinental, and worth $1,363,700, goes up for grabs. Both auctions were published in the Boston Herald, which apparently is coming up in the world. Somebody thinks its readers are in a position to bid on these properties.
These foreclosures certainly don’t invoke the archetype of shuttered up homes in some seedy neighborhood, rusty furniture haphazardly stacked outside. The next owners probably don’t have to worry about all the copper piping being stripped out of their luxury condo, with mold spores spreading across floorboards and doorjambs.
These properties weren’t underwater; it’s doubtful their owners just walked away. The condo at the Intercontinental was on its first owner, who put down exactly 10 percent. The Harbor Tower home was last sold for $1, indicating it passed between relatives, and the mortgage was for $757,000 at 6.54 percent, again according to The Warren Group.
So what does this all mean? It means we’ve just been at the tip of the foreclosure iceberg. It means we can rail against predatory lending all we like, because at this point, that’s totally irrelevant. When people don’t have jobs, they can’t pay their mortgages, and choice pieces of property will hit the chopping block.
Snip Snip
The Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) is scrambling to put the brakes on the Massachusetts House‘s current 2010 budget, which slashes funding 45 percent for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) from $33 million to $18 million.
The program supports 5,200 families with an average income of $11,000. The cuts, which are proposed by the Ways and Means Committee, would eliminate approximately 2,500 families from receiving vouchers. On anything close to that income, you can bet they won’t be just moving down the street.
Say what you will about these types of welfare programs, but willfully kicking 2,500 families onto the commonwealth’s streets in these economic conditions seems, shall we say, imprudent.
CHAPA is quick to point out the federal stimulus cannot be counted upon to fill the gap. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and presidential and congressional proposals don’t include more funds for Section 8 vouchers.
Rep. Kevin Honan, D-Brighton, CHAPA champion and Chairman of the Joint Committee on Housing has filed an amendment to bring the funding back up to level service, as Gov. Deval Patrick requested in his version of the budget. CHAPA has encouraged anyone who cares to send a letter to their state representative, hoping to gain sponsors for Honan’s amendment.
It’s hard to draw blood from a stone, and that’s what the Ways and Means Committee is convinced they’re doing. There are hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cuts, all from something that somebody thinks is vital. We try to keep things light here at The Teller, but how funny can 2,500 potentially homeless families be?
