The looting of Detroit Homes

[jcole]

All of these plots are TRUE. In fact one black Detroiter who is living in his neighborhood saw a vacant house just across this street from his home saw a hired looter stripping the windows. Once the hired looter saw that black Detroiter, he quickly ran away leaving the stripped window behind.

How did he know he was hired? Did he leave his employment papers behind?

[Danny]

Danny,

Sounds like you went to the barbershop today for a shape-up and a little ground floor philosphy. I happen to like your report on the newest theory why Detroit is in the shape it is in. It reminds me of all the other theories about Detroit and how "the other" is trying to steal it back.

Crack, smack, blow and St Ides were all evil plans to return the City to its pale roots; as was urban renewel, freeways, food stamps, HUD and spinners on the hooptie. It is always the outsider that is creeping in under the veil of darkness to bring a little devil to Devil's Night, some kneecapping to the fireworks or a wiretap to catch the honest man.

It is this same belief in "the other" that makes us bend our knees while asking for a some bus fare to go see our sick mothers, or to demand that Lansing or Washington send some moohla, as long as they don't demand an accounting of the last money they sent.

See, Danny, in Detroit it is always "the other", "the outsider" that is either screwing us over or just about to save us from screwing. The duality of "the other" is what ensnares us in our wretchedness. The killer and the saint. The fear and hope. The lover and and the shanker. They are all the same. The roots of both are from the same poisoned tree. We point to the unseen, powerful force as the cause of our state of being; we are but toys for their pleasure and regardless of our efforts we twist to their will.

In haiti such forces are called loa. Sort of Saint and spirit; either guardian or avenger and while you can appease their will with rhum or dance it is all a crap shoot.

This duality of spirit and belief in "the other" insures that you are never responsible for your fate. The Other will crush you or save you and there isn't anything you can do about it, except complain.

Make sure you don't call the cops when the neighbor's house is torched by your cousin. Throw that McDonald's bag in the street. Don't stop at redlights. Point a finger evrywhere but the mirror.

You want proof? ... ever meet anyone who looted in '67? or lit a building a fire? I never have. But almost everyone saw a tank shoot up a building. In Detroit it is almost common belief that the National Guard caused the destruction, that the Army shot at firemen.

In Detroit we are liars, to ourselves.

Go deep into the ghettos in Detroit and look how looted those homes are. Look how the windows have been stripped, the plumbing has been raped and the electrical wiring is ripped apart from its walls. Go ask a Detroit resident what happed to that home next door. The truth will be answered.

[Danny]

How did he know he was hired? Did he leave his employment papers behind?

The looter don't have to snitch to everyone, not even to the Detroit Police Force. He was hired from a private company [[ who owns the house) to one thing LOOT, PLUNDER, and DOWNSIZE the ghetto. As in keep low-income blacks from buying a decent Detroit home and re-develop the area into pre-suburbanesque community. Herman Gardens was a prime example of neighborhood blockbusting tactics. To re-build a middle income community.

[Packman41]

To Detroitej72

Clearly you have never purchased a home using a mortgage loan, so let me help you out.

You said, “When a bank artificially inflates the value of property, issues a loan on that inflated price…� and “…conveniently forgive the banks that started the process by over valuing the property in the first place.


First, the Buyer and Seller negotiate a sale/purchase price – the bank does not dictate the value of a house.
· If the buyer thinks the price is too high, then they can walk away from the deal.
· I have never heard of a bank officer holding a gun to the head of a buyer and ordering them to pay a certain price for a home.

Second, you are correct, “Heaven forbid the borrower looses [sic] their job due to these horrible economic times.� True, and hopefully, as financial experts recommend, they have 6 months of cash available to make mortgage payments to weather out the storm.

Third, if people had real equity in their home or offered more equity to the lender, then I’m sure the lender would work with them. All banks lose money in a foreclosure -- that is a FACT. They are NOT profiting from someone’s misery.

When a bank loses money on a foreclosure they have less money to lend to other people. I think you can see how this spirals downward and out of control. The banks cannot print money, only the federal government can. Banks need to be profitable [[I know that is a bad word to some on this site) to stay in business and lend money to others to create businesses and more jobs.

[terryh]

Whats copper going for nowadays?

[ggores]

Have you all notice in neighborhoods

Will never happen in our lifetimes.

Case in point - A typical conversation, and much laughter accompanying, goes like this:

"Hey GG... last night the cops blocked off both sides of the street, there was a ramshackle-style shooting going on across the street!. Whoa!"

Me - "Uggggh... they didn't shoot the Comcast guy, did they?"

"No. He's OK. I think."

Me - "Good. He's the only one with that job over there anyways."

Kids in that ghetto known as Detroit, they carry guns in they pockets. And drugs. Everything Barney Bing says is a LIE. Everything Charlie Pugh says is a LIE. And once in a while, when a good student becomes yet another statistic in the murder ranks, well, Detroiter's absolutely love decrying after the fact.

But hey... everyone stay optimistic. Plant neighborhood gardens. Be positive. Create change. Enjoy the erntopic show.

Make more babies!

Yet in all sincerity, again {for over thirty years} I say give the people Lawn Mowers. Make those kids cut grass. I mean, mow the friggin' lawn. Oy.

[LeannaM]

Whats copper going for nowadays?

Here's an interesting post about copper theft in Arizona. It goes for about $2.50 a pound there.
http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/?p=12163

[CLAUDE G]

The copper theft isn't bad as it was a few years ago. A buddy of mine works for AT&T and he literally retired from his job of 30+ years due to the copper theft.

He worked as a lineman, and all he was doing was replacing stolen copper telephone cable. He was telling me they would replace the cable in a neighborhood, and 2 hours after they left the copper thieves would steal the cable again and they would be out the next day having to replace it. Then if having to redo a job wasn't bad enough, AT&T would ding him on productivity as a repeat trouble call.

As far as the looting of homes, its typical Detroit. You don't have to hire looters, just the word going around the neighborhoods that someone has moved out is enough to get the scrappers attention.

[sumas]

I doubt we are looking at conspiracy unless it is a "conspiracy of dunces". I just see people desparately trying to keep their homes and banking institutions are just mindless drones. Perhaps we should institutionalize these institutions.

A friend tried to buy a foreclosed home near us and offered $48,000. He never got to to first base. The home later sold for $6,000 to a real dead beat. Go figure.

After thinking a bit, you might have something. Banks do hire companies to clean out homes after they are vacant. The people they hire are less than reputable. Commercial vehicles are supposed to have their company name, city and a truck number. These "legal" strippers come in raggety trucks and trailers. I have called the police on more than a few since they won't identify themselves.

[Hermod]

The real "villains" were the flippers, real estate agents, and mortgage scammers. The banks were just the aiders and abettors. Everything was based on the idea that real estate would just keep going up and up and up.

The banks were making money on mortgage origination fees and then just shoving the stuff out the back door so that they could originate a new mortgage. Real estate agents were just trying to sell homes and get commissions. Flippers were trying to skim a few bucks on the transactions.

The people that got hurt were the ones that bought into the idea that if you don't buy a home RIGHT NOW, you will be priced out of the market forever. Now they are under water even if they can pay their mortgages and their houses are unsaleable.

People who entered into mortgages knowing that it was an economic stretch felt that there was no risk. If they couldn't make their mortgage payments, they could just sell the house and walk away with a profit.

Many once proud financial institutions were ruined by the mortgage fiasco. I can list Merrill Lynch, Wachovia Bank, Washington Mutual, and AIG. 0thers were badly hurt. Two government agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were destroyed.

If I was to write a banking law in Congress, I would make fees other than bounced check fees illegal. The bank takes in depositors' money and pays a certain rate of interest. The bank loans out money at a higher rate of interest. The bank pays its expenses and makes its profit on the spread. If a bank knows it will be looking at a loan for thirty years, maybe they just might be careful about who they are loaning money to and what the security for the loan is.

[Sstashmoo]

Quote: "People are quick to blame the borrowers, but conveniently forgive the banks that started the process by over valuing the property in the first place."

How does a bank over value residential property?

[jcole]

Quote: "People are quick to blame the borrowers, but conveniently forgive the banks that started the process by over valuing the property in the first place."

How does a bank over value residential property?

If I have a house worth $150,000 and I decide to sell it for $400,000;some goofball says, yeah, I want' it and off we go to the bank. They send out an appraiser who says, well, if he's willing to overpay for this dump, more power to him and values it at $400,000. Then back to the bank, doofus gets the loan, I get my money and the bank gets an almost sure foreclosure.

[daddeeo]

Have you got that appraiser's name???
I don't think you'll find anyone like that anymore.
It's more likely to be just the opposite.

[jcole]

Have you got that appraiser's name???
I don't think you'll find anyone like that anymore.
It's more likely to be just the opposite.

Perhaps not now, but back a few years when you would have bought a home that was being foreclosed on now.
They've had to change their practices since the bubble burst.

[Detroitej72]

Packman41, this is what I was talking about.

The real "villains" were the flippers, real estate agents, and mortgage scammers. The banks were just the aiders and abettors. Everything was based on the idea that real estate would just keep going up and up and up.

The banks were making money on mortgage origination fees and then just shoving the stuff out the back door so that they could originate a new mortgage. Real estate agents were just trying to sell homes and get commissions. Flippers were trying to skim a few bucks on the transactions.

The people that got hurt were the ones that bought into the idea that if you don't buy a home RIGHT NOW, you will be priced out of the market forever. Now they are under water even if they can pay their mortgages and their houses are unsaleable.

I once had to refinance my house in Detroit to buy out my ex-wife. The bank appraised it, told me it was worth double what I paid for it just 1 1/2 years earlier and tried to encourage me to refinance for that double price. Luckily I borrowed just enough to settle my divorce, and sold it for a decent profit 6 years later, just before the housing market tanked.

So yes, I know that mortgage prices were over inflated, I saw it firsthand.

[Goose]

appraisers, if ethical, merely reflect the market, they do not "set" prices.....

don't be caught up in this mind-set that the banks or the appraisers set the price... the price is set by open market fundamentals of supply and demand, a property is listed for sale, exposed to the open market, and people make offers based on what they think its worth and what they are willing to pay for it.... that sale then becomes the next best comparable for something similar in the same area.... typically for mortgage appraisals, you need more than just one crazy sale to set a value, minimally appraisers show three similar sales, often more....

now i'm not saying that there weren't uscrupulous appraisers and bankers commiting fraud, but thats not the reason for the inflated prices and real estate bubble burst, it was speculation pure and simple, people wanting to ride the roller coaster were looking at homes as an investment rather than a place to live... similar to the .com bubble, no one cared or knew anything about the companies they were investing in, it was merely a fight to the top and hopefully you werent left holding the cards when it crashed....

foreclosures aren't the result of overpaying for a house....

forclosures result in lack of paying for the house, when at the time you purchased or refinanced, you qualified for the payment, and you personally felt that payment was something you could handle.. no one forced your hand....

its understandable that in this crappy economy people lose their jobs and can no longer make payment, those situations are tragic

but for the idiot that refinanced his home and used his equity line like a credit card for jet skis, vacations, boob jobs, etc etc.... i have no pity that you are over your head....

[Danny]

The real "villains" were the flippers, real estate agents, and mortgage scammers. The banks were just the aiders and abettors. Everything was based on the idea that real estate would just keep going up and up and up.

The banks were making money on mortgage origination fees and then just shoving the stuff out the back door so that they could originate a new mortgage. Real estate agents were just trying to sell homes and get commissions. Flippers were trying to skim a few bucks on the transactions.

The people that got hurt were the ones that bought into the idea that if you don't buy a home RIGHT NOW, you will be priced out of the market forever. Now they are under water even if they can pay their mortgages and their houses are unsaleable.

People who entered into mortgages knowing that it was an economic stretch felt that there was no risk. If they couldn't make their mortgage payments, they could just sell the house and walk away with a profit.

Many once proud financial institutions were ruined by the mortgage fiasco. I can list Merrill Lynch, Wachovia Bank, Washington Mutual, and AIG. 0thers were badly hurt. Two government agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were destroyed.

If I was to write a banking law in Congress, I would make fees other than bounced check fees illegal. The bank takes in depositors' money and pays a certain rate of interest. The bank loans out money at a higher rate of interest. The bank pays its expenses and makes its profit on the spread. If a bank knows it will be looking at a loan for thirty years, maybe they just might be careful about who they are loaning money to and what the security for the loan is.

Yes, the whole article is entirely TRUE! Real estate brokers, banks and mortage companies had been scheming people with their monetary policies to get them to buy a decent home for over 50 years.

Real estate brokers, banks and mortage companies had been scheming mostly blacks, hispanics in every major inner cities in the U.S. to get them to buy nearly out of styled bungalows, colonials, ranches and tri-levels. There have been countless restrictive covenants, racial steering and insurance red-lining. The the law has been too sleepy to stop those scrupolous dealers. Folks who had been buying a decent home will run into monetary policies that they would not understand until they took various ecomonics classes. Today is virturally difficult for a low to middle family to completely buy a home. They can only get close to paying a down payment, get a loan with a bank or mortage company and pay it off with interest. Therefore when a purchase a home, you're are NOT an official homeowner, just a investor joining a Wall Street stock derivative casino.

WORD FROM A STREET PROPHET!

As I watch another Detroit home goes up in flames.


In Memoriam: Neda Agha Soltan

[Ravine]

Danny & Sumas both are stating, as fact, that scrappers-for-hire are being sent by banks to pillage houses, but neither party has explained how they have positively identified those scrappers.

Since that claim establishes the main premise of the complaint, neglecting to explain how the identification was reached reduces the entire complaint to nothing more than a mere suspicion.

[Hermod]

"Fannie-Freddie Fix at $160 Billion With $1 Trillion Worst Case

By Lorraine Woellert and John Gittelsohn


June 14 [[Bloomberg) -- The cost of fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage companies that last year bought or guaranteed three-quarters of all U.S. home loans, will be at least $160 billion and could grow to as much as $1 trillion after the biggest bailout in American history.

Fannie and Freddie, now 80 percent owned by U.S. taxpayers, already have drawn $145 billion from an unlimited line of government credit granted to ensure that home buyers can get loans while the private housing-finance industry is moribund. That surpasses the amount spent on rescues of American International Group Inc., General Motors Co. or Citigroup Inc., which have begun repaying their debts.

“It is the mother of all bailouts,� said Edward Pinto, a former chief credit officer at Fannie Mae, who is now a consultant to the mortgage-finance industry.

Fannie, based in Washington, and Freddie in McLean, Virginia, own or guarantee 53 percent of the nation’s $10.7 trillion in residential mortgages, according to a June 10 Federal Reserve report. Millions of bad loans issued during the housing bubble remain on their books, and delinquencies continue to rise. How deep in the hole Fannie and Freddie go depends on unemployment, interest rates and other drivers of home prices, according to the companies and economists who study them."

more

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=an_...

[bartock]

The looter don't have to snitch to everyone, not even to the Detroit Police Force. He was hired from a private company [[ who owns the house) to one thing LOOT, PLUNDER, and DOWNSIZE the ghetto. As in keep low-income blacks from buying a decent Detroit home and re-develop the area into pre-suburbanesque community. Herman Gardens was a prime example of neighborhood blockbusting tactics. To re-build a middle income community.

So, if this is racism, why hasn't this happened in Southfield? Why are all of these people of color moving into my city of Harper Woods? What with their middle-class ways and all.

How does a bank benefit from these practices you allege? The brownfield/downsize/gentrification theory...how does the bank benefit from being behind decades of decline, looting, etc., as opposed to property values going up and property owners/borrowers doing well financially? Did the bank inject the drugs into these areas as well? To drive out a race of people? Really??

Did this happen in Atlanta, New York, Miami, or other areas of gentrification? Where else has the burn everything down, drive "those people" out theory worked? And, if the ultimate goal is to rid the area of black people, why destroy what means they would have of moving out? I mean, the theory really is akin to a Hitler-esque scheme. Is that really what you're saying?

I was near some old digs this weekend and took Wyoming from McNichols north to 8 Mile. That stretch, to me, is indicative of the SOCIOECONOMIC [[NOT RACIAL) problems in the city. A few places to eat, a grocer, couple salons and too many liquor stores, but far and away the most striking thing is probably 15 "churches" in that stretch. Mumford, gone. Couple miles from Mackenzie [[South of the area I was driving, but probably looking like Mumford), which is also gone. There was a charter school. Most everything else, neglect. Like someone else said, at least cut the lawn. I don't go to those churches, but the difference I've seen between the sermons I see on television and the ones I hear weekly at my church is that so much of what I see on television talks about putting faith in God and, despite all of the bad around you, good things will happen. Not much in the way of self-accountability. The pastors are doing fine, though.

[JBMcB]

People who entered into mortgages knowing that it was an economic stretch felt that there was no risk. If they couldn't make their mortgage payments, they could just sell the house and walk away with a profit.

You can't con an honest man.

We bought our house in 2003. 30 year fixed mortgage at 4.8%. Many of my coworkers where aghast. "4.8?!? I got my 5-year variable for 3.5! You got raped!"

4.8 is *insanely* good for a 30 year. At 3.5 the rate has nowhere to go but up.

The problem was that people were seeing houses as investments, not places to live. It wasn't just the banks and agents doing it, the buyers were doing it to themselves, as well.

Thanks to some games we played with a home loan folding money back into the initial down-payment that we've already paid off, our monthly mortgage payment is so low that one of us could work at McDonald's and make the mortgage and tax payments.

I don't hold a lot of sympathy for people who took out incredibly stupid mortgages that, with a book from a library and five minutes of calculations, they could have figured out they would have never been able to afford.

[Danny]

So, if this is racism, why hasn't this happened in Southfield? Why are all of these people of color moving into my city of Harper Woods? What with their middle-class ways and all.

[/quote]How does a bank benefit from these practices you allege? The brownfield/downsize/gentrification theory...how does the bank benefit from being behind decades of decline, looting, etc., as opposed to property values going up and property owners/borrowers doing well financially? Did the bank inject the drugs into these areas as well? To drive out a race of people? Really??

Did this happen in Atlanta, New York, Miami, or other areas of gentrification? Where else has the burn everything down, drive "those people" out theory worked? And, if the ultimate goal is to rid the area of black people, why destroy what means they would have of moving out? I mean, the theory really is akin to a Hitler-esque scheme. Is that really what you're saying?

I was near some old digs this weekend and took Wyoming from McNichols north to 8 Mile. That stretch, to me, is indicative of the SOCIOECONOMIC [[NOT RACIAL) problems in the city. A few places to eat, a grocer, couple salons and too many liquor stores, but far and away the most striking thing is probably 15 "churches" in that stretch. Mumford, gone. Couple miles from Mackenzie [[South of the area I was driving, but probably looking like Mumford), which is also gone. There was a charter school. Most everything else, neglect. Like someone else said, at least cut the lawn. I don't go to those churches, but the difference I've seen between the sermons I see on television and the ones I hear weekly at my church is that so much of what I see on television talks about putting faith in God and, despite all of the bad around you, good things will happen. Not much in the way of self-accountability. The pastors are doing fine, though.[/quote]

[Russix]

Look the banks have every right to foreclose on a home and kick the owner into the street. But ultimately it's the banks who have suffered the greatest loss from this practice as the value of vacant homes quickly sinks to zero once it's unoccupied. If I was president of a bank that had alot of homeowners defaulting on their loans, I would have tried everything possible to renegotiate the payments to something they could afford. It’s better to take a marginal loss instead of taking a total loss once the house is vacant and sequentially destroyed.

[Danny]

So, if this is racism, why hasn't this happened in Southfield? Why are all of these people of color moving into my city of Harper Woods? What with their middle-class ways and all.

If you think that scrupolous real estate schemes involves with people is racism than indeed, YES. This is what the bankers and mortages companies see in their point of view. However they would tell it to their customers about it. This is a 'Don't ask don't tell and Put up or shut up' matter. Blacks have been moving to Harper Woods neighborhood area for the past 20 years. This is due to better homes, good school district and hanging out with white folks. White folks in Harper Woods see this as a invasion just like in Detroit neighborhoods in the 1950s to the present and they would move out one by one, year by year. Older White families will move out of they felt uncomfortable when a black family moves right next door to them.

"How does a bank benefit from these practices you allege? The brownfield/downsize/gentrification theory...how does the bank benefit from being behind decades of decline, looting, etc., as opposed to property values going up and property owners/borrowers doing well financially? Did the bank inject the drugs into these areas as well? To drive out a race of people? Really??"

The bank will benefit by paying the City of Detroit money when 'they' get ready to sell the land within the looted home or the Mayor Bing's land downsizing plan and get more city money. Then the banks and mortages and real estate developers will benefit more profits by buying brownfields and greyfields from City of Detroit and gentrify into a pre-suburbanesque sub-divisions meant for the middle class. In the meantime the banks and mortage companies will benefit their profitability by continuing to invest in the well keep up Detroit neighborhoods that have full lines of mostly brick homes filled with hard working middle class. They are the landlords in that area. we so-called homeowners must pay the RENT as well as paying the state, federal, and local taxes.

"Did this happen in Atlanta, New York, Miami, or other areas of gentrification? Where else has the burn everything down, drive "those people" out theory worked? And, if the ultimate goal is to rid the area of black people, why destroy what means they would have of moving out? I mean, the theory really is akin to a Hitler-esque scheme. Is that really what you're saying?"

Yes, these practices happen in some U.S. city, township, village and suburb. Minorities want better housing so those banks and mortage companies said, 'Give it try while to we build new better luxury homes further out in the open countries for whites. The 'burn everyting down, drive "those people" out theory' mentality has worked in every American cities for the past 75 years. In that area Whites don't want to live close Blacks, Whites don't want to live close to Hispanics and Mexicans, Whites don't want to live close to Native Americans, Whites don't want to live close to Asians, Now whites don't to live close to Arab Americans. Same goes with any other race in America. That ultimate goal to slum clear the poor black ghettos in every other American city has worked in the past and its working right now. Harlem, N.Y.C. is quickly being gentrified into to ethically diverse community, Washington D.C. saw the Black flight to the Maryland Suburbs accelerated in the 20 year alarming rate to real estate deals. In St. Louis, Missouri. few black ghettos have been slum cleared by banks and mortage companies. More whites are making a quick comeback to St. Louis, Missouri due to new regional growth. Regional growth is happen fast in Oakland, CA. as banks and mortage companies seized forclosed properties in once black almost slummy communities. This plan seems Hitler-esque but without the 'final solution'.

"I was near some old digs this weekend and took Wyoming from McNichols north to 8 Mile. That stretch, to me, is indicative of the SOCIOECONOMIC [[NOT RACIAL) problems in the city. A few places to eat, a grocer, couple salons and too many liquor stores, but far and away the most striking thing is probably 15 "churches" in that stretch. Mumford, gone. Couple miles from Mackenzie [[South of the area I was driving, but probably looking like Mumford), which is also gone. There was a charter school. Most everything else, neglect. Like someone else said, at least cut the lawn. I don't go to those churches, but the difference I've seen between the sermons I see on television and the ones I hear weekly at my church is that so much of what I see on television talks about putting faith in God and, despite all of the bad around you, good things will happen. Not much in the way of self-accountability. The pastors are doing fine, though.

"First it's real estate practices then it was racial alright before the socialeconomic stability sets in. In Detroit's Northwest Side. Most neighborhoods become full blown black right after the organized Jewish Communities quickly moved to Oakland County cities like Oak Park, Southfield, Lathrup Village, Farmington Hills West Bloomfield, Bloomfield TWP and Commence TWP. First the middle income blacks came, the low-income blacks. They mingled until it becomes a toxic mix of broken homes and kept up homes. When the banks and mortage companies sought this problem. Rather than exploit the property of well kept mostly brick homes. They fix them up, but the rest considered to be mostly wood frame homes will be exploited and turn into instant brownfields until city downsizing plan is complete. This will keep blacks from re-buying the vacant and abandon properties and fixing them up.

As for the churches being set up in each and every last Detroit black ghettoes. Yes they are doing fine it the time. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ needs to be heard outside the tabernacle. Most Detroit ghettohoods are filled with lost souls the need converting into the Christian faith right away. That way their broken homes will be fixed and they would be able to stop those banks, mortage companies and city from slum clear them out of their homes.


WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

Because fixing Detroit takes action NOT TALK!

In Memoriam: Neda Agha Soltan

[Danny]

Look the banks have every right to foreclose on a home and kick the owner into the street. But ultimately it's the banks who have suffered the greatest loss from this practice as the value of vacant homes quickly sinks to zero once it's unoccupied. If I was president of a bank that had alot of homeowners defaulting on their loans, I would have tried everything possible to renegotiate the payments to something they could afford. It’s better to take a marginal loss instead of taking a total loss once the house is vacant and sequentially destroyed.

That's right. It is the law of economical free enterprise will called CAPITALISM. Now take a look of what our banks are doing to your child.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgdTymCZowU