AltWeeklies Wire
After the Crash, There's Little Recourse for Those Wronged by WaMunew
The problem for plaintiffs in suits against WaMu is who to go after now. Rob Williamson, an attorney who filed a class-action suit against WaMu over what he claims were hidden and excessive fees, puts it this way: "The defendant no longer exists."
Seattle Weekly |
Nina Shapiro |
12-02-2008 |
Economy
Seattle's Foreclosure Vulturesnew
A crashing housing market is just another profit opportunity for some scavengers.
Seattle Weekly |
Nina Shapiro |
11-17-2008 |
Economy
From Bank Crisis to Food Crisisnew
According to former agricultural banker Ben Gisin, whose magazine Touch the Soil is chronicling the local foods movement across the nation, the housing-cum-banking crisis foreshadows and ever deeper, looming global catastrophe: massive food shortages.
Boise Weekly |
Tim Andreae |
11-14-2008 |
Economy
The American Dream's $700 Billion Price Tagnew

The most important lesson of the country's recent financial turmoil has gone untaught: The United States might be better off financially, economically, and socially if it were more like San Francisco and were a nation of renters.
The Road Not Taken by Congress During the Economic Crisisnew
The so-called stock-injection plan would have given taxpayers ownership of preferred stock in the banks themselves. Not only would the banks have gotten an infusion of cash, but the taxpayers would've received something in exchange other than these "toxic" mortgage assets we've been hearing about.
San Diego CityBeat |
Editorial |
10-08-2008 |
Economy
Wall Street for Dummiesnew

The stock market sets the confidence level for the rest of the country. It rallies, we rally. It panics, we eat Ramen noodles. Now we discover our trusted financiers are just overly aggressive and obnoxious sales weasels.
Boston Phoenix |
Kara Baskin |
10-02-2008 |
Economy
Homeowners Are Being Unfairly Faulted for Wall Street's Greednew
Those nasty subprime borrowers, the financial class bellows, how could they have done this to us? While the catalyst for our present debacle may have been housing loans, they in no way were the cause.
East Bay Express |
Jay Youngdahl |
10-01-2008 |
Economy
Don't Let the Weasels in the Stock Market Doornew
I'm not really surprised when the managers of large corporations do something dishonest. But I'm surprised when they do dumb things against their own self-interest.
C-Ville Weekly |
Al Crabb |
10-01-2008 |
Economy
Delma Mercado Steals from the Poor to Pay Her Mortgagenew
Like so many other Americans these days, Delma Mercado let her mortgage get the best of her. Unlike most other estados-unidenses, she dreamed up a seemingly rock-solid solution to her financial woes. One problem: It involved stealing rent from the poorest tenants in Hialeah, Fla.
Miami New Times |
Tim Elfrink |
08-25-2008 |
Economy
Rampant Foreclosures Have Torn the Very Fabric of Northeast Ohionew

In this young century, we've focused our collective attention elsewhere while market forces battered the vulnerable like a hurricane. And the subprime mortgage explosion was the economic Katrina; Northeast Ohio the Gulf Coast.
Cleveland Free Times |
Dan Harkins |
07-09-2008 |
Economy
Think the Housing Crisis Was Bad? You Ain't Seen Nothing Yetnew
While many eyes are focusing on the housing meltdown and its hugely negative effect on an economy clearly moving into recession, few are paying attention to the next bubble expected to burst: credit cards.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Danny Schechter |
06-27-2008 |
Economy
What Was the Role of the Real Estate Appraiser in the Housing Bust?new
Predatory lenders get most of the blame for the housing bust, but real estate appraisers -- many pressured by lenders -- were accomplices.
Style Weekly |
Diane York |
06-11-2008 |
Economy
Proposed Foreclosure Moratorium Bill in Michigan Recalls 1930s Legislationnew
You know things are getting bad when legislators start drafting new bills modeled on laws originally enacted as a way to help people survive the Great Depression. But that's the spot we're now finding ourselves in when it comes to the issue of home foreclosures.
Metro Times |
Staff |
06-10-2008 |
Economy
On the Foreclosure Tour Bus, the Mortgage Crisis is Just Another Money Makernew
The Miami Homes Tour is a new tactic for hawking foreclosed property. Its organizers are part of a burgeoning brood of businesspeople cleaning up after Miami's burst real estate bubble.
Miami New Times |
Janine Zeitlin |
05-05-2008 |
Economy
No Sympathy for Homeowners with Exploding ARMsnew
Why should I feel sorry for someone who didn't think things through and jumped too early at the first loan they could get?
New York Press |
John DeSio |
09-13-2007 |
Economy