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My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

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Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#31

During this same time period I had a project at a part-time gig which involved updating document templates and adding a few fields here and there for a legal application. The application was used by a law firm which specialized in mortgages. So I saw the details of various documents one is served in these situations: notice of default, acceleration notices, notice to vacate, and ultimately evictions and foreclosure a…

> you probably would have had to completely ignore probably a dozen of these documents for at least 6 months, not paying your mortgage all along. Fun-fact: thems the benefits of being a mortgage holder. If you're a tenant that's renting, you get no such legal protections - let alone discretion from whichever faceless entity actually owns the property: where I am in King County WA, I think, at most you can get 30 days…

TLDR: You pay for the benefits of being a mortgage holder, when you make the down payment.

Think of it from the bank's point of view. A bank can afford to be patient with mortgage holders because there's an underlying asset. There's a $300,000 house and the owner still owes you $150,000. If you repossess right now as opposed to a few months from now, either way you're getting repaid from the value of the asset, minus the cost of dealing with everything.

Whereas when renting, if someone misses rent one month, if you evict them immediately you're out a month's rent. If you wait two more months before evicting, now you're out three months' rent. The longer you delay, the more it costs you.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#32
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're a tenant that's renting, you get no such legal protections In the USA. Many countries in Europe have renters protection similar to that of mortgage holders.

How long can renters go without paying their rent in those countries?

In Germany, the process to evict may start after three months of unpaid rent.

The eviction process itself takes about two years.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#33
I've had a handful of lemons thrown at me during my life. One of the most impactful ones as far as I can tell is that through a weird chain of coincidences I ended up first in line to purchase a foreclosed home. From what I understood, the couple was going through a nasty divorce and couldn't agree on who would get the house and ultimately didn't pay anything for a while, so I picked it up for 80k, which back then was probably 50% of what the market value was. This was hige for kme because as a kid my family was actually evicted from the house we were renting (not for financial-related reasons) but it was sudden so home security has always been important to me.

Having been able to pay off my house has had the most tremendous postive impact on my mental health I think. Sure, it's a small house, and it's old, and the kitchen is small, and so on... but man, I'm so glad I never have to worry about making a house payment.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#34
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you probably would have had to completely ignore probably a dozen of these documents for at least 6 months, not paying your mortgage all along. Fun-fact: thems the benefits of being a mortgage holder. If you're a tenant that's renting, you get no such legal protections - let alone discretion from whichever faceless entity actually owns the property: where I am in King County WA, I think, at most you can get 30 days…

That sounds indeed not right. Here in the Netherlands the renters have the right, but mortgage holders do not. I was renting a place the owner had mortgage. For some reason the bank wanted to sale the place but couldn't evict me. Since this was the owners fault the bank's lawyers helped me to get like 6 months of rent back to agree to leave. The bank even offered me to buy the place, which in the hindsight, I should…

It's very local location dependent. You can find lots of horror stories from both the renter and the landlord side. And, in a lot of cases, renters can probably get off with a lot unless the landlord is willing to take extreme illegal measures (which they may).

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you probably would have had to completely ignore probably a dozen of these documents for at least 6 months, not paying your mortgage all along. Fun-fact: thems the benefits of being a mortgage holder. If you're a tenant that's renting, you get no such legal protections - let alone discretion from whichever faceless entity actually owns the property: where I am in King County WA, I think, at most you can get 30 days…

Indeed. When I lived in an apparent, got a very angry knock at the door. Before I even got up, manager already was unlocking the door without asking, with a formal eviction notice in hand. Every month I faithfully put my rent check in an envelope, deposited the slot at the office. That month they accidentally threw away the check after opening the envelope. They really didn’t believe I had paid, despite being a good…

No amount of laws can protect renters from a stupid landlord :)

I could certainly see places where using a master key without authorization is a stupid move.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#36

During this same time period I had a project at a part-time gig which involved updating document templates and adding a few fields here and there for a legal application. The application was used by a law firm which specialized in mortgages. So I saw the details of various documents one is served in these situations: notice of default, acceleration notices, notice to vacate, and ultimately evictions and foreclosure a…

> For a guy like the one in the post to show up, you probably would have had to completely ignore probably a dozen of these documents for at least 6 months, not paying your mortgage all along. I find it interesting that in all of these discussions it's treated as known that the person at hand is ignoring the notices and just pretending they aren't in danger of losing their home, just like in issues of evictions for r…

the reddit post doesn't assume that.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#37

There needs to be some standard addendum attached to homes as an option that anyone selling a home can attach to the sale. Something like: This house cannot be used as an investment vehicle. It cannot be sold by a real-estate agent with a contract of more than 1%. It cannot be used as a rental. It cannot be sold for more than inflation would allow. Anyone found violating this addendum may be sued. All proceeds from t…

Homelessness is mostly caused by drugs and/or psychiatric illness.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#38

I've seen a few sides of money. Raised upper class, lost it all and became underclass, then made it back. I'm always amazed at how limited rich people's worldview is. The average software developer, coastal liberal etc. They've never felt terror, the visceral feeling of being terrified. They've never been predated upon. They've never been used and discarded. The underclass lives with this stuff every day, 24/7, and r…

I was just discussing this with a friend last week. In my case at least, it was too easy to forget. I grew up low end of middle class at best, and after high school was dirt poor.

Getting overdrafts weekly, in that era where they reorder transactions to really turn the screws. Sleeping early because it's cheaper than eating. Working two jobs and still not getting ahead. The shame of having to ask to borrow a few bucks, but trying to hide it so you didn't seem ingenuous. Having better off people talk to you like a child, giving you unsolicited one liner advice that they probably read on a motivational poster at work that morning, like they're doing me a life favor.

The thing is, I got a lucky break in my mid 20s and haven't struggled a day since. Now it's been almost 20 years, and I find myself acting like the rich person you describe. I guess like all things, appreciation wears off with age and becomes the new normal.

I don't ever want to struggle like that again, but I'd love to experience the feeling and appreciation I had for the first couple years after climbing out of it. It's easy to forget.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#40
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're a tenant that's renting, you get no such legal protections In the USA. Many countries in Europe have renters protection similar to that of mortgage holders.

Depends on where you are in the U.S. Some places have extreme renter protections. Tenants can refuse to pay rent for months before you can even start an eviction proceeding. Then it takes months more. E.g. New York. https://www.reddit.com/r/Landlord/comments/15nn6o0/landlordu... . Landlords may forgo six months of back rent just to get the tenant out of the unit.

There's a renter here in Seattle that's not paid rent in two years and hasn't been evicted yet. It's not an uncommon issue.

https://www.newsweek.com/squatter-forces-landlord-out-home-w...

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