Comments about ‘Utah ranks 9th in foreclosures’

Wait, I have heard Rush, Hannity and the Republicans explain that it was the Community Reinvestment Act that forced mortgage companies to give loans to unqualified applicants so they could buy homes in big cities, you know the places that need "Reinvestment" that was responsible for the mortgage crisis.

If so, how can Utah be 9th? There is very little area in Utah that needs "Reinvestment" and the same for Nevada. Both Utah and Nevada are states where it is new growth that fueled the mortgage boom.

So, are they telling me that it is not the Community REINVESTEMENT Act that was responsible?

Does this article mean that Rush is wrong?

This is due to the fact that Utahns went out and bought houses they couldn't afford. Plain and simple. Certain areas of the state are hyper-inflated, and those ridiculous mansions on the hills should never have been built. That said, weep not for the banks. they'll get their money, and they've got a huge backlog of candidates to go through. One should expect more of this for at least the next year.

In the market at 6:30 AM, it's just not the folks with big mansions who are losing their homes. It's the plain, common, ordinary people who are too. This means that modest homes have become unnafordable. This means that the Bankrupcy scholar Elizabeth Warren is right: We have a serious problem in this country when hardworking (and, in many cases, professional) people can no longer afford to buy homes. In Utah, when you factor in the high cost of health care, education (for those with colleage-age kids), giving 10% to your church, saving for retirement and rainy day funds plus exhorbitant home prices--that spells ecomomic disaster.

If you looked down the I-15 corridor in the last 5 years, you would have known that homes in St. George and Cedar City were over-inflated, and that homes are not moving there.

I have a relative who lives in Southern Utah and has been laid off. This person knows only too well how Nevada has been hit by the recession, in trying to search for work in Las Vegas.

My problem with Rush Limbaugh and his associates is that he consistently uses what he considers conservative values to make an emotional point, without learning the other sides of the story.

You would do well to listen to some other reporting in addition to Limbaugh. Try NPR, for instance. You can remain conservative and get more objective news.

the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, and other article writers who were always saying that Utah was OK when the rest of the US was seeing home prices, etc. dropping....by 10-15-20+%?

Typical "it's ok here in Happy Valley" talk. Get a real life and tell it like it is.........U cannot be protected by the mountains like so many preach.

The unfortunate problem is that many time the "glass is actually half empty" even though you wish it were half full!!!

The housing bubble was caused by two things, banks willing to lend tons of money to anyone who asked for it, and people who used that easy credit to buy homes they could not afford.

I knew that the bubble would pop eventually (I didn't realize it would be this bad) so I didn't fall for it. That means I have money saved away for a big down payment.

Now I am looking for a really nice home to buy. There are tons of them for sale with almost no buyers. I am fairly confident that I will be able to pick one up for 30 to 50 cents on the dollar.

If you bought a home for $900,000 two years ago and you need to sell it, don't expect anyone to pay you more than about $400,000 for it.

Alt-A, Prime, Subprime? They all look the same folks. The automated underwriting thru Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was and still is flawed. Stated income loans were nothing but liars loans. Its' all coming home to roost. Blame whoever you want and you will be right, because everyone is to blame: Congress, wall street, Banks, and consumers. The blood bath in Utah has only just begun.......

What happened to being honest with your fellow man? The honesty includes not buying a house you can't afford. Or, buying the big van or the 4 wheelers. I understand if people had lost their jobs, but is seems to me the majority of this mess happened from people keeping up with the Jonses. I believe if you lost a house due to the fact that you got in over your head from greed and gluttony, you shouldn't keep your temple recommend. It is not honest!!

If we could rid ourselves of the Gentiles and FLDS(non-Mormons)Utah could b number 1 in something.

Mr. Lee, please get your facts right. "An Alt-A loan, short for alternative A-paper..." This statement is not true, Alt-A means Alt-Agency, as in Freddie and Fannie insured loans. Also, Alt-A loans are not distinguished between prime and sub-prime loans because of their credit quality but in how they were originated... they are known for being low doc loans or better known as liar loans. Just thought you should know.

The problem I have with Liberals is that they honestly believe they know more than anyone on the planet. They have reached the pinnicale of knowledge and wisdom. Liberals get a clue, your leaders are lying as much to you as conservative leaders are lying to them. Try get a grasp of reality and not relying on emotion.

Hey Knowwhat: I am trying to figure out what relevance your statement has to the discussion of loans in default and Utah being #9 in the country.

What is your point?

TO GWB,

Take a look at Nevada, Utah and Arizona. You are partially right. Growth did fuel the problem along with the federal government and Fed. Reserve policies that made it too easy for people to get mortgages that they couldn't afford along with lenders who were told by the government not to even ask questions such as the income of those taking out a mortgage. The 2nd part to this however which anecdotal evidence points to is the large influx of illegal aliens into these three western states along with California. When you are a magnet for illegals and they are able to get mortgages with only an ITN# and no questions asked then you have at least a third to a half of the problem caused by out of control illegal immigration.

"the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, and other article writers who were always saying that Utah was OK when the rest of the US was seeing home prices, etc. dropping....by 10-15-20+%?"

You have to remember, that the Salt Lake Board of Realtors are essentially salesmen and women, getting paid by selling.

For them to report that the skies are falling is not to their best interest, as it creates even more fear, and less sales, therefore, less money in their pockets.

Car salesmen and women have abilities to convince the uninformed public that the 1982 Datsun is as good as a brand new 2009 Ferrari, because it's their job to make you buy, since their life is literally depended on it. When they don't succeed in convincing the public to buy, they don't get money to pay for their own food and mortgage, and they very well could be part of the very statistics by losing their own homes.

So, folks, take this report as evidence that the reports of the Salt Lake Board as full of hot air.

RealtyTrac on the other hand, have to uphold serious national reputation.

Hey JohnB who are you to say who can or cannot keep their recommends last time I checked you are not my bishop or probably anyone else's. Keep that big old ego in check will ya!

Patriot, you may be right.

Can you remind me who is in charge of Immigration Enforcement?

Is it the state, the county, the city, mortgage companies, or perhaps the Immigration and Customs Enforcement branch of the Dept. of Homeland Security, a member of the Executive Branch of the federal government?

The Community Reinvestment Act came about in the 1970's when the subprime demographic lived mostly in the inner-city. Now they're spread out into the suburbs, but yes, the CRA provided the impetus behind many of the bogus loans that are now in foreclosure, and created the moral hazard behind the speculative secondary market for those loans. We can thank Mr. Obama for being there in the 90's to fuel the CRA with his class-action lawsuits, and now he's blaming consumers and businesses for the mess--they were just participating in the market HE HELPED CREATE.

Always good to see Utah making the news for the right reasons. Keep buying houses too large for your incomes and have more children than you can support!

I don't even know the Jones family. Why are you judging me against them?

To GWB,

Yes, you are right. It was George W Bush for the last 8 years. All you so called Republicans who thought Bush could do no wrong well, GWB was no conservative and anyone who had any doubts should have realized this shortly after the 2004 election if not sooner. However, when it comes to laying blame on elected officials for the mortgage crisis you really should look at Carter, Clinton, Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, Chuck Shumer and even our own Sen. Bennett. These men are the cheif culprits for letting things get out of hand and actually encouraging the behavior that caused a lot of the problems.