Holiday Songs for a Foreclosure Crisis: ‘The 12 Months of Default’ and ‘Oh, CRE’
Just in time for your holiday listening pleasure, here are two songs making their way around the blogosphere to celebrate the season and mark another year of
Jul 31, 2020586K Shares8.1M Views
Just in time for your holiday listening pleasure, here are two songs making their way around the blogosphere to celebrate the season and mark another year of falling home prices and an expanding commercial real estate bust.
First, viaMortgage Insider, here’s“The Twelve Months of Default,” which starts with bill collectors and ends with a homeowner finding great rentals and happily walking away from a mortgage. It’s amusing enough as a song, but as the New Year begins, it’s not at all a given that walking away would be the smarteststrategy for a homeowner, or that it would come with few repercussions. In fact, I’d expect the ethics and personal responsibility controversies over walking away only to increase in 2010, as more homeowners find themselves underwateron their mortgages and strategic default becomes a more accepted strategy. As one former homeowner toldthe Wall Street Journal recently, he felt fine sleeping at night, despite walking away from his loan, because he believed lenders manipulated the housing market during the boom by accepting dubious appraisals. Strategic default is a debate that’s now in the open, rather than a slightly shameful alternative rarely discussed in the mainstream.
Next up, courtesy of Mish, is “Oh, CRE,”an ode to the growing volume of rapidly souringcommercial real estate loans. It also questions, to the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree,” whether the FDIC really should be encouragingbanks to modify troubled CRE loans.
So mix up some hot chocolate, add the marshmallows, sit by the fire and listen in. With high unemployment levels causing even prime borrowers to fall behind on their mortgages, and foreclosures showing no signs of slowing down, it’s the best way to celebrate the season these days.
Paolo Reyna
Reviewer
Paolo Reyna is a writer and storyteller with a wide range of interests. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies.
Paolo enjoys writing about celebrity culture, gaming, visual arts, and events. He has a keen eye for trends in popular culture and an enthusiasm for exploring new ideas. Paolo's writing aims to inform and entertain while providing fresh perspectives on the topics that interest him most.
In his free time, he loves to travel, watch films, read books, and socialize with friends.
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