..........and Another One Bites the Dust "Real Estate Transactions Today"

.........and Another One Bites the Dust "Real Estate Transactions Today" with your Host, Realtor ® Mari Montgomery

Today's Topic:

"Delusional Quotes by Powerful People"

TODAY'S QUOTE:

"'Requiring a 640 credit score excludes about 15 percent of FHA borrowers,' FHA commissioner David Stevens said." --Source Bloomberg, Jody Shenn and John Gittelsohn (11/17/2010)

I am very curious by what method FHA Commissioner, Mr. David Stevens came to the percentage figure in this statement: "Requiring a 640 credit score excludes about 15 percent of FHA borrowers, FHA commissioner David Stevens said." --Source Bloomberg, Jody Shenn and John Gittelsohn (11/17/2010)

So it's Fifteen Per Cent. FIFTEEN per cent, 15 PER CENT, FIFTEEN PER CENT ?!

Someone, please help me to understand the source of information for that statistic.

Was it a...........

1. study?
2. Report?
3. UFO?

If there were real statistics involved, what was the time line from which that data was gathered? ..... 2005,

Or....

1. maybe it was gathered BEFORE the dissolution of the gold standard (circa 1933 to 1971)
2. maybe the natural choice---the time of the introduction of credit cards circa 1958, accelerating into full swing after the final "pulling of the plug" of the gold standard in 1971 !

Or.....................was this 15% figure...

• A Guess?
• A Dream?
• A premonition?
• Intuition?
• A Hunch?
• An Omen?
• A Guesstimate?
• Conjecture?
• Supposition?
• Presumption?
• An Estimate?
• Deduction based on Astronomy, Anthropology, Migration patterns of whales off the coast of California?
• An Interpretation only comprehended in "IG--pay ATIN--Lay?"

Or.....

• a Top 5% wage earner "educated" guess?
• Speculation?
• a Ballpark Figure? or maybe the minimum angle at which the trajectory of a home run ball....
• 15% as in the DaVinci Code?
• A New study by Robin Leach ("Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous?")

or...

MAYBE the quote was from Commissioner David "Stern" of the NBA, not FHA, explaining the efficacy quotient of Tracy McGrady's body of work.

Okay, HERE IS THE QUESTION:

I would sincerely like to know the basis, the source, the information portal from which the 15% figure was derived.

Wait a minute.....................

• Is this a rant?
• Am I furious?
• Is this statement "Requiring a 640 credit score excludes about 15 percent of FHA borrowers" the biggest load of excrement you have ever heard?

Does the Pope run in the woods?...........Is a Bear Catholic?....(or something like that)

You "BETCHA!"

And..

How about the constantly changing definition of "good" credit. This is information that has been reported over the years to attempt to assist the consumer sort out the confusing world of "credit scores" and what they mean.

• We interrupt this report for this "breaking news" "CREDIT SCORE "FUN" HOUSE Findings:"

Is that CRAZY, or what. Almost every source has a different interpretation and it ALSO changes by year.

No wonder no one has a clue. It is time. It IS time for SANITY !! Because it is INSANE to suppose that the Real Estate Industry will fully recover when such a LARGE percentage (NOT so much 15%--by the way)

CANNOT buy a home with the minimum REQUIREMENT AT a MID SCORE of 640 !!!!!!!

Yes, SOMETHING needs to be done to STOP punishing the working (if they still have a job) middle class.

Yes, I understand that rising credit score requirements in lending are a reaction to the bottom dropping out of the industry. But WHY did the proverbial bottom drop out of the industry?

The same "excluded 15%--or in real world talk 95% or EVERYONE except for the top 5% wage earners, (or the "tippy-TOP 1%--the just plain rich folk") were "played."

• Easy credit,
• Rising credit lines last week the credit limit was $5000, $10,000, $18,000 all in a period of 5 months. New job? No. Anything changed, No. Just Higher Credit Limit.
• NO interest for 6 months....12 months....24 Months---
• BUY NOW, Buy Often, the money is FREE!!!
• 8% interest, 9% interest, 3% interest, 0% interest----puffery-----
• Then.............................................................................. BAM !

Holy Trickery, Batman!

Credit lines were lowered ---overnight, so the majority of credit card holders' balances became a "risk." Credit Card holders were all of the sudden, Too CLOSE to the limit. As a result, Percentage rates rose.

What a game! What a scam! And this is just ONE of the scams. All of the sudden, as if overnight---BECAUSE IT WAS OVERNIGHT (it was OVERNIGHT so that the Credit Card Companies could avoid the passage of the impending legislation to prohibit such activity)

Result: Credit Card Holders could not---CANNOT get ahead on their principal balance, they fall behind-interest has gone from 6% -9% to 26%-27% and more---OVERNIGHT!

The Middle Class tried to keep up, they got second, third jobs............then.... they default on one account , two accounts..... on something. CRASH---one of the spinning plates smashes into a million pieces on the floor (you know the same floor of new travertine tile----it's on the Visa card). BUT---they held on long enough to fill creditors coffers and botch their credit scores.

WHY? Because in this game, the "house" ALWAYS wins. Its Vegas, baby, and the poor saps (now "poor" Figuratively AND Literally) can't win this bet. The cards are stacked. The HOUSE WILL win.

All of this activity is concurrent with our rapidly declining education system. Is it:

• indifference
• an accident
• a coincidence..... "ALL of the above" or........hmmmmmmm.

Please tell me, How have we gotten to this point------ The point at which the decision makers / policy makers are SOooo out of touch with the majority of Americans?

So, Commissioner Stevens, 15%, huh? I beg (which, as a REALTOR® is what I may be doing full time soon) to differ.