Cue the violins. I lost my house. Nobody's bailing me out. (Kos Diary)

[kpete]

I lost my house. Nobody's bailing me out.
by kfowler57
Wed Sep 17, 2008 at 12:15:20 PM PDT

....................

Finally got a decent job about seven years ago. Bought a little bungalow. Car died. Bought a used compact (with a loan). Old house needed work, lots of work. Used my credit cards. Then my job was sent to India. Couldn't get another making even close what I earned before. Tried to sell the house with no luck. I now owed more on it than it was worth. Couldn't even get a short sale. I had to beg the mortgage company let me do a "friendly foreclosure". They agreed since it was already on the market and (now)in good condition (They sent somebody to check it out with a fine-tooth comb). I signed it back over to them and moved out. Whatever they lost on the final sale, they would write off, and the IRS would add it to my income and tax me on it.

..................

It still didn't sell for months. I'd drive buy hoping to see a new family there. I think they finally auctioned it off a month or so ago. I have no idea how much I'll get hit for next tax season. I'd originally hoped no more than 30K, but now I'm afraid it may 60K or more.

Looking back, it could be argued I made some bad decisions. I shouldn't have assumed my job would last forever. I should have had the house checked out better before buying it. Whatever it was I did wrong, I'll have to pay for it. I'll be sending those payments directly to Uncle Sam, in installments, for years to come.

And finally I come to the point. About these big companies my tax dollars are bailing out now, how much are these failed CEOs going to pay, the ones who made much worse decisions than I'll ever make, the ones who received golden parachutes and will retire in obscenely wealthy obscurity while my 401K fades away, how much money will they have to pay the government for bailing their sorry asses out?

more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/143824/248/285/601797

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. More stories like this...

And then the shitstorm starts for real. The geniuses in Washingtom better get clued in, fast. They are traveling what is a historically dangerous road.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Class warfare.

Simple enough.

[dana_b]

3. the violins are appropriate. This is heartbreaking.

more and more of us will be hearing those violins soon and we need to listen to these folks. Thanks for posting the story.

[Greyhound]

4. Been there too, I'm sorry for you.

They ended up losing about $200,000 on mine, which of course we will pay for, never them.

One thing I am thankful for (sort of) is that my bankruptcy, under the old law, protects me from the loss. Now, thanks to Biden & Co., no such protection exists for citizens, Amerika has become the new company store and we will work for them the rest of our lives to pay their debts.

Get mad:grr:, get even:evilgrin:.
:kick: & R

[pacalo]

8. This is so disturbing on so many levels.

The new bankruptcy laws that put the back-breaking burden on those who are already on their last leg are downright sadistic when compared to the corporate bailouts.

I saw a video yesterday of a recent speech by Joe Biden, in which he mentioned how they will amend the bankruptcy laws that are hurting the middle class. Why did he approve the current one, I'm wondering.

[Greyhound]

10. We're not supposed to remember that part.

The Greyhound pack is just getting the hell out of this mess.

The asylum is run by the psychopaths and the majority of inmates are simply too mentally challenged to do anything but sit and drool.

[stopbush]

5. Whatever they lost on the final sale...the IRS would add it to my income and tax me on it.

Not necessarily true.


Mortgage Foregiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007: Short Sale Tax Relief

President Bush signed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act into law on December 20, 2007. Here's a summary of the bill's main provisions.

Income from Discharge of Indebtedness on Principal Residence

Effective January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2009. Under this provision the discharge of qualified principal residence indebtedness is excluded from gross income. For purposes of the exclusion, qualified principal residence indebtedness is acquisition indebtedness (to buy, build or improve the residence) up to $2 million ($1 million for Married Filing Separately). The home must be owned and used as a principal residence. The basis of the home must be reduced (but not below zero) by any debt forgiveness excluded under this provision.

If only a portion of the loan discharged is qualified indebtedness, the exclusion applies only to the amount of debt discharged that exceeds the amount of the loan that exceeds the nonqualified indebtedness.

This provision does not apply to discharge of indebtedness on account of services performed for the lender. Also, an insolvent taxpayer must use the principal residence exclusion instead of the insolvency exception, unless the taxpayer makes an election to apply the insolvency exception instead of the exclusion provision.

here: http://activerain.com/blogsview/348614/Mortgage-Foregiveness-Debt-Relief

[barbtries]

6. didn't i read over 40 million

for the AIG CEO after 3 years of apparent mismanagement?

i've got nothing to lose, just living paycheck to paycheck, and i still feel the same frustration. i can NOT afford this shit, why am i being forced into paying for it? it's wrong.

[sandnsea]

7. This is what really happened

People just humming along trying to do the right thing, what they're taught all their lives to do, getting into shitty loans that they never knew were shitty to begin with. Many people with perfectly fine credit were either never offered the better loan, or told they were idiots to take the better loan. I personally know several people who this happened to. I hate the assholes who blame them.

[readmoreoften]

9. I can't imagine guillotines are that difficult or expensive to build.

That's my economic stimulus plan. Guillotine the CEOs, put the cash in a jobs creation fund to rebuild our bridges, levies, and seawalls.

[samuraiguppy]

11. if someone can declare they are insolvent

(debts more than assets) they don't have to pay this kind of tax bill. I was forgiven over 30K this way a couple of years ago