Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

[c1ue]

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/job-l...ome-2011-09-30

One in three Americans would be unable to make their mortgage or rent payment beyond one month if they lost their job, according to the results of a national survey taken in mid-September.


Despite being more affluent, the poll found that even those with higher annual household incomes indicate they are not guaranteed to make their next housing payment if they lost their source of income.

Ten percent of survey respondents earning $100K or more a year say they would immediately miss a payment.

The survey was conducted on behalf of a financial consortium comprised of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Financial Planning Association, Foundation for Financial Planning, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Sixty-one percent of those surveyed said if they were handed a pink slip, they would not be able to continue to make their mortgage or rent payment longer than five months.

Job loss has become the primary driver of mortgage defaults. With the national unemployment rate holding above 9 percent for five straight months and not expected to drop by any significant measure in the foreseeable future, the state of the labor market is one of the biggest obstacles for struggling homeowners and their lenders.

A number of programs at both the national and state level have been launched to assist unemployed homeowners, but so far the expected results haven’t materialized.

HUD has told DSNews.com that it does not expect to meet the original goal set for the $1 billion Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program (EHLP) of subsidizing 30,000 unemployed homeowners’ mortgage payments.

The New York Times reports that fewer than 15,000 borrowers are likely to receive EHLP assistance and more than half of the money allotted for the program will go unspent.

An analysis of government records by USA Today shows that a separate federal program which provides money to individual states to assist homeowners who’ve lost their jobs has been slow in ramping up.

Through the Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund, 18 states were awarded a total of $7.6 billion to develop their own localized programs to counter unemployment and falling home prices in the fight against foreclosure. {vs. the literal trillions for the banksters}

USA Today says only about 1 percent of this money has actually been distributed to distressed homeowners, 16 months after the program was launched.

The news agency found that as of June 30th, 17 states had used the federal funds to help about 7,500 homeowners.

USA Today noted that several states are just now getting their individual programs off the ground and dispersing the money to qualified applicants. The states have until 2017 to use their allotted funds.

[Morelia]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

Here is the survey cited in the article:

"KRC Research conducted 1,021 telephone interviews among a representative sample of Americans 18 years of age or older. The margin of error for the entire sample is plus or minus 3.1 percent. The survey was fielded nationally September 15-20, 2011."

http://www.financialplanningdays.org...y_Findings.pdf

One wonders how many more homes would be lost in the higher income group due to AGW (higher income earners are clustered along coastal areas).

Any C1ue?

[Morelia]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

I'll also note that the title of this discussion could be misleading as the survey asked about mortgage and rent payments:

"Q2. If you lost your job, how long would you be able to continue to pay your mortgage or your rent?"

[zoog]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

Ten percent of survey respondents earning $100K or more a year say they would immediately miss a payment.

When my father was in college, one of his jobs was making home deliveries. In one of the posh neighborhoods with big houses in the city, he often observed that while the front parlor / living room was appropriately filled with nice furniture and decor, glimpses of other rooms showed they were empty. I always think of that when I read these kinds of statements. Aspirational homeowners.

[Morelia]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

When my father was in college, one of his jobs was making home deliveries. In one of the posh neighborhoods with big houses in the city, he often observed that while the front parlor / living room was appropriately filled with nice furniture and decor, glimpses of other rooms showed they were empty. I always think of that when I read these kinds of statements. Aspirational homeowners.

I see your father's supposed resentment has been "passed on".

Anecdotes like yours are meaningless.

[Morelia]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

I apologize for being blunt. Your anecdote is not meaningless. I am not the best communicator. Your anecdote reinforces my belief that resentment is unhealthy. That's what I meant to convey.

[dbarberic]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

When my father was in college, one of his jobs was making home deliveries. In one of the posh neighborhoods with big houses in the city, he often observed that while the front parlor / living room was appropriately filled with nice furniture and decor, glimpses of other rooms showed they were empty. I always think of that when I read these kinds of statements. Aspirational homeowners.

Many McMansions have empty un-used rooms or rooms filled with junk Ikea furniture because the owners have spent all thier money on the mortgage payment.

I had a co-worker who ownes a 6K sq ft beast in one of the most elite subdivisions in the area with just about every room empty except for the bed room and living room. It was crazy; the couple could not afford the furniture to fill all the rooms. God only knows what they will do when the house needs a new roof, new siding, new windows, etc.

[Morelia]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

Many McMansions have empty un-used rooms or rooms filled with junk Ikea furniture because the owners have spent all thier money on the mortgage payment.

I had a co-worker who ownes a 6K sq ft beast in one of the most elite subdivisions in the area with just about every room empty except for the bed room and living room. It was crazy; the couple could not afford the furniture to fill all the rooms. God only knows what they will do when the house needs a new roof, new siding, new windows, etc.

More anecdotes! :-)

Maybe your coworker should have filled up one bathroom with gold bullion coins and left the rest of the house empty, and the roof bad.

Maybe that would bring you happiness?

Maybe then you would be satisfied with their choices.

[Morelia]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

Some of you may still not get it. The survey asked (1,021 responders) about mortgage payments OR rental payments.

If a renter doesn't make payment, what happens?

Think this through before even thinking about making any "conclusions", please.

[Morelia]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

Hint: think about the output gap that EJ discusses, and how missed rental payments versus missed mortgage payments impacts that.

[zoog]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

I see your father's supposed resentment has been "passed on".

Anecdotes like yours are meaningless.

I apologize for being blunt. Your anecdote is not meaningless. I am not the best communicator. Your anecdote reinforces my belief that resentment is unhealthy. That's what I meant to convey.

Why the bitter ad hominem? You don't know me, and you certainly don't know my father, who has never in my experience been resentful towards anyone. He presented it to me as an amusing story about people trying to keep up appearances.

The anecdotes that dbarberic and I have presented are just that, anecdotes. The only point is that there are people living beyond their means, even at above-average income levels, which should be no surprise to anyone. Neither of us are suggesting that everyone who lives in an expensive house has blown all their money on the mortgage payment and cannot or should not afford to live there. In the survey only 10% of the $100k plus respondents indicated they would immediately miss a mortgage / rent payment. Perhaps some of them would plan to strategically default, even if they had the money to keep paying.

[flintlock]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

More anecdotes! :-)

Maybe your coworker should have filled up one bathroom with gold bullion coins and left the rest of the house empty, and the roof bad.

Maybe that would bring you happiness?

Maybe then you would be satisfied with their choices.

Why do you care what they think? Would enlightening them make you happy? The point I got from the article was that 1 in 3 Americans don't have a pot to piss in. And sure, that would be there problem not the readers except for the fact that the US taxpayer is being asked to chip in and bailout many of these people, some who are simply damn fools and some who are not. Your attempt to turn it into a discussion of ACW or anything but the obvious is bizzarre. Rationalizing it saying its about strategic default doesn't work either, as they don't seem to think strategic default is necessary until they miss the first paycheck. Quit looking for permission on a web forum to default if thats what you are getting at.

[Morelia]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

Why do you care what they think? Would enlightening them make you happy? The point I got from the article was that 1 in 3 Americans don't have a pot to piss in. And sure, that would be there [sic] problem not the readers [sic] except for the fact that the US taxpayer is being asked to chip in and bailout [sic] many of these people, some who are simply damn fools and some who are not. Your attempt to turn it into a discussion of ACW [sic] or anything but the obvious is bizzarre [sic]. Rationalizing it saying its [sic] about strategic default doesn't work either, as they don't seem to think strategic default is necessary until they miss the first paycheck. Quit looking for permission on a web forum to default if thats [sic] what you are getting at.

Flint, I was pointing out that this phenomenon applies to both home "owners" and renters (i.e., not only mortgagors, as C1ue's article's title seemed to imply). The macroeconomic implications of this phenomenon, as applied to mortgagors alone, versus mortgagors *and* renters, seemed worthy of serious discussion.

[c1ue]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

One wonders how many more homes would be lost in the higher income group due to AGW (higher income earners are clustered along coastal areas).

Any C1ue?

I have no idea what you are babbling about.

The premise of the article seems quite simple: lose a job, stop paying your mortgage.

What happens when you stop paying your mortgage? Obama comes charging in the rescue you?

Yes, of course in reality some people will get another job. But then again, there are equally risks due to health, to accident, to disaster, etc etc.

Irrelevant.

Secondly while you try to quibble, the survey doesn't speak to anything but what happens should someone lose their job if they are a homeowner.

They don't talk about renters because renters don't own anything and can immediately move. Renters don't have a 30 year monthly nut they've committed to, and renters don't go negative equity on their housing.

The full article notes that job losses have become a primary factor in foreclosures.

In the past, this may not have been true though there is not evidence provided.

All of the ad hominem stuff I ignore as it is a symptom of a small mind.

[Morelia]

Re: Survey says job loss would cause 1 in 3 to lose their homes

All of the ad hominem stuff I ignore as it is a symptom of a small mind.

The only ad hominem in this thread is yours (see quote, above).

No offense taken, though.

The study speaks for itself, I think.