From a August 12, 2007 Orange Country Register article, "Street of Broken Dreams," by John Gittelsohn and Ronald Campbell about one block of 48 homes in all-Latino Santa Ana, CA:
An Orange County Register investigation found that lenders targeting Hispanic buyers wrote $19 million in loans on this modest Santa Ana block of 1920s bungalows, where roses and jasmine bloom behind white picket fences. Those loans helped nearly triple sales prices from $182,000 to $600,000 over five years. Some owners got cash out. Others sold for big profits.
Then the credit stopped. And home values crashed. ...
A year ago, Angelita Medina Albarran, 47, a garment worker at St. John Knits, took out two loans from Fremont Investment & Loan to cover the entire $600,000 purchase price for 919 W. Camile St., a 1,450-square-foot bungalow. Her five grown children help pay the mortgage – $4,000 a month and scheduled to rise in May. ...
A Register analysis of federal housing data pinpointed West Camile Street as a center of the subprime borrowing binge. In 2005, 75 percent of the home loans in the surrounding census tract were subprime.
That's the highest concentration of subprime loans in Orange County and one of the densest in California. More than 200 neighborhoods in California, particularly in south Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, were similarly dependent on subprime lending. ...
The Register found that the brokers and lenders gave little consideration to the long-term performance of a loan or to borrowers' future. Subprime loans became the dominant source of funding for black and Hispanic buyers. Now the hidden costs of these loans are coming due, blighting neighborhoods as surely as any drug plague. ...
Another bank repo is the 1922 Craftsman-style bungalow advertised as a two-bedroom, one-bath at 946 W. Camile St. It still has the original hardwood floors, built-in cabinets and a faux fireplace surrounded by green tiles. But the last owner added four bedrooms and two toilets without permits in an effort to pack in more tenants to help pay the mortgage.
This kind of thing was a big part of the story.
Eight mortgages on the block were sold by Ameriquest Mortgage Co. ...
Owned by the U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands and co-founder of the Museum of Tolerance, Roland Arnall ...
and other subsidiaries of Orange-based ACC Capital Holdings. That company paid $325 million in 2006 to settle predatory-lending investigations in 49 states.
Other subprime lenders on the block included now bankrupt New Century Financial and People's Choice Home Loan, both of Irvine. ConquistAmerica of Santa Ana, Option One of Irvine and Quick Loan Funding of Costa Mesa are other troubled Orange County subprime lenders that issued mortgages on Camile.
A subprime firm targeting Hispanics entitled "ConquistAmerica!" It has (or had) a shiny ten story office building in Santa Ana. It describes itself in the English-translation of its website as:
We believe ConquistAmerica to be the premier lender to the Spanish speaking community today.
I wonder if their refinancing division is known as "ReConquistAmerica"?
Interestingly, the CEO of ConquistaAmerica is named Bill Cook.
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
Posts
12 comments:
Owned by the U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands and co-founder of the Museum of Tolerance, Roland Arnall ...Ha, ha! You can't imagine just how _tolerant_ this makes me feel. I'm feeling more and more _tolerant_ each and every day...
If you ever want to see KFI (LA) morning host Bill Handel take off the clown mask
and really get angry ask him about his experience with the LA Museum of Tolerance. He's Jewish, BTW.
"Mestizoquest Mortgage"
There, that's more like it.
It's a great country where a garment worker can own a $600,000 home, ain't it?
Meanwhile, has anyone noticed the new kerfuffle over toxic Chinese drywall used in building at least 100,000 homes over the last decade?
The homebuilding mess just keeps getting better. Those toxic assets might actually be toxic assets.
Capitalism! Free trade! Open borders!
Santa Ana isn't that bad a place to live. My sister and her husband got a starter home in the late l970's there for about $65,000. They didn't mind living in a Mexican neighborhood until their daughter entered kindergarten and was the only English speaker.
Well, the pattern of toxic and poisonous products coming out of China continues. This time it is furniture…
http://barossa.yourguide.com.au/news/national/national/general/new-sofas-to-blame-for-rash-of-allergies/1484314.aspx
New sofas to blame for rash of allergies
An unexplained rash could be a sign that your couch is making you sick.
A toxic fungicide in imported furniture is behind an outbreak of chronic dermatitis, skin burns, eye irritation and breathing difficulties across the world.
Medical experts here are warning consumers to watch for symptoms.
The international journal Allergy has confirmed what thousands of British and mainland European citizens have known for more than a year: new leather sofas imported from China are a hotbed of allergens.
Dimethyl fumarate, in the form of a fine, white crystalline powder, was found in sachets embedded in the furniture sourced to China.
It is believed the body heat generated from sitting on a contaminated couch causes a toxic vapour to seep out.
Chemical filled couches, toxins in the drywall...That's the great thing about Chinese products these days. You get more than you paid for! Yay!
But seriously, Chinese drywall?! Did the US run through all the gypsum deposits?
And finally, Bad Metaphor Time:
These new McMansions that are now worth pennies on the $ are just like the US. Pretty on the oustide but crumbling, badly constructed, full of bad stuff/not so great people, etc.... And we can't afford it.
Like I said, not such a great job, hoepfully you get the idea.
"Bill Cook" looks like he's actually about 3/4 mestizo, kind of like "Bill Richardson."
Also interesting that his bio doesn't mention his wife or daughters by name, and his interests are unusually generic, i.e. "youth soccer" and "travel." Guys that run these sort of companies usually have big egos and like to advertise themselves and their philanthropic achievements. Something doesn't seem right here.
If the business of America is business, you gotta admit that subprime mortgage brokering/origination was a helluva money-maker. And at the same time you were contributing to the greater good by helping America reach its goal of diversifying home ownership. What was not to like about that arrangement? However in the 'What were they thinking department?', apparently some of these rackets, err businesses/community betterment endeavors did not sell the loans off fast enough. Just think of that as one possibility for improving the business model.
But seriously, Chinese drywall?! Did the US run through all the gypsum deposits?No, our own suppliers were tapped out because of the homebuilding boom. The irony of it.
Anonymous said...
"Well, the pattern of toxic and poisonous products coming out of China continues."
RACIST!
[There, bet that'll shut 'em up.]
Nice read!
Post a Comment