Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Beazer, schmeezer, no breaks!


Giving businesses a free ride on income taxes they'd owe on canceled debt is a good point to debate as Washington mulls how to get the biggest bang for the buck jumpstarting a moribund economy.

But stop right there. Beazer Homes USA, which is being investigated by the FBI, the IRS, HUD and the N.C. Real Estate Commission for its shady lending practices, would be eligible?
No! No! A thousand times no!

This policy may be sound. But not if it puts money in the hands of irresponsible companies who caused so much of the current pain.

The company has admitted its employees violated federal lending rules, including funny business with down payments. Its tactics left 10 neighborhoods in Mecklenburg County with foreclosure rates of 20 percent or higher. Know what that means? Unstable neighborhoods that drag down everyone's investments and quality of life.

Before we give breaks to scoundrels who admitted they violated fed rules we ought to put dollars in the hands of people who were their victims, and who are at risk of losing their homes.

- posted by Mary Schulken

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"their victims".... always makes me laugh. Beazer didn't put a gun to these people's heads and make them buy something they couldn't afford in the first place. It's always someone else's fault. Take responsibility for your own actions people!!!

Anonymous said...

exactly. I got locked in at a 6.5% intrest rates and NEVER had a problem making the payments on my house the entire time I lived there. Of course once it came time to sell it the price had plummeted by 40% due to these irresponsible buyers who wanted a $250,000 when all they could afford reasonably was a $140,000 home. I get so sick of hearing about these "victims" of the housing crisis. The true victims were the responsible home owners who didnt try to live beyound their means.

Anonymous said...

Beazer is partially to blame for responsible buyers getting stuck in neighborhoods riddled with foreclosures.
Of course if the blame is to be put on anyone it has to be the people overextending themselves. A close second would be the govt for allowing such lax lending standards in the first place.