Dave Brown, one of this city’s best-known home builders, had kept his head above water through the housing downturn, not missing a single interest payment on his loans.
So he was confounded a few months back when one of his banks, spooked by the decline in his company’s revenue, suddenly demanded millions of dollars in additional collateral to continue carrying loans on his projects.
He was unable to come up with the money, and in October, JPMorgan Chase foreclosed on five of his developments. Shortly thereafter, Brown Family Communities, 33 years in the business, decided to shut its doors.
“They treated me like a deadbeat who missed his car payment,” said an embittered Mr. Brown, 76. “They wanted their money now.”
After riding high on one of the greatest housing booms in American history, the nation’s home builders today face a devastating reversal of fortune.
Strictly speaking, maybe Brown had it coming; however, I thought the purpose of the October bailout of the financial institutions was to loosen credit and prevent things like this from happening?!
I agree Richard. Congress needs to be asking some tough questions about how the bailout funds have been used.
Perhaps the bankers are digging their own graves. But we’ll see how their deep pockets influence any potential oversight. Congress may not be ready to swat the hand that’s been paying to get them elected.
I am having a hard time seeing how Mr. Brown had it coming. Banks are scum. I accept that they are a necessary evil. But they are evil. My personal opinion tends to rank bankers somewhere below ambulance chasing lawyers.
So what are we taxpayers getting for our $700 billion and counting we gave to the banks? This? It’s rich to see them with palms out stretched begging for alms, then show no mercy even to those of their clients who pay on time.
I believe there are some highly pertinent lessons in Scripture on exactly this phenomenon…
yet we have bankers among us in our churches, often in fact they have positions of leadership in the church (as do the ambulance chasing lawyers).
Any way we can blame this on Bush?
[i]Banks are scum. I accept that they are a necessary evil. But they are evil.[/i]
Now surely you can draw the obvious conclusion: a government-sponsored national bank gives us an unholy alliance of the people with money and the people with nuclear weapons. In short, a plutocracy rather than a constitutional republic.