IPOD
RADIO
Yesterday's rant is spoilered
Grandma gave me the money I need to pay what I need to off. If you haven't figured it out by now, my grandma kicks ass. You don't fuck with my grandma, and you don't fuck with her family. Hurdle taken care of.
One of the things they asked me for when my dad gave me some money to pay some stuff off originally, was proof that he had the funds to actually give me this money. I know they are going to ask for it again with Grandma's money. Well, it turns out that I should have never given them the information from my dad, and most certainly will not get the info from grandma to give to them. Why? It violates federal banking laws. The lenders are allowed to have my financial information because I am applying to be a "customer". They can ask for a copy of the check I deposited in my account, but because my dad and grandma have nothing to do with the loan, they are not a customer and banks are barred from sharing consumer financial information with banks/lenders/companies that a customer is not affiliated with. The only way the lender can see that my grandma actually has the money to give me is by me showing that I deposited the check and it cleared. Should they deny me because of not providing the "paper trail", I'll sue them for denying me based on the grounds they required me to violate federal law. I'm still debating reporting them to the SEC and the FTC which are responsible for enforcing these laws, even if I get the mortgage. Anyone here with stocks will tell you that the last thing shareholders and stock traders want to see is an SEC investigation - it generally makes a stock price dive HARD.
This has also been a lesson on why sectors of our economy are so fucked up in the U.S.:
- People over extended themselves, got screwed by the sub prime variable mortgage problems or have been laid off, any of which are causing people to have their mortgages foreclosed on. I won't go into the credit card companies predatory practices allowing them to bump a customer's interest rates to 20%-30%, adding to the financial hardships.
- People are trying to sell their houses to get out from under their debt, flooding the market and causing home prices to drop, and giving buyers leverage to bargain down prices even further.
- Because of all the foreclosures, banks and mortgage lenders are gun shy about lending money, making it near impossible for buyers trying to get a loan to buy a house.
- Buyer can't get mortgage, seller has to go into foreclosure.
A marker of how well the economy is doing is home sales. The government wanted to avoid a recession and yet the government programs to help sell homes by securing mortgages that banks give to people, have created a situation where it is a nightmare for people that have the means to actually pay these mortgages to actually get one of these loans. I took it personally for a bit, but my realtor told me that she has clients in much better financial situations unable or having extreme difficulty getting mortgages as well. I expect it's only a matter of time before we're back in the Regan Era where interest rates on mortgages will be in the double digits - my dad had a mortgage in 1984 with a 14% interest rate.
I recently started a side job consulting. The contract states I make a minimum of $600 a month for it. Fucking cocksucker lenders say that because it's self employment, FHA guidlines say I need two years history of it before I can claim it as income on my application. The U.S. government offers programs to help people buy homes and then make conditions impossible to actually take advantage of them. So I have to borrow money to borrow money, and the only people I can borrow money from is family. Last time I checked, my last name was not Rockefeller, Gates or Trump.
Yay U.S. government bureaucracy!
I forgot to mention that my doctor is trying to ween me off one of my meds... I feel dizzy, spacey and just generally ill. This seems to be a common side effect of the "detoxing" from this medication, and I've only cut the dosage down by 1/3. Joy.
A great new way to play has recently started, and has been a blast! The SG Poker Group has started having a weekly, private game. It's private only because we want to keep it to SG members and their friends. The two games so far I've finished 3rd. Join the group and come play, or PM me and I can give you details on how to get in. The more players, the more money in the pot... and I've got a baby to feed!
(My previous blog which I still feel needs more time)
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Since I first heard this song, it just sticks with me. Having friends there and hearing about other people's spouses/boyfriends/girlfriends/family members being forced into multiple tours.
Hero's Song by Brendan James
This posting came from a discussion I had with khoos this weekend about how Americans have turned Memorial Day from a day to remember our fallen into an excuse to have a sale and go shopping. Take a moment and digest that.
Support our troops, but question their leaders.
Hero's Song by Brendan James
This posting came from a discussion I had with khoos this weekend about how Americans have turned Memorial Day from a day to remember our fallen into an excuse to have a sale and go shopping. Take a moment and digest that.
Support our troops, but question their leaders.
In other news, we've decided to do two baby showers: one for family and some friends, and another for our other friends. We're doing this for two reasons:
1) the family one HAS to be on a weekend when a lot of our friends can't come do to conflicts with previously scheduled events. It's the only weekend we can get khoos' mom in town and we want to have the families together as best we can.
2) we want to do something outrageous with our friends, especially our SG friends who can't make it that weekend. We want debauchery. We want the baby shower that people go "THIS is a baby shower?"
