Characterizing the upward transfer of virtually all American wealth to a handful of oligarchs a “recovery,” represents a grotesque insult to the english language as well as common sense.
The writing was on the wall from the very beginning. I knew as soon as TARP passed that we as society would regret the day we bailed out the bankers who destroyed the world economy. It didn’t take long.
Bailed out Wall Street banks went ahead and paid themselves record bonuses less than one year after the bailouts. Then, in early 2013, the financial community’s next scheme to feed off the carcasses of the American public became crystal clear. They wanted to become America’s slumlord by buying millions of foreclosed homes and then renting them back to former homeowners. When I realized what was happening I published the post, America Meet Your New Slumlord: Wall Street. Here’s the opening paragraph:
Well they aren’t really your “new” slumlord in the sense you have been debt slaves to the financials system for decades. What I really mean is that it is now becoming overt and literal. Literal because financiers are now the main players in the real estate market and are buying all the homes ordinary citizens were kicked out of over the past few years. Yep, we bailed out the financial system so that financiers with access to cheap credit can buy up all of America’s real estate so that they can then rent it back to you later.
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I know foreclosures are at record levels, and that housing is a greater percentage of income than ever. I also have no doubt certain investors are buying up cheap foreclosures to turn into rentals.
ReplyDeleteIt's wealthy investors that are taking advantage of the strong demand for rentals, brought on by the significant drop in home ownership. But the taxpayers take the hit yet again, when these cheap houses are rented out to Section 8 and government subsidized tenants. The higher the rent, the more Section 8 and housing subsidies will be increased, until the working class are priced right out of the rental market as well.
It is not the same banks that held the mortgages that are renting out those same properties. Banks don't typically want to own a bunch of foreclosed properties; the maintenance and upkeep is too costly. So they sell them off cheaply, purchased as "investment properties" in many cases, and so they become rentals...and slums.