Well, here we go, the first entry on the blog. As you can see, I am a greenhorn novice to all of this but since I always seem to have an opinion and no place to share it, I thought I'd start out here.
Today's topic, folks, is: Where is the TARP money going and who is getting it?
I have the good fortune to be pretty chummy with the attorneys who represent the people who are suing my clients; landlord-tenant law is like that. In talking to one landlord attorney who is also a buyer/renovator/landlord himself, he said that the buzz in the real estate world in California is that the banks are getting TARP money, building up their reserves and have begun holding back houses to drive up the price because people are starting to buy again.
SAY WHAT?
I checked this out with a broker friend of mine and she said that looks like what is happening.
The part of this scheme that ticks me off is that there are about 91,000 foreclosure houses sitting empty in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties but there are nowhere near that many listed for sale.
Both sheriff's departments are reporting that these empty houses are being gutted of fixtures, copper, carpet and anything else the vandals can carry off. THEN the houses are being used for drug deals and by squatters. The crime rate in neighborhoods rises proportionately to the number of derelict houses.
The way I see it: the banks need to list these houses for sale as soon as they are empty and cleaned up or the government needs to take back their TARP money.
I'd like to hear from you reading this. Maybe we can start a little grass-roots noise and get some attention. If it's happening in SoCal, it's happening elsewhere, too.
