Really, Senator Durbin?

The back and forth continues:

Dear Woody:

Thank you for sharing your personal struggle to modify your mortgage through your bank. Too many families across the country are having a tough time staying in their homes, and our nation's banks are not doing nearly enough to help.

I am fighting to help Americans stay in their homes, but the banks are not meeting us in the middle. Congress supported the emergency aid package for banks, in part to revive the nation's credit markets. Yet lending and mortgage modification remain at record low levels.

The United States is working its way through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The mortgage crisis has placed millions of families at risk of foreclosure. Currently, 1 in 8 mortgages is in foreclosure, and more families face foreclosure as existing loans reset their interest rates.

The Obama Administration has taken some steps to encourage loan modifications, but the very banks that caused the financial crisis in the first place have been very resistant to implementing the loan modifications families need. The Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP) and the Home Affordable Refinance Plan (HARP) have created incentives for banks to negotiate with individual homeowners, but many banks have dragged their feet.

I have cosponsored S. 1731, the Preserving Homes and Communities Act of 2009, introduced by Senator Reed of Rhode Island. This bill would provide targeted relief to qualified homeowners through loan modification and mortgage assistance programs. It also incentivizes states and local governments to create strong mediation programs so more families can stay in their homes. Loan modifications not only help families, they also stabilize communities protect them from greater financial losses.

Historically, home ownership has been a pillar of our economy and an integral part of the American dream. I introduced the Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act (S. 61), which would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of mortgage loans on a principal residence for homeowners who meet strict income and expense criteria. This step is already allowed for mortgages on vacation homes and family farms and could have helped 600,000 families keep their homes. Unfortunately, because of strenuous opposition from the banking lobby and its allies in the Senate, my amendment was not successful.

Your voice is a valuable part of this discussion. I will continue to keep your family's situation in mind as Congress responds to the economic challenges facing American families.

Thank you again for your message. Please feel free to keep in touch.


Talk about stating the obvious.

While it's admirable that Senator Durbin introduced legislation to help people save their homes, his response did not answer my initial questions.

Why wasn't the HAMP legislation written to consider unemployment?

I said it before and I'll say it again---HAMP legislation was poorly written. It merely serve as a smoke screen by the government to appear as if they're helping the public.

You're screwed if you're laid off AND you have equity in your home.

Just give me a coke and a smile and tell me to shut the eff up.

That would be more effective than pretending to help.

Was it wrong of me to expect more of Senator Durbin than robotic responses?

Temper, Temper

Did I not tell you that hurt feelings run deep over here?

Those letter's are something else, no?

But in the Teacher's defense, I know why she's got an ax to grind with me.

And in the past I have been guilty of leaving items in hallway.

For a long time.

And when I say a long time I mean over three days. Yes, I know that's beyond the boundaries of good neighborhsip.

I've since reformed my ways but if I'm schlepping things up and down three flights of stairs, I just make sure they're not in the way or left out for over 24 hours.

While we're telling truths, I also understand why she's upset with out current president after being given a hard time about frequency of meetings and asociation business transparency.

You see my friends, when your just an owner, it's really easy to bitch about things that aren't being done; it's much more difficult to assume the mantle of leadership and try to bring about that change.

I know, I've done it.

With two jobs and an active social life, might I add.

So I know how challenging it can be keeping the ship on the tried and true.

But now this shit is officially gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.

To address her crazy rants point by point, line by line would be exhausing.

And I'm not even going to get into the things I find annoying about her little domestic situation.

I might be unemployed but I have better things to do.

Not only can you all read, but you can read between the lines. You know crazy when you see (or read) crazy.

I'm not going to insult your intelligence.

But I will submit the following photograph for your inspection:



Clearly these "cheap, fake" tucked away boots by my front door are causing a tripping hazzard to person and property.

And to be super extra neighborly, I just picked up a can of Odor Eaters Foot and Sneaker Spray Powder to deal with any stinkiness.

'Cause let's face it---sometimes you don't smell your own shit.

But I do know poor conflict resolution skills.

The Never Ending Story

As usual, the trash on the north parkway continues to be a problem.

Why Mt. Carmel can't come up with a workable solution to this issue is beyond me.

It's kind of like knowing that it's going to snow every year yet not having a snow removal plan and salt at the ready.

So I composed and sent the following e-mail to the person in charge of "maintenance" at Mt. Carmel and cc'd my alderman and neighbors:


"It has been over two weeks since I've spoken to you about the trash on the north side of the 65th Street Parkway.

If Mt. Carmel has completed a clean up it was barely noticeable since I've been literally looking at the same bag of discarded trash for the past month. Now more trash has been added to the parkway.

I've been hearing for years how Mt. Carmel is committed to being a "good neighbor." If that's the case, why does there have to be constant reminders about picking up trash and shoveling and salting the parkway? This isn't the first discussion we've had about these topics and based on history, it won't be the last.

Even when the seasonal grounds crew cuts the grass, I've routinely seem them move trash on the parkway into the street and in some cases not pick up the trash at all.

It's difficult enough watching people use our neighborhood as their own personal trash can. My neighbors and I do the best we can to pick up on and around our property and to encourage the culture of not using the parkways, lawns and street as a garbage bag.

Why can't Mt. Carmel do their part without constant prodding? Is this how a "good neighbor" behaves?"

Since I'm confident that they are out for winter break we'll get to look at the crap across the street at least until the beginning of January.

If we're lucky.

One Track Mind

Unemployment is clearly a cash cow.

Trust me, I was just as shocked as you when I found this out.

Unfortunately the big bucks that I pull in from unemployment disqualifies me from receiving any type of assistance from LIHEAP or a Link card.

What kills me is that when I explain my basic monthly outlay to keep a roof over my head and the lights on the reply I receive is "We don't take your bills into account. That's not how this program works."

Un-flipping-believeable.

For a family of one (the cat doesn't count)can only have a gross income of about $1,100 a month to qualify for the Link card. For LIHEAP the most you can only is $1,354 a month.

I completely understand why many are just pissed off.

No one will help you despite the fact you've been a good egg and paid into the system.

Most homeowners with equity in their homes will not be helped by the Obama Plan.

Most single people can't qualify for a medical card or the Link card from the state.

One would almost think that the social service system isn't designed to help the middle class. You might also be tempted to think that the once you qualify for any type of help, that the system is designed to either keep you impoverished or make you lie to keep your benefits.

I'm done. I'm totally absolutely done.

C'mon Son!

I was in the middle of watching Law and Order Friday night when the picture went out.

Since I have Dish satellite for cable this isn't an uncommon occurrence.

If the wind blows too hard or the weather suddenly changes the dish won't pick up the signal.

Usually you give it a few minutes and the picture comes right back in.

Except on Friday.

I waited and waited and my picture never came back.

The weather seemed clear and I performed the diagnostics but no dice.

Since I had plans, I decided to pursue remedies when I returned later that evening.

When I did get on the phone with the Dish customer service representative we ran through a few more diagnostic tests with the same results.

So a service call was scheduled for Saturday.

When Luis the service technician came out he climbed up to the roof he quickly and efficiently diagnosed the problem.

My satellite dish was gone.

Some trifflin' ass motherfucker climbed on my roof---directly over my head my I add----on a dark, cold windy Chicago night and STOLE my satellite dish in the middle of Law and Order.

Ain't that a bitch?

I was completely undone. It took a day for me to calm down.

Who climbs up on your roof at night to take a flipping dish?

It turns out that despite a majority of the dish being plastic, there are some metal components that can be worth up to $15.00 on the street.

So does that mean that the thief goes around collecting dishes until he (or she) has enough scrap metal to make decent money?

Clearly we're not out of this recession if people are roof surfing for cable satellite dishes for scrap metal.

It's like I had my own personal "C'mon Son" moment.

Your ass is such a bootleg, ghetto ass criminal that you have to risk life and limb to grab dishes off peoples roofs.

Damn, player.

Normally during this time of year it's the beginning of the "jacking season."

The jacking season usually lasts from the holidays until after the tax refund anticipation loans stop.

They'll jack you for your Christmas gifts. Your purse will get cut while you're in a large crowd.

If you're foolish enough to get your taxes prepared at a Currency Exchange don't be surprised when someone sticks a gun in your face as soon as you exit.

People usually become extra cautious and take care to not draw attention to themselves.

Most people exercise using common sense and street smarts.

And until yesterday I thought I was one of those people.

Little did I know that jacking had gone three stories up.

Thank You New York Times

From today's issue of the New York Times. My comments are in bold italic.

November 29, 2009

U.S. Will Push Mortgage Firms to Reduce More Loan Payments
By PETER S. GOODMAN
The Obama administration on Monday plans to announce a campaign to pressure mortgage companies to reduce payments for many more troubled homeowners, as evidence mounts that a $75 billion taxpayer-financed effort aimed at stemming foreclosures is foundering.

Foundering? It was a poorly written piece of legislation designed to protect the banks from taking a bath on properties that were worth less than the loans. Make no mistake, it was always about protecting the banks, never about helping people.

“The banks are not doing a good enough job,” Michael S. Barr, Treasury’s assistant secretary for financial institutions, said in an interview Friday. “Some of the firms ought to be embarrassed, and they will be.”

So you're going to try to embarrass financial corporations who pushed for the TARP bailout? These people have no shame, you can't embarrass them.

Even as lenders have in recent months accelerated the pace at which they are reducing mortgage payments for borrowers, a vast majority of loans modified through the program remain in a trial stage lasting up to five months, and only a tiny fraction have been made permanent.

Mr. Barr said the government would try to use shame as a corrective, publicly naming those institutions that move too slowly to permanently lower mortgage payments. The Treasury Department also will wait until reductions are permanent before paying cash incentives that it promised to mortgage companies that lower loan payments.

Shame as a corrective measure. Really folks? Really? What do they care if they get the money? This is just a thinly disguised PR campaign anyway. Most of the banks have already chomped away at that big old $700 billion dollar pie. Who cares if they miss $1,000 here or $1,000 there.

“They’re not getting a penny from the federal government until they move forward,” Mr. Barr said.

My ass.

From its inception early this year, the Obama administration’s program, called Making Home Affordable, has been dogged by persistent questions about whether it could diminish a swelling wave of foreclosures.(It can't) Some economists argued that the plan was built for last year’s problem — exotic mortgages whose payments increased — and not for the current menace of soaring joblessness.(Duh) Lawyers who defend homeowners against foreclosure maintained that mortgage companies collect lucrative fees from long-term delinquency, undercutting their incentive to lower payments to affordable levels.

Last month, an oversight panel created by Congress reported that fewer than 2,000 of the 500,000 loan modifications then in progress had become permanent under Making Home Affordable. When the Treasury releases new numbers next month, it is expected to report a disappointingly small number of permanent loan modifications, with estimates in the tens of thousands out of the more than 650,000 borrowers now in the program.

More unsatisfactory data is likely to intensify pressures on the Obama administration to mount a more muscular effort to stem foreclosures beyond the Treasury’s campaign this week. Populist anger has been fanned by a growing perception that the Treasury has lavished generous bailouts on Wall Street institutions while neglecting ordinary homeowners — this, in the midst of double-digit unemployment, which is daily sending more households into delinquency.

Funny, didn't I say that? By the way, it's not a perception it's the truth. Banks---$700 billion, American homeowner and taxpayer---screwed.

“I’ve been very frustrated by the pace of the program,” said Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat who sits on the Senate Banking Committee. “Very few people have emerged from the trial period.”

Though the administration’s program was initially proclaimed as a means of sparing three to four million households from foreclosure, “they’re going to be lucky if they save one or one-and-a-half million,” said Edward Pinto, a consultant to the real estate finance industry who served as chief credit officer to the government-backed mortgage company Fannie Mae in the late 1980s.

A White House spokeswoman, Jennifer R. Psaki, said the administration would continue to refine the program as needed. “We will not be satisfied until more program participants are transitioning from trial to permanent modifications,” she said.

Capitol Hill aides in regular contact with senior Treasury officials say a consensus has emerged inside the department that the program has proved inadequate, necessitating a new approach. But discussions have yet to reach the point of mapping out new options, the aides say.

“People who work on this on a day-to-day basis are vested enough in it that they think there’s a need to do a course correction rather than a wholesale rethink,” said a Senate Democratic aide, who spoke on the condition he not be named for fear of angering the administration. “But at senior levels, where people are looking at this and thinking ‘Good God,’ there’s a sense that we need to think about doing something more.”

Mr. Barr, who supervises the program, portrayed such deliberations as part of a constant process of assessment within the Treasury. He expressed confidence that the mortgage program had sufficient tools to deliver relief, characterizing the slow pace as reflecting a lack of follow-through, and not structural defects requiring a revamping.

Do these people live in the real world? Lack of follow through on the program? The legislation doesn't need a revamping? These people are so out of touch with reality it's sickening.

“We’re seeing a failure by some of the bigger banks on execution,” Mr. Barr said. “We’re going to be quite focused and direct on particular institutions that are not doing a good job.”

The banks say they are making good-faith efforts to comply with the program and provide relief.

My ass.

“We’ve poured resources into this,” said a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, Tom Kelly. “We’ve made dramatic improvements, and we continue to try to get better.”

Some senators contend that the Treasury program, addressing mortgages whose low promotional interest rates had soared, is outmoded.(Duh) At this point, foreclosures are being propelled by joblessness,(Duh) which is sending millions of previously credit-worthy people with ordinary mortgages into delinquency.

Within the Senate, some discussion now focuses on pursuing legislation that would create a national foreclosure prevention program modeled on one started last year in Philadelphia. That program forces mortgage companies to submit to court-supervised mediation with delinquent borrowers aimed at striking an equitable resolution before they are allowed to proceed with the sale of foreclosed homes.

Go get 'em Philly. Rock it out.

Some Democrats say the time has come to reconsider a measure opposed by the Obama administration: giving bankruptcy judges the right to amend mortgages as a means of pressuring lenders to extend reductions.

Lawyers who defend homeowners against foreclosure increasingly say they doubt the Treasury program can be made effective. Under the plan, companies that agree to lower payments for troubled borrowers collect $1,000 from the government, followed by another $1,000 a year for up to three years. The program is premised on the idea that a small cash incentive will induce the banks to cut their losses and accept smaller payments.

But the mortgage companies that collect payments from homeowners — servicers, as they are known — generally do not own the loans. Rather, they collect fees from investors that actually own mortgages, and their fees often increase the longer a borrower remains in delinquency.

Under the Treasury program, borrowers who receive loan modifications must make their new payments on a trial basis and then submit new paperwork validating their income to make their modifications permanent.

But borrowers and their lawyers report that much of the required paperwork is being lost in a haze of bureaucratic disorganization. Servicers are abruptly changing fax numbers and mislaying files — the same issues that have plagued the program from its inception.

“People continue to get lost in the phone tree hell,” said Diane E. Thompson, a lawyer with the National Consumer Law Center.

Some lawyers who defend homeowners against foreclosure assert that mortgage companies are merely stalling, using trial loan modifications as an opportunity to extract a few more dollars from borrowers who would otherwise make no payments.

“I don’t think they ever intended to do permanent loan modifications,” said Margery Golant, a Florida lawyer who previously worked for a major mortgage company, Ocwen Financial. “It’s a shell game that they’re playing.”

Shell game indeed...

For Real?

So rumor has it that the our economy is coming out of this recession.

You can't tell that from where I'm sitting.


The north east corner of Marquette and Blackstone Avenue. The property was just boarded up in the last few days but has sat vacant and untouched for well over two years.


A close up of the sign that the bank posted.

Droopy

The south side is awash in people carrying really bad knock off Coach purses.

The "Logo C" has been Coach's staple for almost ten years.

But it's everywhere---I'm sure you've seen it but may not have realized (or cared) about a logo on a purse.

Nonetheless, you know a purse is really popular when you see the bootleg guys on Chicago Avenue with the knock off almost immediately.

So I've seen the "Logo C" pretty much on everything.

Or so I thought.

As I was sitting on the bus with a gaggle of high school kids, I was counting the minutes until I could exit at my stop.

I believe one of Dante's levels of hell is a packed bus with high school kids.

That's when I saw it---the ultimate ghetto fab.

Young people wearing saggy pants showing their underwear is nothing new.

A young person wearing saggy pants shows his bootleg Coach "Logo C" briefs IS something new.

Jesus keep me near the cross.

Not only did I NOT need to see that but so much was going through my mind:

Who sags AND wear printed designer underwear? Is he just that label conscious or is he a gay thug?

Why would anyone want to show their underwear to the public if they're not LaPerla?

I guess I'm truly an adult.

Cue The Eye Rolling

Senator Durbin got back to me via the post. This is an excerpt of his letter:

Dear Woodlawn Wonder:

Thank you for your message. I appreciate hearing from you and share your concerns about the housing crisis and its impact on our nation and communities throughout Illinois. Enclosed please find a list of HUD approved counseling agencies that may be able to help you refinance your mortgage and keep your home. Also included are phone numbers for local helplines that may be able to aid you as well.

Obviously I didn't make myself clear. So I composed another letter.

Senator Durbin,

Thank you for your October 16th response.

Unfortunately it did not address my concern that the HAMP program does not cover home owners who are ahead in their mortgages and may fall behind in their payments due to unemployment.

Even the Congressional Oversight Panel states that "HAMP was not designed to address foreclosures caused by unemployment, which now appears to be a central cause of nonpayment, further limiting the scope of the program."

While I appreciate the supporting documentation, lists of HUD approved counselors will not address my situation.

What will address my situation is the Treasury Department expanding the HAMP program to consider unemployment. I fail to understand why I'm being punished for not being underwater with my mortgage and unemployed.

It seems had I purchased more home than I could afford or mortgaged it to the hilt, I would qualify for the program.

While the automobile and banking industries are "too big to fail" apparently the American homeowner is not.

Since you chair the subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government why can't you bring this rapidly escalating issue to the attention of the Treasury Department? Senator Durbin most unemployed Americans don't have another six months for the government to act on this issue.

Where's our bailout?

Sincerely,

The Woodlawn Wonder

Ladies and gentlemen, we are adrift and on our own. Our lawmakers are completely and utterly clueless.

By the time they "get it" we'll all be in a shelter.

Rejected

I just received this in the mail from my lender:

Dear Borrower:

Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. (SPS), as a servicer for your loan, has reviewed your account for the Obama Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). We regret that we are unable to qualify you for HAMP based on the information you provided to us. The reason you do not qualify is that you did not pass the U.S. Treasury Department's Net Present Value (NPV) test. The NPV test determined that the amount realized by sale of your property following foreclosure exceeds the amount that would be obtained through a modification of your mortgage.

Words absolutely fail me at this time.

I very well could be looking at foreclosure in the next few months.

Developing...

Finished?

I noticed something interesting when I was walking down the alley the other day.

What? You don't walk down the alley on your block?

How else will you know what's really going on in your neighborhood?

Anyhoo...

I was walking down the alley and noticed that the back windows of the newly renovated apartment building are covered in plywood.

The openings where the back doors should be are covered in plywood as well.

It appears that someone from the inside may not be able to exit to the back porch.

How in God's name can you rent apartments to tenants and not have another way out of the building in case of an emergency?

That ain't right and that ain't safe.

Moreover, that doesn't sound legal.

Clearly It's Not The Rabbits We Need To Worry About

Per my Tweet from yesterday, some jackasses are going into the garden and stealing produce.

That's just plain out and out bullshit.

The only leeway I'd give would be if someone's hungry but even then I'd rather you ask me for my tomatoes than find them used in an impromptu food fight.

Just a gut feeling after seeing the remains of ripened tomatoes all over the garden.

If you remember part three of my Yo Chicago interview on You Tube, you'll see a glimpse of my tomato plant which only had about five tomatoes on it vs. fifteen from the week before.

So much for tomato, mozzarella and basil salad.

Giving Up The Ghost

The last time I wrote about Carlton Knight’s Dixie Highway property, the day to day operations had been taken over by a court appointed Receiver in December of 2007.

The Receiver really gave it a go.

Rents were collected and recommendations for repairs were made.

Some tenants were evicted, some were moved to other units and others continued to live in their current situation.

Make no mistake, the condition of the building was (and is) dismal.

But sometimes, no matter how much you want to make it happen, you’ve got to give up the ghost.

From the 13th report:
“We had come to the conclusion that given the condition of the property and the limited income we were receiving, it was better to vacate the property rather than keeping only a handful of paying tenants, which would have resulted in an operating deficit of at least $4,000/month.”

Holy Crap.

Even with loads of money the Receiver and Inland Bank couldn’t make that dog hunt.

I guess you need to know when to throw in the towel.

But the scary part is that the property didn’t get that way overnight.

At least that what the Receiver’s first and second reports said.

Do not make me detail the contents of reports three through twelve.

It’s just too jaw dropping.

And to think, people had to live in those conditions.

It just makes you shake your head.

Seriously

It's not like the fence around our back perimeter was the epitome of high security.

But for the last eight years, it's held up through dings, dents, trash truck accidents and attempted forced entry.

Yet now some fuck nut has seen fit to bend a post so badly that anyone could just walk through the opening.

Holy shit.

All of this came about as one of the locks to our back gates went missing and when it was replaced, a notice wasn't posted.

Because a notice wasn't posted, new keys weren't distributed.

And when I went to take out my trash (*ugh*) the other day an unwelcome chore went to downright unpleasant as I had to carry my trash around the building and down the alley in order to properly dispose of it in the dumpster.

That's more than I can say for another one of my neighbors as they left three bags of stinking ass trash inside of our gate on the ground.

Let me repeat that in case you missed it---one of my neighbors as they left three bags of stinking ass trash inside of our gate ON THE GROUND.

Trifflin' ass...

So this evening when I went to go look off the back porch, I see the trash is gone but the fence post is severely bent.

Frankly, I don't think any of this is a coincidence.

But I do know this---some dumb ass thought it was a good idea to leave open trash on our property to attract vermin AND someone thought it was a good idea to bend the fence post to the point it's created a security risk.

Who in the H-E double hockey sticks do I live with?

Seriously?

Enough

Blaming Burr Oak families for this tragedy is like blaming Catholic families for not keeping their children away from pedophile priests.

Now mind your manners and act like decent human beings.

That is all.

Heavy Sigh

Frank (or one of his relatives)has decimated the flowers on the back porch.

My refrigerator just died yesterday.

This is on top of the huge vet bill AND the unemployment countdown.

Do not be surprised when the Paypal tip jar appears in the sidebar---it's coming.

Rack 'Em

I swear that animals will be the death of me.

After almost a week at the vet's due to severe constipation (don't ask), my cat Midas has racked up a whopping $327.81 vet bill.

Looming unemployment and now MORE debt.

Jesus take the wheel.

…And While We’re At It

I have it on good authority that the Roosevelt Collection is going rental instead of condo due to the housing meltdown.

To those in the know this ain’t exactly groundbreaking news.

My source also tells me that the earnest money is due to be refunded “in a timely manner.”

Now does that mean timely in a “it took you less than 48 hours to cash my check” type of way or timely in “If you piss me off I’ll make you wait for your money---and you’ll be lucky to get it” type of way?

Due to crappy protections afforded to home and condominium buying consumers, will everything be dragged out until the legal statute of limitation to recover earnest monies run out.

*Cough* Theatre District Lofts*Cough*

Time will tell.

But here’s something to ponder during your day.

While the pundits say that the economic pitfalls of this recession are easing, there are those of us out here in the real world who would beg to differ.

Worrying about money is a new thing to some people.

They played by the rules, they saved and invested and didn’t initially worry when they lost their jobs.

But then three months stretched into six and six months into a year.

And despite cutting their spending and living carefully, their money has run out.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, the shit is really hitting the fan.

Down payment money that was flowing so freely a few years ago is now the difference between putting food on the table and having to apply (and be rejected) for a Link card.

That money is the difference between making your mortgage payment and moving in with the relatives.

Yesterday’s yuppie or sink (Single Income No Kids) is today’s marginalized worker.

But marginalized on not, they want their money back.

Unlike other marginalized workers of old, this bunch is a lot more savvy and vocal.

I hypothesize that they will find a way to get their money back.

Whether it’s via social media, networking, writing elected officials or overhauling the whole freaking system, someone is going to make it happen.

‘Cause this time it’s not just the little guy who’s getting his house bulldozed by the city.

Everything’s been flipped on its head and now people are finding themselves in positions their grandparents and parents worked very hard to rise above.

This new class of marginalized worker is not used to being ignored.

Let’s just hope that change will come through positive and productive means and not as a result of chaos and upheaval.

But in the meantime the revolution might be forestalled if people were refunded the earnest money that’s rightfully theirs.

Just a thought.

Uptown Foolishness

The guessing game of the day:

Exactly when will buyers in the unfinished phase (phases?) of the Theatre District Lofts receive their earnest money back?

It's been over a year.

Looks like the lawsuits are starting to pile up concerning this little fiasco.

Just asking...

Hold Up

Yes, I know we’re all shocked and pissed by the Honorable John Fleming’s ruling.

But leave it to those kids at the Chicago Reader to show that this type of thing isn’t so uncommon.

Perhaps it’s time to focus outrage on the process that lets violent abusers walk and get the flipping laws changed.

And yes, that would require vigilance, follow-up and perhaps a letter or two to your state elected officials.

Most of us know that it’s not okay to beat on anyone but as the Reader article illustrates, this wasn’t the first time someone got their clock cleaned and the offender got a slap on the wrist.

Judge was simply the messenger.

No need to shoot him.