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BAD TIMES AHEAD: "Real" world news
ECONOMIC NEWS FROM THE "REAL" WORLD
Posted By: Argus Today, I had an interesting experience in real world job hunting.
I was looking for a moderate,supplemental part time stream of income, and applied to one of the major car rental companies at a nearby airport. The job, as advertised, was simply to move parts of the car fleet from the airport to other airports in nearby cities.
Upon arriving to pick up an application, the woman behind the desk informed me that the job pays minimum wage, and then proceeded to explain that I would need to pass an F.B.I. background check, a Homeland security check, and a mandatory drug test. (paid for by you through deductions)
The job is also on an "on call" basis so you would have to drop what you were doing or planning to do in any side occupation.
I would also have to fill out a 25 page application, provide a voluntary criminal background check, and provide a driving record.
The thought occurred to me that I could do better somewhere else, even as I try to launch a small computer consulting and repair business.
Now, today's Sign Of The Times pages illustrate people with worse problems than myself, home owners who have been foreclosed.
Minimum wage jobs with gestapo background checks,a falling dollar, housing bubble IS bursting.
Some cataclysms are slow moving but have the same effect.
The economic commentary and links below are at Signs Of The Times.
The first paragraph is a letter from the "real world" of foreclosure agencies.
My friend works (in collections) for a "major" mortgage, banking and investment company. Suddenly she's found herself having to work overtime to deal with the steady rise in the numbers of homes going into foreclosure.
Every week the amount of loans she must send in for foreclosure rises, dramatically. Back in Sept it was around 10-15 per week, but it's been steadily rising, and now it's up to 100! That's per week! From just one rep's assigned client files. And everyone in her department is having the same experience with their clients. There are perhaps 30-40 people in her department. And her company has many offices all over the country. The implications are staggering!
Imagine all the thousands of people doing the same job at all the thousands of mortgage companies in the US. If what my friend is experiencing is the rule rather than the exception, then it's like a "tsunami" of home foreclosures taking place "under the radar" of those people not part of the mortgage/real estate industry. And the size of the wave is getting bigger every day.
Pennsylvania Georgia Colorado
Foreclosures are a lagging economic indicator, often coming several months after homeowners have lost jobs and exhausted means to hold on to their homes, said Mary Schaefer, public trustee for Jefferson County. She predicts foreclosures will hold steady this year, or perhaps rise slightly.
"There aren't a lot of new jobs, and it's not a home seller's market, so people who need to sell their homes quickly can't always get enough money out of them to avoid the process," she said. "I know we're supposed to be in a recovery, but I don't see an end to this right now."
OHIO - About 3,000 Summit County homeowners got notices of foreclosure from their lenders last year, and most quietly hid their financial problems from friends and neighbors.
But Kimberly Beauford did not.
The single mother of five is fighting to save the home on Stadelman Avenue in Akron that she has spent thousands of dollars renovating since she bought it in March 1999.
In many ways, Beauford typifies the problem of foreclosures in Summit County.
She's African-American, female and lives in an older home in an older neighborhood. She's also the apparent victim of predatory lending practices, according to a national group that helps consumers. [...]
Comment:(BY SOTT) Note the comment about how most homeowners quietly hid their financial difficulties from friends and neighbours. Is it any wonder that so few people know what is occurring with the US economy? In a society where material success is so important, financial problems must be hidden at all costs. The unfortunate side effect is that many Americans are themselves unwittingly propping up the illusion of a strong economy. And why not? If the masses can be tricked into fooling themselves, those in power have far less work to do.
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