U.S. homelessness on decline: HUD reports 30 percent fall from '05 to '07

[Revmitchell]

Some 1.6 million people were forced to use an emergency shelter or transitional housing at some point between 2006 and 2007, but the number of people who are chronically homeless dropped nearly 30 percent from 2005 to 2007, according to a report made public Tuesday......................



More Here

 

[billwald]

Someone probably slipping a neurotoxin in the food bank chow.

 

[rdwhite]

The banks approved millions of mortgage loans for people who could not afford them, that is why the homeless number decreased. So they will be homeless again soon, unless the USA (Unified Seizer of Assets) uses money it took from me by force :BangHead: to pay bills for people who bought more house than they could afford with money they did not have.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Interestingly the drop is because the government has changed the definition of homeless. As a result of this I see no credibility in the current report. I do not knowif the data is "the most successful to date," but as the definition changed it cannot truthfully say that it has changed. Looks like election year politics .... again.

There is a rather large asterisk on the new data, however, the result of an ongoing effort to more narrowly define who is actually considered homeless. This is the third annual national HUD count, and in previous years, some cities had been counting families who were living two families to an apartment, for example, or those living in RVs, as homeless. This year, they weren't. This count, say the report's authors, is the most successful to date in tallying only those who were actually in shelters or on the streets — the official HUD definition of a homeless person.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1827876,00.html

 

[StefanM]

The banks approved millions of mortgage loans for people who could not afford them, that is why the homeless number decreased. So they will be homeless again soon, unless the USA (Unified Seizer of Assets) uses money it took from me by force :BangHead: to pay bills for people who bought more house than they could afford with money they did not have.

No. The banks were not giving out loans to people on the streets. These families would have likely remained in small apartments had they not been given loans.

 

[LadyEagle]

No. The banks were not giving out loans to people on the streets. These families would have likely remained in small apartments had they not been given loans.

The banks were doing creative financing such as ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) so people who could not afford the houses could get the loans.

The 2 most important basic features of ARMs:

Initial interest rate. This is the beginning interest rate on an ARM.
The adjustment period. This is the length of time that the interest rate or loan period on an ARM is scheduled to remain unchanged. The rate is reset at the end of this period, and the monthly loan payment is recalculated.

It is always better to get a 30-year fixed rate. When people could not afford the payments on a 30-year fixed rate on the house they wanted to buy, the banks greedily offered them ARMs knowing full well they'd end up having to forclose. It's a great short sale market now for people who want to invest and/or flip.

 

[StefanM]

The banks were doing creative financing such as ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) so people who could not afford the houses could get the loans.

The 2 most important basic features of ARMs:

Initial interest rate. This is the beginning interest rate on an ARM.
The adjustment period. This is the length of time that the interest rate or loan period on an ARM is scheduled to remain unchanged. The rate is reset at the end of this period, and the monthly loan payment is recalculated.

It is always better to get a 30-year fixed rate. When people could not afford the payments on a 30-year fixed rate on the house they wanted to buy, the banks greedily offered them ARMs knowing full well they'd end up having to forclose. It's a great short sale market now for people who want to invest and/or flip.

This is very true. My point, however, was that the banks were not offering any kind of financing to homeless people. Does anyone honestly think the banks were throwing out ARMs to homeless guys under a bridge?