Bailout: fire sales and movie rights

Re: 'Critics question bailout' (Sept. 23)

Dear Editor:

It seems the most important issue is being raised almost as an aside: "Lawmakers also want more insight into what the Treasury Department will do with the troubled assets it buys." If the feds dump a bunch of houses back on the market at fire-sale prices, the real estate market can only deflate further.

In California, one of our biggest problems is the short-sale phenomenon. Sellers, anxious to dump their loans, don't really care what price is accepted in a short sale. Consequently, all homeowners suffer. The feds are likely to have the same mindset when they remarket the properties. How can this NOT lead to a continuing cycle of short sales and foreclosures? Such a scenario could see property values declining back to pre-bubble prices (if not further).

Cheryl Fletcher
HomeTeam California
San Marcos, Calif.

Dear Editor:

Let's have the government lend the $700 billion to consumers directly and let the taxpayers collect the interest.

Cliff Kavanaugh
Keller Williams Realty of Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Va.

Dear Editor:

Once we starting drifting away from the 30 percent (down payment) criteria, we started the crises. The impetus came from a noble, liberal goal to increase homeownership among the lower-income earners. But the unintended consequences were not thought out. Then, enter the greedy lenders who saw the opportunity to make risky loans and dump them on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Then comes the managers at Fannie and Freddie, one of whom made $90 million in six years.

And where was the oversight for FHFA and OFHEO and the administration and Congress? This is a scheme that must be investigated so that we can figure out how to keep this from happening again. Plus, it might make a good book and movie.

Bill Schwent
RE/MAX Capital
Santa Fe, N.M.

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