Economy

On the continuing problems in the housing market.

"Now there are vast numbers of strategic squatters. People who could pay but aren’t. Instead of walking away, they remain in the home knowing that it may be not months, but years, before the lender will evict them. The average foreclosure now takes 728 days. In a few states, it’s over a 1,000 days. And this is after the lender has filed a notice of default. Some loans have gone 500 days delinquent before Bank of America has filed a notice to start the process.
This can happen only in a market dominated by the government. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA comprise 90% of the mortgage business. Private lenders could never survive holding mortgage loans en masse that are nonperforming. Lenders must collect payments or they can’t pay their bills, or pay their lenders, for that matter."

Statism in action.