RollingStone Magazine : Another Hidden Bailout: Helping Wall Street Collect Your Rent

Okay, I guess I'm not going to be a homeowner anytime soon, and being a renter isn't super hopeful either ... Wait. Is there a third option ?

By Matt Taibbi (3/19/2012) :

"Here's yet another form of hidden bailout the federal government doles out to our big banks, without the public having much of a clue.

This is from the WSJ this morning [WSJ, 3/19/2012]:

"Some of the biggest names on Wall Street are lining up to become landlords to cash-strapped Americans by bidding on pools of foreclosed properties being sold by Fannie Mae...

While the current approach of selling homes one-by-one has its own high costs and is sometimes inefficient, selling properties in bulk to large investors could require Fannie Mae to sell at a big discount, leading to larger initial costs."

In con artistry parlance, they call this the "reload." That's when you hit the same mark twice – typically with a second scam designed to "fix" the damage caused by the first scam. Someone robs your house, then comes by the next day and sells you a fancy alarm system, that's the reload. [...]

Even better, many of the banks/investors who buy these home loans back from Fannie/Freddie will rent out their properties instead of reselling them, which can vastly increase their revenue streams. From the WSJ: [...]"

Read on :

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/another-...

Refs.

[WSJ, 3/19/2012] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230386340457728...