NYTimes economic reporter's big credit crisis

[Kabekew]

I got pretty p*ssed off reading this too. I bought a home at almost the same time, about 10 miles north of Silver Spring in fact, and like him I was in love at the time, and like him the mortgage broker told me I could easily get approved for $400-$450K, no money down. I had negative assets at the time, and my income after taxes was about $4K a month and there was no way I could afford that kind of mortgage, so I bought a townhome for $250K which was in my budget.

So I lived responsibly, and he lived recklessly, and now he's living rent-free and waiting for "the system" to save him?

Gimme a break... Though I bet he's not unique at all. Maybe some people really do need to be protected from themselves?

 

[Delawaredave5]

"I had assumed we would start by renting a house or an apartment, but it quickly became clear that it was almost easier to borrow a half-million dollars and buy something"

Wow.... easier to borrow a half-million than rent - I actually believe it.

 

[jazz4cash]

"....And we saw how our children were thriving. My three sons transferred to schools in our neighborhood and made scores of friends. Emily, Patty’s daughter, was a sparkling 10-year-old who loved her home and her school as well as all her brothers. ..."

I don't see how this tell-all article could be very helpful to the children's well being.

 

[Running_Man]

This reporter comitted knowing fraud in his application for a mortgage. He is not some rube who didn't know what he was doing, he was fully cognizant of all the implications. To this day he is trying to run a scam to stay in that house. That our tax money is going to save people who perptrated this level of crime in order to get a house is beyond belief.

I felt dirty even reading his story, I was afraid he might be being paid by the click.

 

[Cattusbabe]

Amazon.com: Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown: Edmund L. Andrews: Books

The guy is not getting a whole lot of love over at Amazon in the comment section. You can buy his book for a little over $17. It is also available on kindle if your so inclined. I'm keeping my money.

 

[bubba]

... I'm keeping my money.

Think I'll keep mine also. His wife wanted to keep house and buy organic veggies for the kids rather than work and contribute to the household financially? Don't we all. Then she didn't want her birthday ruined by all that nasty talk about bills? As someone said earlier, cry me a river.

 

[Zoocat]

Think I'll keep mine also. His wife wanted to keep house and buy organic veggies for the kids rather than work and contribute to the household financially? Don't we all. Then she didn't want her birthday ruined by all that nasty talk about bills? As someone said earlier, cry me a river.

Correction: his wife did work and had an editorial position paying $60K until the recession hit and she was laid off.

This couple seems more typically American upper middle class than the folks on this board. But I'm not criticizing you all. I started hanging out here because I admire the financial sense expressed by the posters here. I was raised to LBYM and I lived that way most of my life, especially as a single mother putting myself through college and graduate school.

But when people remarry sometimes they want everything to be better than in their previous marriage so they go overboard trying to please their new partner. I've not experienced this but have witnessed it. And this author fits the picture. It's too bad that his actions had the exact opposite effect of his intention.

 

[Midpack]

I agree 100%. I hope for his kids that the book deal gets them out of this financial mess. And that the NYT provides him with a good life insurance policy, cuz I have a sneaking suspicion somebody might target him for a drive-by shooting. The article and the book are going to give a lot of people who are in bad financial straits due to no fault of their own an obvious target for their legitimate anger. Arrogance, entitlement and just plain stupidity like this and who ends up holding the bill? Disgusting indeed.

I bet his first wife is glad to be rid of him. Wonder if she's still collecting alimony.

lhamo

There is no excuse for what this idiot did, and he's supposedly a financial reporter, how is that even possible? Why on earth would anyone buy a book from someone so clueless? Disgusting...

 

[haha]

But when people remarry sometimes they want everything to be better than in their previous marriage so they go overboard trying to please their new partner. I've not experienced this but have witnessed it.

Sounds like it might be fun to experience this!

I heard this guy interviewed on NPR yesterday afternoon as I was Happy Hour bound. IMO, a jerk all the way. I like upper middle class people who have some class. This Dude is a whiner and a weenie. The interviewer (can't remember his name, a guy with an annoying patronizing voice) seemed to buy his line all the way. He was in love..... I've been in love. Other than leading me to get married I don't remember that is made me stupid.

Hello, if they are in love all they need is a baby sitter and a strong bedstead and some eats in the fridge. Oh yeah, and some chicharrones and Pace Picante sauce in case the UncleM stops by.

 

[ls99]

This reporter is a classic case of over educated, under informed in spite of the wealth of info at his fingertips. By the way, does anyone miss his insightful reporting? Did anyone notice his column was missing? I did not think so.

Can't find any sympathy for his travails. Surely I wold not spend any money on his book, certainly will pass on reading it even from the library.

I do think he should get a job with a company cleaning out toilets and septic tanks. That could show him the proper appreciation of economics, in particular for input vs output, and misdirected efforts especially in public venues.

 

[dex]

One lesson is that this is an economic writer for the NYT- that says something. Basically, if he can not understand his economic circumstances how can he understand macro economic issues.

As I said before - he is average for the people I've met in the TV news business - just average Joes - doing below average jobs.

About 15 years ago I was dealing with a TV network reporter who did some economic stories - he didn't understand how he was 30K in credit card debt. Now he does those internet child predator stories.

So my advise - when you read or watch any news story - look for the errors.

Remember news organizations are like factories - turning out stories as fast as they can. There isn't any independent quality control orgaization that regulates them. Imagine a meat processing plant without any inspections. That is what we are getting from news organizations.

 

[bubba]

Correction: his wife did work and had an editorial position paying $60K until the recession hit and she was laid off.

That's correct except that if you will notice, the wife didn't work until the first "We're out of money" episode. Per the author, wife had been a sahm since the 80s, and had trouble re-entering the job market.

As a mom myself, I know all about taking kiddo to daycare and hauling your tail to work, but I believed keeping a roof over son's head was worth the sacrifice. Hence, I don't feel much sympathy for those who choose the alternative and find themselves in financial trouble.

 

[NW-Bound]

​

Yes, this idiotic reporter was in love. However, he did realize the hellhole he got himself in, but could not get his newfound love to accept that they were up to their eyebrows in deep doodoo. He understood that they were in trouble, but she thought it was petty and small-minded to worry about little things like money.

Same as ls99, I won't even bother to check out his book from the library, leave alone buying it. I only wonder how he could still stay with this woman. Perhaps they deserve each other.

I have known some couples like this. The women didn't care how the checks bounced; it was the husbands' duty to replenish the account as fast as they could spend. And the husbands were simply too wimpy to put their feet down. I will say again that they deserve each other.

We didn’t have enough cash to cover more than a week’s worth of groceries and gasoline. For the last few months we were living off the cash left over after I sold my Times stock and we bought the house. But now it was gone.

“How the hell could we have run through so much money so quickly?” I asked her accusingly.

Patty wasn’t sharing my shock. “I don’t know what’s going on,” she responded.

...

“You lied to me,” she told me as I got coffee. “You said that what I saw on the outside was pretty much what you were. But you’re completely different. If I had known what you were really like, I would never have come out here.”

​

 

[haha]

We didn’t have enough cash to cover more than a week’s worth of groceries and gasoline. For the last few months we were living off the cash left over after I sold my Times stock and we bought the house. But now it was gone.

“How the hell could we have run through so much money so quickly?” I asked her accusingly.

Patty wasn’t sharing my shock. “I don’t know what’s going on,” she responded.

...

“You lied to me,” she told me as I got coffee. “You said that what I saw on the outside was pretty much what you were. But you’re completely different. If I had known what you were really like, I would never have come out here.”
​

Pouring gasoline on the gender wars?

Some of these topics are poking a stick in a hornets' nest. Until you bothered it you never knew what fury was in that apparently peaceful structure.

Ha
​

 

[Cattusbabe]

No need for a gender war here. NW-Bound is just pointing out that Mr. NYT's brains were below his belt when he got into this mess and now he's paying for that. Mr. NYT admits as much. As far as his lady fair goes. Well the charm of cute and clueless wears off fast when the tough times come. There are hundreds of men who have learned that lesson the hard way. Just like some of us females learn that Mr. Bad boy or Mr. Dreamer are no prizes either.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

reporter's crisis

It seems to me that this fellow also rushed in to a new relationship rather quickly after the demise of his marriage. I would think that most people need a little time to decompress, reflect, think through a new life plan and make his 3 young children aware that they are his primary concern. Regroup, if you will, and not make impetuous decisions in one's middle age when you have less time to recover ground. There is an art to living alone, and it can be very rewarding(this from someone who met her husband at 19 and was married for 26 years). I am not advocating that he not have remarried. Just taken it slower and learned more about each other due to both parties complicated baggage.

 

[donheff]

Good grief those two are jerks. Especially the author -- he practically glories in his schemes. He is worse than his broker. How can anyone possibly have sympathy for people who knowingly do this to themselves and their families? The only positive aspect of the story is that, if there is any justice left in the world, they will get tossed out of their house when the mortgage bureaucrats eventually get around to them. Maybe his editors at the NYT will read the story and fire the guy? No, they will give him a raise. Oh well, if he gets a raise and makes money on his book, he wins the game. As long as he doesn't get some work out that lowers the principal on his mortgage maybe that is justice after all.

 

[Amethyst]

Some people play by the rules. Others play the system. It's all about where your talents lie. His talents lie, obviously, not in work itself, but in cannily, cynically working the system.

Judge him by the results he has obtained by using cynical methods. He gets what he wants: a wife who can stay home, a beach house for the family (so his ex-wife can't say the kids' lifestyles have gone down), a decent home in an expensive Maryland county. He's even figured out a way to live in his home without paying for it! That takes brains, folks! (And a lack, of course, of scruples or genuine shame).

With his book (how many of us could get a book published? Clearly, he is good at using his connections) he will knowingly play on a reliable flaw in the human race: our vanity. Tell-all books sell for one reason: People love to gloat over someone who admits he made embarrassing mistakes that "They" (the readers) would "never make." He knows many people have a burning desire to feel superior to other people, or at least feel "Hey, I'm not that bad, look what a dope this guy is."

And the biggest price he has ever had to pay is a few hours of angst over the cable bill. What a piece of work.

 

[ls99]

Good observations Amethyst.

Be curious where he'll be in 5 years, and who will take over payments on the high maintenance wife. OTOH maybe it just does not matter. Another blip in the economic chaos.

 

[Patsweb]

Correction: his wife did work and had an editorial position paying $60K until the recession hit and she was laid off.

This couple seems more typically American upper middle class than the folks on this board. But I'm not criticizing you all. I started hanging out here because I admire the financial sense expressed by the posters here. I was raised to LBYM and I lived that way most of my life, especially as a single mother putting myself through college and graduate school.

But when people remarry sometimes they want everything to be better than in their previous marriage so they go overboard trying to please their new partner. I've not experienced this but have witnessed it. And this author fits the picture. It's too bad that his actions had the exact opposite effect of his intention.

I was married over 30 years ago to a man who had totally different ideas than mine regarding money...his was spend it as fast as it comes in and borrow it if it doesn't...mine was to live modestly and save as much as possible, pay off all loans and live debt free. I am sure that if my ex-husband hadn't left me for greener pastures, it would have been a constant battle to become financially independant. However, this guy really seems to lack financial sense and surely contributed to their money problems. The mortage companies have no excuse for lending to people like this...it is pure greed.

 

[A854321]

This article is good cautionary tale about second marriages.

I agree with the comment that this is a story about personal relationships.

He certainly wasn't honest with himself about planning for the future of this blended family.

Both he and his wife had to sign all those mortage, re-finance, HELOC papers didn't they?

They are both crooks and jerks.

 

[unclemick]

I was married over 30 years ago to a man who had totally different ideas than mine regarding money...his was spend it as fast as it comes in and borrow it if it doesn't...mine was to live modestly and save as much as possible, pay off all loans and live debt free. I am sure that if my ex-husband hadn't left me for greener pastures, it would have been a constant battle to become financially independant. However, this guy really seems to lack financial sense and surely contributed to their money problems. The mortage companies have no excuse for lending to people like this...it is pure greed.

Not having ever been married - pretty is good for party time - but in the stretch you need one mean enough and tough enough to pull the plow when the mule dies.

Don't remember the origin but I do remember the saying from youth.

heh heh heh - After 30 plus years I may be mis-quoting but I'm close.

 

[Cattusbabe]

Not having ever been married - pretty is good for party time - but in the stretch you need one mean enough and tough enough to pull the plow when the mule dies.

Don't remember the origin but I do remember the saying from youth.

heh heh heh - After 30 plus years I may be mis-quoting but I'm close.

Well dag. Thats rough.

 

[freebird5825]

...He was in love..... I've been in love. Other than leading me to get married I don't remember that is made me stupid.

Repeat after me, and click your heels 3x...<waves her magic wand>...

Love is love
Business is business...
Love is love
Business is business...
Love is love
Business is business...

I'll let ya skip the ruby red slipper thing, but only this one time.

 

[Callie]

I heard him on NPR, he was insufferable. He must have said "the love of my life" 5 times. I bet his kids want to hear that. Total jerk with huge sense of entitlement.