Friday, December 10, 2010

Wall Street Bidding On Tax Debts

When Florida retiree Gladys Walker fell behind in paying taxes on her modest Pompano Beach home, she had no idea one of America's biggest banks and a major Wall Street hedge fund engaged in frenzied bidding for the right to collect her debt--all $768.25 of it.
"I just couldn't come up with the money," said Walker, 67, a former hotel worker who makes do on a monthly Social Security check.
Barely more than a year after a taxpayer bailout of major financial institutions, Bank of America and the hedge fund, Fortress Investment Group, spotted a fresh money-making opportunity - collecting the tax debts of tens of thousands of people like Walker. The bank and hedge fund can add interest charges and fees, and they bundled the debts as securities for investors.
In late May and early June, proxies for the two institutions quietly bought hundreds of millions of dollars in homeowners' property tax debts in Florida by bidding at a series of online auctions held by county tax collectors. They didn't use their names but donned multiple other identities, dominating the auctions and repeatedly bidding on the same parcels - in the case of Walker's small home, more than 8,000 times.
More Here..


6 comments:

  1. The "Coming" Depression? If you ask me, it's already here. Me, I can meat (ham, turkey, whatever is on sale) in a pressure cooker and as a "Mormon" have a year's supply of wheat (I make my own bread), rice, sugar, etc. and a year supply of fruit and veggies (canned, dried, frozen, etc.). It's simple to do, just buy a few extra cans when you shop - each time - and it will build up fast.

    - David

    Top 10 Aloe Vera Juice Benefits
    Holistic Nutrition and Health

    ReplyDelete
  2. Regarding natural nutrition and health check out this product that one of my friends told me about and it even helped his mom with her cancer. I bought it in the four packs to save more.

    http://www.symmetry-store.com/genesis.htm

    Also learn how to make your own colloidal silver at this webpage:

    http://keelynet.com/biology/colloid.htm

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  3. oh,well just another american Debt Peon that needs to submit to a bit more "austerity".

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  4. So much for freedom of speech. Won't waste my time on coming depression blogspot anymore.

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  5. wonder if Ikea's cheap brand had anything to do with the furniture store. americans love cheap products, and as furniture cheaply made falls apart they buy more thus-consumerism..and where to place more landfills.(can't burn it as full of chemicals-not even real wood) on the other hand if they were selling cheap products themselves-oh well, they got swallowed by the beasty stores which buy in major volumes so can sell cheap products even cheaper then the cheapy little chain store. guess no heirlooms becoming fine antiques will be produced in these generations as we won't pay for such solid products.

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  6. lets get moblized people. Hit the streets with some metal pipes, break cars, break windows. no resisting American folks.

    - Sam

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Everyone is encouraged to participate with civilized comments.