Interesting news from Bloomberg this morning: the second-largest U.S. securities firm is tightening the home-equity belt.
Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest U.S. securities firm, told thousands of clients this week that they won’t be allowed to withdraw money on their home-equity credit lines, said a person familiar with the situation.
Most of the clients had properties that have lost value, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. The New York-based investment bank will review home-equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, monthly from now on, the person said yesterday.
I’ve never liked the idea of a home-equity line of credit. It’s risky for investors and it is incredibly risky for home-owners. It’s far too easy to spend into the indebted obscurity of a black hole. I would never, never, never get a line of credit for this house– it would gobble up every dollar and then demand blood. It is essential to have a budget and stick to it.
But this move by Morgan Stanley sends shivers up my spine. They are being secretive about their losses, but speculative estimates are upwards into the billions, most of which is unrecoverable.
The president and his cronies can toss flower petals all day, and say that the economy is “good” or “recovering.” But when you see the biggest and riskiest of banks and firms closing their doors and shutting down lending systems, it evokes bells and whistles that things are going down for a while. I’m as optimistic as any one, but it would be plain dumb to pretend that nothing is wrong and to keep spending, spending, spending like drunken sailors. Why oh why is our government the first to create the problem and the last to fix it?
7. August 2008 at 1:39 pm
Things are going well for us – partially because WE DON’T BORROW MONEY!
That is why they are called HEL(L)-loc.
7. August 2008 at 3:29 pm
Great post. They can tell us all they want but we are not stupid enough to believe the rhetoric.
7. August 2008 at 3:53 pm
Hi Mrs. Mecomber! You are really keeping an eye out for stuff that matters, I just subscribed to your feed. Don’t know why I haven’t done it sooner. I think we are being deprived of info that might cause us to go shopping less. Now that most media outlets are owned by huge commercial conglomerates, we can rely on them less and less for ugly essential truths. Our government is probably hoping to wring another economic recovery out of the middle class’s wallets… The blogosphere provides me with the street-level, reality based observations that I need. Thank you for your good blogging.
PS: About our not having a basement: They are very unusual around here and I’m not sure why. I think it can be hard to keep them dry during our web-footed winters! But I will ask our builder about basements, and let you now what I came up with. Thanks for visiting and asking! Bonnie
8. August 2008 at 8:41 am
I just don’t get why someone would pull out a line of credit on their house? I think so many people thought the market would just get better, they never thought about what might happen.
As for the economy, I think it will get a lot worse before it gets any better.
8. August 2008 at 11:52 am
Thanks for the thoughtful comments. Lisa, I wish I had been so wise. We have had some major financial setbacks –in NY it’s called “chronic job loss”
— and are in debt. It’s so hard right now. As you can tell. Cuz my kitchen is still a plaster disaster, lol.
Karen, exactly!
Bonnie, thanks for subscribing! I appreciate that. I look forward to your answers about the basement system on your end of the continent.
Yep, I think the same thing about the media. I am meeting so many people whose suspicions are aroused.
Holly- people get a home equity line of credit for lots of reasons. It’s sold to homeowners on the basis that they will always have money “available” for all of those little home emergencies or over-budget projects. I could see how it would appeal to folks because there is a sense of security, but it is a presumed sense and it does not bring security; rather it crushes it.
Home equity loans of any type are more difficult to get. The banks are clamping down, the economy is horrid, and- more importantly– property taxes have risen exponentially by rising up to full assessed valuation, but the market value of properties has not risen to meet it. In other words, we’re paying much more for less value, and all because local governments want the tax money.
Here in New York, property tax payments are now MORE THAN mortgage payments. That’s CRIMINAL.