Trouble In Paradise: Record Foreclosures In Hamptons

Homeowners in the some of the toniest ZIP codes in the Hamptons are facing a frightening reality - they can't afford to foot the bill for their high-priced homes, The Post has learned.

In the first three months of this year, banks have launched preliminary foreclosure actions - known as lis pendens proceedings - against a record 120 borrowers in East Hampton and Southampton towns.

Twenty percent of those borrowers live in homes that are worth more than $1 million, according to figures from the Suffolk County clerk.

And the list gets longer every week.

"This problem didn't even exist before," said John Brady, a broker with Coldwell Banker in East Hampton. "They used to pop up once in a while, and you wouldn't even pay attention. Now you expect to see new ones every week."

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[MetalCanuck]

The inflation Ron PAul talks about will hit everyone. Too bad people had to vote CFR again and now we are finished. Too bad people had to believe lies about Ron and now we have incompetence running for the White house who will mess things up more.

[fact finder]

If it is true that "brown stuff rolls down hill" then I guess it has gotten so full that it finally is hitting those that produce it.

[KillTheMessenger]

Shocking! The sky is falling, it is the second coming. People in the Hampton's are going broke!

But then, again, who cares?

[TheCowman]

hehehe

[torrrep]

Your ignorant comment proves the point that you have nothing but distain and hatred for all people who are better off than yourself. Do I think they should be bailed out? No. If they overextended themselves and made stupid investments then I don't feel sorry for them. If they bought more than they can afford then I don't feel sorry for them. I feel the same towards ALL who placed themselves in similar situations. But NEVER have I smirked, giggled, or taken joy in the fact that ANYONE was going to lose their home. Your comment highlights the hypocrisy and hatred from the left. It's amazing you can even sleep at night.

[KillTheMessenger]

Oh, come on. Show a little sense of humor.

[RThM]

How you can read "hatred from the left" into "hehehe" is beyond me. No one is loosing their home because these aren't homes of any sort. You don't seem to be aware of just what the Hamptons are. It's a collection of formerly farming and fishing towns at the far end of Long Island now filled to the stretching point with the huge summer-weekend playhouses of corporate skimmers and other assorted super rich people. Many of the very same types who created and profited incredibly from the financial mess that has caused so many real people to lose real homes. These are not nice people and the original article in the NY Post, hardly a bastion of leftist hatred by any stretch of the imagination, is one big "hehehe" anyway. So go grind your ax somewhere else.

[bola47]

it is quite obvious that you have never met any of these bastards that drive around the east end thinking they are better than everyone else.

[Sundialsvc4]

Although I certainly feel for these people and their plight .. to which they are no-doubt unaccustomed .. it does help to drive-home the point that "devaluation" is a Depression waiting to happen ... and not waiting long. It is built on a system of "negotiable obligations," and once those obligations become unsustainable the entire house of cards (as it is popularly called by then...) starts to unwind catastrophically. The longer that we pretend that it is otherwise, the more serious the catastrophe can be.

Let's face it: we are vulnerable. This vulnerability is a direct product of mismanagement at a national level. A nation of 300 million cannot be "a consumer nation." You cannot sustain an "economy" that values "just in time" and "lowest price" above all other things. If a man sits in a chair for thirty years, without making any sort of effort for himself, his legs turn into sticks and then his body -dies.-

There is a gang of illegitimate power-mavens who have situated themselves in the highest halls of all three branches of our great land, and they are busily dismantling it for what they consider to be their own "gain." It's like drilling holes in the bottom of a ship at sea "to save weight."

Truly, the safety of our Republic IS at stake: I say that with a voice both urgent and calm. "The enemy within. One if by Land. One if by Land."

[BADEN]

And THESE are the people that GOT the tax break.

No tears shed here.

[torrrep]

At least they paid taxes.

[RThM]

And you've seen their statements or is this a generalization? Like, "The poor are lazy and that's why they have no money?"

[KHAAANNN]

Possibly paid taxes.
The average tax paid by the upper 2% is 14% of income.
With the upper .5% that drops to under 10%.
The smart ones built their summer palaces in Florida, where there are no real estate taxes, and then claim them as "places of business" because they hold dinner parties there. More tax breaks. Usually the home is purchased for them through a shell corporation by his/her company as a "perk" anyway, along with the private jet and yacht, and he/she lives off the unlimited company credit cards anyway. REALLY rich people don't spend ANY of their own money. Nice work if you can get it.

[Arethirtypercentinsane]

Okay, okay, okay, we get the poor don't pay taxes thing. Don't you believe the GOP government YOU helped elect is screwing up the country in so many more vital ways than just the tax thing? Come on, get a grip, admit you screwed up and vote Democratic going forward.

[WIpatriot]

Check out the story about one guy who skipped out $200M in taxes:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/13/banker-indicted-for-helpi_n_101560.html

[armageddontiredofthis]

Nothing to see here. Move on...

[bola47]

is there anyone out there who feels sorry for these poor folks? i guess their park avenue co-ops are next.

[awcbuddy8]

Yeah it's not like they're people or anything.

[WIpatriot]

Or they have 2 or 3 houses or anything. They overextended themselves just like the woman making $30K buying a $350K house woth no money down that your side harps on as the prime example.

[gcallaghan]

For Christ's sakes. Can't somebody give these needy people another tax cut?

[filo]

Why hasn't Bush stepped in ? He has to DO something about these poor millionaires. (sniff sniff)

[RThM]

It's the Hamptons. The dynamics are different. Many of them are actually Clinton types!

[BobEvansZombie]

The funny thing is is that these people would get government financial help before anyone in the lower 70%.

[Tom95134]

We must be in a recession. Even the rich are getting foreclosed which is the only sign of a recession that Republicans recognize.

I suggest they march on the White House and tell the guy that they elected just how stupid he is..

[Jess27]

Sorry but I don't feel bad for those who live in multi-million dollar homes. The fact is that most of those who live in E Hampton have another house to go to, so cry me a river.

[JScott]

I've also noticed what could be 2 or 3 foreclosures (unkempt landscaping, no window coverings and empty inside and remodels stopped mid construction) in Bel Air one of the toniest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, in the neighborhood of Elizabeth Taylor and Nancy Reagan.

[uglicoyote]

If you read the whole story you come across this:

"Brady said the high-end, delinquent borrowers are finance types, lawyers and speculators who overextended themselves on second homes and investment properties."

Gee! I feel so sorry for these folks . Lets take some of my hard-earned tax dollars and bail them out.

[bikerdude]

I have trouble emphasizing with the have mores. Paybacks are a bitch and I'm glad they get to experience this. Now, if they and/or their kids can get drafted into the military to fight Bush's war, that would be even better...

[torrrep]

They probably paid more in taxes than you earned all year. So stop acting like you are the only one who pays taxes.

[RThM]

Who cares. It's still one vote per person. Or should they be able to buy more with their tax money?