Reuters:
Some Americans are swapping homes for motels as the ranks of the homeless swell during the recession, crowding out shelters and forcing cities and states across the country to find new types of housing.
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And really, wouldn't it just be cheaper to keep people in their homes? I mean look at the loss the banks take on foreclosures and look at the money being spent on people forced out of their homes....... and look at the amount of money GIVEN to the banking industry.
No, there is a better soluton than putting people out on the street.
Dear people who have been and are still in charge of this damn "trickle down" crap: TURN ON THE SPIGOTS and stop holding our economy, our country, hostage to your greed. Yes, I'm looking at YOU WALL STREET AND BANKERS AND CORPORATE WELFARE RECIPIENTS!!! You must be so proud.
I write this as I am ONE payment away from defaulting on my mortgage and no jobs in sight for 53 year old single income women. You all must just be soooooooooooo proud.
MyrtleJune, I've been there- what a horrible time in this country to be in our 50's. But do try to hang in there.
As to your question: Wouldn't it just be cheaper to keep people in their homes? Of course it would. But from some of the comments I've read over the past few months on this and other sites, I can tell you that there is a very deep vein of selfish smugness in this country and a desire to actually punish people who fall through he cracks and blame them for their misfortune.
And that is why there is no political will to help people- to force real mortgage reform. "Rugged individualism," that phony American motto, decrees that we need to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps, and that hardship is actually for our own good. This is the koolaid our corporate system had fed us.
can you get a roommate?
I am not an expert on this situation. Would it be cheaper to make the monthly house payments for these people instead of the motel and hotel payments? To bad there wasn't any money in TARP, or the bailout, or the stimulus for this. I wish I was rich and could help all the people who need it so desperately out there. My heart aches for them.
The American Dream; 21st century style?
What is more shocking about this recession is not people living in motels, it is the vacant housing.
It is just as if 10-20% of the population just disappeared. Where did all the people go that used to live in the now vacant homes, condos and apartments? Housing demand across the board is significantly down, even rentals.
I still have not seen a good investigation into the side effects of the recession on people, families because I am sure that this population the disappeared if being very badly affected by the recession.
millions of them went back to Mexico (this not a racially motivated comment). all you have to see is a lot of small country towns to see the hispanic stores closed. the economy is better there for low skilled labor. they are trading no work for little work. also, a lot less hassle.
Millions is a stretch. Thousands went back to Mexico. We saw a pretty good decrease in the number of (illegal parents household) children in our schools last year. In fact, it caused consolidation of schools in some neighborhoods. Illegals are a very small fraction of the problem.
Some of that stimulus money should go to renovation of buildings and hotels and motels into family units where they can at least have beds, baths, and a rudimentary kitchen. This would give the people some dignity and the ability to be presentable for job seeking.
This is a problem all over the country and should be treated as such. The program could be set up where indivdiduals who find employment are required to bank so much of their earnings with the shelter to save toward finding a home or apartment in order to leave the shelter. Were they to have one social worker per center, they could concentrate all programs and things available with that one social worker and people could get assistance without being worn down and be able to concentrate on getting their lives back in order.
Sometimes, people do become homeless due to poor choices, but with assistance and some rules and guidance they can get back on their feet and become productive and happy. Sometimes, this happens due to no fault of people who were hard-working and contributors to society.
This is horrible. These motels can charge sometimes $200/300.00 a wk, making it almost impossible for a family to save enough for a down payment on another house or apartment.
Why isn't this the lead story?
What did folks expect when people were draining their savings and retirements trying to avoid foreclosure and ruining their credit? Never mind trying to afford COBRA payments once they lost their jobs.
Ditto. Should be lead stories on all media.
for the past few years, i have recommended that people who lose their jobs, and subsequently their income, to sell their homes. this would allow them to extract the equity and buy some time without using their retirement funds. my recommendations were based upon the assumption that their houses were never going to be worth what they are worth now (or then). guess what? NO ONE wanted to do that.
an alternative to selling would be to get a roommate or two. guess what? NO ONE wanted to do that either. the handwriting has been on the wall for a long time for many people/families. if you are not living within your means, ANY disruption to your finances will take you over the edge.
in my experience as a financial advisor for 17 years, no one wants to compromise life style in order to lower their financial risk. people don't usually find themselves in financial trouble because of one event -- it's a series of life decisions.
having said this, i recognize that it is particularly tough right now for people who have lost jobs with no prospect of finding one soon, particularly in places like the rust belt. couple this with the fact that we had a negative savings rate until recently, and i am not at all surprised at what is happening. unfortunately, the government cannot save everyone and probably can't save most people.
I am surprised I haven't seen more stories like this in the local or national press. Either the problems of the recession/depression are not as widespread as I thought, or the media has decided they are not worthy of coverage.
If a significant number of people are displaced, I want to know about it and see it on the news. To hide it from the American public will prevent any change from the bottom up.
The media wants to keep you distracted with the TomKat-MJ-Paris Hilton-type stories so you will still buy (with whatever money you have left) the stuff you probably don't need that they advertise and spend your hard-earned money to go see dumb movies (that start with a "B").
If they show a lot of recession/depression-type stories people would "hunker down" in survivor mode and nobody would want to buy anything. They might even use money to *gasp* help the poor!
In a sense the "don't hunker down" reason for little media attention at least has some fiscal rationale. But it also has the effect of keeping us from rev olution.
What a effing disaster Bush/Cheney made with their corrupt governance.
And they got to move out to huge homes that could house tens of people. Why do we Americans think we need so much house? I feel guilty because I have a small guest bedroom that is empty. Last year I did have a homeless acquaintance live in it while she saved up for a place of her own. She was here four months and was able to get back on her feet. If this could be duplicated, then we would have one answer to the homeless problem. My fear is that taking a person in that I do not know would be unsafe.
Man that would be awesome, getting to stay in a motel every night!
This is really unsurprising, while a motel will keep you in the area and around the kids' school it seems like a good temporary solution. Unfortunately, the sheer cost will eat into a good three-quarters of a paycheck and make it impossible to recoup savings.
I really am reminded of the fantastic book "Nickel and Dimed". Being able to sustain oneself week to week and stay afloat, but the idea of a "better life" or just being able to plan for any sort of future is impossible. Seems like more and more of the American population are having to trade in their brick-and-mortar homes for houses made of cards.
I read it too and it was a revelation. In (at that time) my ignorance, I never realized how extremely difficult it is to get yourself out of that situation. Everything is stacked against you. And then I read some posters on this site who feel people are lazy and shouldn't ask for a handout. I hope they have to walk in these folks shoes for a few months.
while reading "nickel and dimed," i was puzzled by why the author didn't try to lower her largest fixed expense -- shelter -- by sharing accomodations with someone else in a similar financial situation. of course no one can support themselves, much less save anything, if they're earning minimum wage AND paying rent by themselves. interestingly, she never addressed this issue in the book.
Personal safety immediately leaps to mind. Unless you know the other person reasonably well, it would be difficult to bunk with a person in a similar situation.
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First Posted: 07-11-09 11:49 AM | Updated: 07-11-09 12:07 PM