NY Times Writer and His Mortgage Woes

So the blogosphere's verdict is in. New York Times' economics reporter Edmund Andrews' tell-all about his personal credit crisis, which ran in the newspaper's Sunday magazine, is brave. Courageous. Unflinching. A must-read. "Bravo to Andrews for leaning into the strike zone and taking one for the team," cheers The Atlantic's Megan McArdle, who is thrilled that someone has finally spoken up about how economically risky it is be a writer, thanks to the expensive education required and all the rich friends you're likely to accumulate along the way. "And you come to feel that shopping at the farmer's market, traveling to Europe, drinking good coffee, are minimum necessities," she notes.

It seems Andrews' "minimum necessities" included a $460,000 home in Silver Spring, Md., and a $500,000 mortgage to pay for it -- a stretch considering that he was handing over $4,000 a month to his ex-wife for alimony and child support, which whittled down the take-home on his $120,000 annual salary to $2,777 a month. But Andrews had a new wife, Patty, who "was brainy, regal, sexy, fiery and eclectic." Patty didn't have a job, but she did have two children who would be living with them; Andrews had three sons of his own who stays with them on weekends.

Andrews reports that despite bringing home "barely enough to make ends meet in a one-bedroom rental apartment" he was able to get a mortgage and move into his dream home. "It had been so easy and fast. Almost fun," he admits. Five months later, however, he is broke. And while he is worried sick, Patty, who eventually gets a decent job but loses it, is clearly not. "Patty spent little on herself, but she refused to scrimp on top-quality produce, Starbucks coffee, bottled juices, fresh cheeses and clothing for the children and for me," Andrews reports. "She regularly bought me new shirts and ties to replace the frayed and drab ones in my closet. She thought it wasn't worth agonizing over nickels and dimes. I was almost exactly the opposite." The couple soon wracks up nearly $50,000 in credit card debt, thanks, we are led to assume, to Patty.

What follows is a predictable trail of refinancings, panic attacks, marital stress and looming foreclosure. At the end of the piece, Andrews admits he hasn't paid his mortgage in eight months, but his lender, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSEJPM), is too busy to deal with him. His story is certainly compelling, but was it really "brave" or "courageous" of him to tell it? Or was it simply self-indulgent and really smart marketing?

Turns out that the piece is adapted from a book by Andrews that is coming out next month, called "Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown." Andrews has found a way to potentially profit from his recklessly lousy decisions by writing a book about them, and then using his position as a Timesman -- not just a Timesman but an economics Timesman! -- to help promote that book. Nice going, Ed! How many others who are mired in debt have that option? Andrews does own up to the mistakes he made - "nobody duped or hypnotized me," he writes -- but I can't help but wonder if, when he signed on the dotted line, he knew somewhere deep inside that things would be alright. After all, he writes for The New York Times. Based on McArdle's view of what well-educated writers deserve -- and $120,000 is hardly chump change -- doesn't Andrews deserve a decent house? Doesn't his status as a reporter for one of the world's premier newspapers dictate that he should have a certain lifestyle, despite a divorce, children (who's paying for college?) and a killer mortgage? If the book is successful enough -- and Andrews keeps the house -- then maybe being a Timesman is worth it.

In fact, Andrews offers a different, more Oprah-ready excuse for his behavior -- "the money was there and I was in love." Well, who isn't? And for all that love, he has no trouble throwing Patty under the bus for running up bills at J.Crew and GapKids. It does make you wonder: What would this story read like if Patty wrote it? And I'm not convinced that Andrews' airing of his dirty laundry is such an act of bravery. At the end of the piece, he reports that the kids are "thriving." We wonder how they feel now that their parents' financial lives have become fodder for Sunday morning breakfast conversation.

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Comments

[californiadreamer]

Read the article last week in NYT Sunday magazine. I thought Wow, lots of chutzpah to let his employers know that he is pretty incompetent about financial matters yet he covers the Federal Reserve. Where was his investigative reporting when the crisis was brewing. I know wanting to keep up with the Jones is a big factor in some of these mortgages. But that is what America is all about--selling the American dream. Now that the dream is over, what are they going to sell? Thrift and less is more values? That doesn't help the American capitalist system very much. I do think that there will be a different way people live in the future and it will be out of necessity, but it will bring down the current system that seems to reward manipulating money and credit and not so much about producing actual things that are sold.

[brooklyncitizen]

Well fodder or not the book is their ticket out of debtor's prison (metaphorically speaking).

[corwin]

Jade,
Please explain how the minority homeowners trying to get ahead are trying to get ahead. This is a sincere enquiry,

[dadw5boys]

1000's of Real Estate Agents took out Sub Prime Loans too. They were just as dumb to get suckered into that can game.

.

[Tyroc]

Hey, Oprah? Do I have Book Club selection for you.

[provgrays]

I heard him on NPR and he partly blamed being in love for making poor financial choices.

Why is this worthy of media coverage?

[jade7243]

Funny, when everyone was "outraged" at the minority borrowers who defrauded the mortgage industry we were told because they couldn't prove their incomes, didn't deserve the credit they received, and even though many of those families were working multiple jobs to pay for overpriced middle-class housing thanks to the boom/bust cycle and home flippers, people like Andrews got the proverbial "free pass." Why? Because he was not a minority. He's a decent looking white guy who knew better. Yet no one is demanding that people like him be booted into the street. He kept up his champagne lifestyle (with the "selfless" stay-at-home wife). Unlike others who were doing everything right -- or more right -- to get into their home and try to keep it.

The shame is Andrews (who probably received a hefty book advance) won't be vilified for what he's done. But the minority homeowners striving to get ahead will be. And that really sucks.

[Tyroc]

Amen!

[provgrays]

Everything is race in America.

[WinterParkMom]

"Andrews has found a way to potentially profit from his recklessly lousy decisions by writing a book about them, and then using his position as a Timesman -- not just a Timesman but an economics Timesman! -- to help promote that book."

That is exactly what I thought when I read the original article. At least he knew he had the contacts to make if it came down to needing them, and I'm certain he didn't hesitate.

I wonder about the not paying for 8 months before foreclosure, especially on that large mortgage,
People here in Florida are being foreclosed upon after 30 or 60 days and for much much less.

[Lita Smith-Mines - Huffpost Blogger]

I saw the couple on the Today Show this morning, and I reflected on how many of my clients are in as serious financial trouble as the author, yet have no outlet to tell their tales of woe for fees.

I have tried to help many people escape their burdensome debt because they weren't financially savvy enough to seek counsel before they took on onerous mortgages, and I have felt awful when their lenders were uncooperative or they lost their jobs and workouts didn't materialize. But an economics writer cannot plead ignorance or even innocence, and yet he might get out of his debt with book sales and/or adverse publicity Chase may want to avoid.

I do not begrudge any relief Mr. Andrews receives. But it pains me that a great many of those who were truly taken advantage of during the last few years--who shared with me tales of needing money for medical bills, foundering businesses, college tuition, and leaking roofs-- have zero opportunities to escape from their financial holes.

[LittleGirl]

+1. beautifully put. Thank you for saying it so I don't have to type it too.

[Calinative]

It might not seem to equate with medical bills, foundering businesses, or college tuition, but many a man has been driven to ruin by a woman. Just turn on the radio if you don't believe me. That was obviously the guy's problem. His first wife was already soaking him for $4k a month before the new wife came along. And don't forget the new wife had driven her first husband to bankruptcy too.