I am the 99%.
In 2006 I bought a house. It has a 30 year mortgage and a 6% interest rate. I could afford the payments and I put down a substantial down payment. In 2009, I accepted a job 500 miles away in another city, but I could not sell the house I bought just 3 years earlier. I found that I now owe more on the mortgage than the house is worth. I'm underwater through no fault of my own. So, I am now a reluctant landlord - the owner of a house one city which I rent to another family while I rent an apartment in the city where I now work and live.
I am angry. The house that I bought at the top of the market was over valued due to practices that Wall Street investment bankers engaged in. They knew that the mortgage backed securities that they created and were selling were worthless. They knew that the securities were backed by adjustable mortgages that would result in foreclosure once their rates adjusted. The investment bankers even created hedge funds to make sure that when these mortgage backed securities came crashing down, the bank would be covered.
My anger, however, goes deeper. These same bankers were bailed out when the market crashed. They received money from our government to make sure that they didn't fail and are now back on their feet. I, however, still own a house that is worth less than what I paid for it because of the gambles that these investment bankers made. I bought the house on good faith that it was worth what the appraiser said it was worth. But because of this unknown ticking bomb that was set to go off in just a few short months, it really wasn't worth what I paid for it. The investment bankers knew it and hedged their bets. I, like many others, was left holding a losing hand.
If I were a business, I could cut my losses, file bankruptcy, walk away and start over. I am not a business, so I can only continue to make loan payments and hope that I can continue to find renters. I am a member of a group that negotiated in good faith but is now disillusioned with our financial, industrial, and governmental leaders. They have left us holding the bag as they walk away.
I am the 99%. I am a responsible citizen. I am angry. I am fed up.
