thefinalbear

"The worrying thing is, you find overwhelmingly the bankcrupties and IVAs are in 2007, you get the odd data point going back to 1993, but not many. The recession is here i believe." Hold your horses.........the register only shows current bankruptcys (which last 12 months) - people who went bankrupt are then kept on the public register for a further 3 months and then removed. Because IVA's last 5 years - they will stay on the register for much longer. Basically if you went bankrupt in 2004 you will no longer be shown - if you took out an IVA then you will be. But you are right........the recession is here. For anyone thinking about bankruptcy......I've known a few people who wnet through it. Basically in the year after you file for it you are pretty fecked - even getting access to a basic bank account is difficult. However if you have gone bankrupt through business failure then you will get a much easier time of it (by the Official reciever) than you will if you go under through feckless spending or gambling. Afterwards getting access to credit will be difficult for the years afterwards (not that you would necessarily want to - the bankrupts I know act very differently afterwards - so careful with cash and business dealings - if I was their bank manager I would galdly extend whatever credit a discharged bankrupt wanted because they would rather chew their arm off than go through it again) - getting a mortgage is near on impossible as well. However after 6 years it is removed completely from your file - so life does begin again eventually.

Something along the lines of..........have you seen this website...........hosuepricecrash.co.uk...........what do you think of it? That should do the trick.....and if not at least you've tried.

You know what they're singing about Citi? We built this Citi We built this Citi We built this Citi on rocky loans.......

The FT goes into a bit more detail http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8e2b4ece-d101-11...?nclick_check=1

With relation the the above comments RE: buying bonds in a high inflation environment - I think what Goldfinger was trying to say was that high inflation will mean real interest rates of below zero which will erode your capital. I would think that Goldfinger would recommend that you buy commodities (such as gold, silver, copper, tulips whatever as long as its real) to protect your capital against erosion of buying power. You are unlikely to lose when buying govt bonds as they will never default (touch wood) but what you could buy today with the money invested is not necessarily what you could buy tomorrow. Buying hard assets will at least protect your buying power if nothing else. Edit: Looks like Garch got there first :-)

"Some people have only waited on this to get out." and it'll be their very last chance....

"What's the next bubble?" Lets do tulips again.........

I would take the hit. But I would pledge never to buy another product from that bank again. Incidentally I think that a £35 'fee' for bouncing a direct debit is daylight robbery. But I question the view that banks are taking that we need to replace their obsene profit levels. When I put my cash in my bank account I am giving that bank an unsecured loan!!! All I want my bank to do is protect my cash. There is no need for 'service' fees at all. (especially when bugger all 'service' is being provided).

How the FSA have failed us, lets count the ways: 1. Failure to stop the endowment mis-selling problem. 2. Failure to stop mortgage fraud 3. Failure to investigate ANY insider trading (except for a few who get a little fine - Jabre springs to mind) 4. Failure to stop N Rock collapse - or even realise there could be trouble brewing 5. Allow banks to rob people blind with overdraft 'charges' at £35 a time. The FSA actually granted the banks a 'waiver' that lets them continue to impose charges that are illegal while the OFT test case carries on. I thought bank were meant to protect your money. The Mash do it best: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/busines...es-20080114656/

Heads should roll at the FSA, says Vince Cable Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor Vince Cable says Alistair Darling should be firing FSA chairman Sir Callum McCarthy after the regulator's "systematic failure" over Northern Rock rather than increasing his powers. He says: "After the Treasury Select Committee report concluded that the FSA was guilty of ‘systematic failure’ over Northern Rock, it is baffling that the Chancellor now seems intent on giving it a bigger role, rather than the Bank of England. “The Government should be firing the chair of the FSA, not giving this failed regulator more responsibility. Immediately after being reappointed as Governor, Mervyn King is being undermined because powers are being shifted elsewhere." Cable says Darling seems focused on how to treat the symptoms of banking failures rather than addressing the causes. He says: “Improved depositor protection is welcome, but not all problems in the financial sector can be solved by regulation alone. Ministers must work to make the whole banking sector more competitive. By breaking down the barriers which stop new and innovative companies entering the banking market and by letting banks fail, we can drive down costs and improve business practices.” http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/cgi-bin/it...h=341&f=342

Thats just weird......what are they playing at? Guess they're trying to tell us we going down.

lets sell the gold......no wait.....

I think the stories about bad tenants on landlord forums are not funny (especially not for either the LL's or the tenants - not all of them anyways). Rather they point to how being a landlord is pretty tiring and difficult and not the get rich quick scheme that plenty of people were sold into. Unfortunately there are far more amateurs in BTL than professionals and in an economic downturn its going to get pretty ugly pretty quickly - as theses anecdotes are showing

"would be interested to know if approvals means they are actual mortgage advances" Mortgages approved does not necessarily mean that a mortgage funds/completes. In fact plenty do drop off due to chain break etc...... expect the real figure of approvals to fund to be much lower.

Yeah - fair play - that last one was a bit sad.....

Yeah that reply is classic landlord VI..... here's another one.......sign of the times to come? A tenant has left one of my properties after she was given a notice to quite, but owe me £1,200. She left no forwarding address, but I have found out where she works and have her NI number. I have also found out she has a ccj against her from the inland revenue and they are currently trying to get an attachement to earnings order. She appearrs to have lots of other debts by the post which is arriving daily. Can I write to her at her place of employment to give a final warning that I am going for a ccj unless she makes contact and offers to pay some money, or would this be seen as harrassment. If I get a ccj at her old address, which she will not contest because she is not there, can I piggy back on the back of the inleand revenue deduction from earnings.

or this......... "Up to now, she hasn't made a single payment of rent and minimal arrears repayment. On Jan 1st, she posted us a letter giving 8 weeks notice to leave the property (so leaving at the end of Feb 08) and wrote a load of rubbish about not having to pay rent. I responded in writing, reciting the law to shoot down her letter. Also, since this has become a troublesome tenancy, my father decided that he'd accept her notice (despite there being no break-clause in the contract) but the letter made it clear that arrears would be chased through the courts if necessary. The letter asked her to pay the arrears up to December 07 within 14 days or it would be pursued via the Small Claims Track. This time has passed without response. I get the feeling that she will leave the property without paying a penny and perhaps worse still, she'll remain after the agreed leaving date. Therefore, i am after a bit of advice:"

The stories are ten a penny now...... "Tenant owes me rent - cites 'mental health' as why she won't pay" Tenant owes me rent - cites 'mental health' as why she won't pay My tenant (student unfortunately) has done a runner five months before the contract's up. I haven't got my keys back, nor any explanation from her, but the other tenants have informed me that she has written to me (haven't received anything as yet) and has cited 'mental health problems' as her reason for leaving, and says she has medical evidence to prove that she has to move out (and clearly she'll have stopped the standing order). Now obviously - solicitor etc. is my next step, but does she have any grounds? It's a normal AST - nothing crazy, but I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience of this before? Any help much appreciated. from landlordzone.co.uk

Thats a great one........ but this sums up HPC mood Hi all Im still a new landlord and own 3 rental props. We have just remortgaged one of our props and released 20k equity just for cash flow purposes. I would love to own/buy more props but the stress of being a landlord takes it toll. Rising interst rates/lower profit margins/voids/hidden costs/poor tenants etc make you work dammed hard to just cover costsOuch With poor expectations for house prices/sales in next fem years how do you cope with the worry and heartache of being a prop investor. I do use letting agents to manage the props for me but reading the property books makes it seem so easy. am i alone in feeling like this or am i just in a rut? woo hoo post 100 - do I get a prize now?

or this......... As pedicted they've gone. Today round lunchtime. Room left in disgusting state. Owing 3 weeks rent. Got keys back. it's a long story, but my aupair did phone and we got home as soon as we could. I actually saw them from a distance walking along carrying a desk and a chair. As I was walking back home that is. So I know what road they have moved to but could not see which house or No. Who in their right mind, trying to dodge out of paying the last bit of rent, move just one minute from us round the corner. I don't suppose I have any way to persue the unpaid rent. Even if I knew the house - it could be a conversion so their new flat could be any number. I only know the name of the road and it's like the 5th house down on the right. I know the No. of the house they were in before they came to live here. I wonder if I should pop round and find out if they caused any problems there. They may well be able to give me some more info or try and help. I wanted to send them a nasty text, but I'm trying to keep calm and professional about all this. I wish there was something I could do. I feel sorry for the people they've just moved to. How did they BS their way in? The same way they pulled the wool over my eyes I guess. How can I find out their exact address as I jolly well will take this further. Probably a stupid Q but has this happened anyone on here. :-) Jolly good show

But wait......there's more. When I bought the property last Feb there was a sitting council tenent who had been there nearly 6 years; he is a slightly strange chap, quite angry, ex-body builder (!) and has violent tendancies! His rent was paid directly from the council to us so whilst we were recieving the rent we decided just to leave him to his own devices in the flat. However, in December due to a 'change in personal circumstances' his housing benefits were suspended awaiting further information from him. The tenent did not contact the council and his housing benefit has therfore since been terminated. However, the tenent has not been at the property since sometime at the end of November (I have conducted a mid-tenancy inspection have gaged this date from the mail by the door and dates on rubbish in the bins) although all his possessions are still in the flat. It looks as if he just walked out of the door one morning and has not returned since. The tenent is now owing over £1000 in unpaid rent and I don'r know how to find him. I have contacted the police, who say they can't help me and the local magistrates court have no record of him havig been throughthe court and sent to prison. Please, anyone who has any ideas how I can find my tenent so I can either get my rent or get him out please reply to me. Or if you have any ideas how I go about legaly getting my flat back even though I am unable to contact him, I'm getting desperate. Thanks

Could well be a spoof.....but there are lots of other posts like this around the LL forums........not quite as carzy as this one though. Couldn't help posting it here. My favourite line.... "he has now in the last month opened an animal sanctuary in the garden with 70+ animals" "all these animals have invalidated my insurance and i cant evict him all the time the court is allowing him to appeal"

Occasionally I read a few landlord forums - just to get another view of what is going on. This post is from landlord-forum.co.uk Hi, I am currently trying to evict the tenant from hell from my property and wish to hear from any landlord that thinks my case sounds a similar experience, i gave the tenant a 12 month agreement on my home whist i was away working, he was a nightmare, so i got a possession order and a warrant of eviction granted in the county court to get him out, the tenant has now used a promissory esstopal to get the warrant set aside on the defence of a claim in equity !! and as his evidence (to be heard in september), has produced a copy of his tenancy agreement with all the dates removed !! and a mass of photographs showing that the property he claims was derelict when he moved in ?? with apparently holes smashed in the ceilings, kitchen units and fires removed and graffetti on the walls PLUS now a new set of recent photos showing that the tenant has done the place up and redecorated..i'm totally stunned in disbelief, the tenant has obviously trashed the place since recieving notice to quit and quickly tarted it up again putting in a defence claim for £18.000 + costs !!, the case has now dragged on for 9 months while i try to prove him a liar and a fraud.and its obviously costing me a fortune in legal fees while the tenants remains in the property on the dole with unlimited legal aid while the case continues.as i am still regarded as the claiment for ending the tenancy legitamately i cannot get legal aid unlike the dole scrouging tenant, its so unbelievable and so clever that the tenant seems so very very experianced at what he is doing, i believe he has definately worked this scam before and UNBELIEVABLE he has now in the last month opened an animal sanctuary in the garden with 70+ animals !!! (8 months after recieving his section 21 notice), now claiming to be a non-profit making unregistered charity !! and asking for the public to donate money to help him feed all these animals, its like a terriable dream i keep thinking i will wake up and find it isnt happening, all these animals have invalidated my insurance and i cant evict him all the time the court is allowing him to appeal, the police say he isnt actually breaking the law by what he's doing !...someone somewhere in the kent or maybe the surrey or essex area ( i think he came from essex) must have had this tenant previously...if anyone can help me with advise or think they have experiance of this mega tenant from hell, i would be so grateful to hear from them.

Actually I think you'll find those figures are on the low side. They don't take into account: Secured Loan Lending Unsecured Borrowing (they can take your house and make you pay if you default you know) Mortgage Fraud Jobs losses and the hit prime mortgage lending will take when a slowdown/recession/depression occurs. Much, much worse......

Ha, Look - if everyone is buying and the bank is willing to lend me a million I'll buy a house for a million. But thats not the case anymore - everyone thinks prices are too high (and they are compared to av earnings) - but much more importantly banks are just not lending - that is a cold hard fact - they've taken away the punch bowl. No more lending means no more money going into housing. As a result housing must fall.