the broken bike

Somebody broke the bike.

Somebody broke the bike and things ain't right. I know it. And you know it.

For the past 13 yrs of my life, I've worked on the bike (the mortgage industry). The bike once rode smoothly. And when it rode well...things were fine. During my years of working on the bike, I saw a lot. While I can honestly say that I never did anything illegal or unethical (nor was I asked to), I've seen some things. Actually, I saw quite a few things. More importantly, I saw an industry crumble. In the process of the bike being broken, I also watched the hood (the nation/economy) change. Things used to be good in the hood. Not anymore. In 2011, the hood is in shambles. The bike was broken...then fixed. But in the process of fixing the bike, the hood went down.

Could it be that that the process of the bike being broken that it single handily destroyed the hood? The lies. The greed. Could it be? Probably! I remember the words of one of my financial management professor when I was in college. Dr Cole said..."Even in a recession, somebody makes money." He never lied. No matter how bad things are in the hood, people are making money. Companies are getting rich. As I go to work each day, I wonder if some of these "new programs" are gonna help people in the long term. As an sr underwriter, I have to make the best financial decision for the company when it comes to approving or denying mortgage loans. But are we assisting people or are we putting a Band Aid on open heart surgery wound? For example, if you're able to lower your mortgage payment from $2200 to $800...would you do it knowing that the value of your home has decreased to the point where you owe more than what it's worth. In a nutshell...you're basically stuck there because you can't sell it and profit from it. These are the kinds of decisions that people have to face. Some face the reality of foreclosure. The hood is messed up. When the bike was broken, it made the hood so bad that the job market ain't what it used to be. If you're not working, you can't pay for your home. It's that simple.

So now that the bike is fixed, running, and back to profitability...how do we fix the hood? We could blame the Bush for creating this mess. We could blame Obama for not having the right people in place to fix it. We could point fingers.

Or we could start giving a damn about EVERYBODY in the hood, mobilize an effort, and try to fix the problems.