What a Loser!

What a Loser!

by James Denison Jun 23, 2007 5:09PM PDT

Some self deception going on with him too. Still, a group calling itself "Haterz" going after him also seems a bit extreme.
http://news.com.com/Hated+blogger+leaves+U.S.%2C+threatens+lawsuits/2100-1026_3-6190628.html?tag=st.rc.targ_mb
A failed real estate speculator who created a popular Web site touting his exploits has begun threatening to sue his critics and claims to be in hiding in Australia.

Casey Serin, arguably the world's most-hated blogger, rocketed to Internet stardom after disclosing his pending foreclosures, marital strife and unwillingness to find a job. But the 24-year-old's online fame was hardly flattering: it arose from legions of readers who call themselves "haterz" and frequent his iamfacingforeclosure.com blog to ridicule his financial missteps and urge Serin to pay back up to $420,000 he is said to owe creditors.

Serin handed the haterz even more ammunition this week by disclosing that he had left his wife, Galina, behind in West Sacramento, Calif., with only about $300 in the bank and had set up operations in an undisclosed location in Australia. Because Serin has refused to get a full-time job--preferring instead to chase dreams of instant wealth through real estate deals--Galina lives with her sister and cleans houses to pay for food and rent.

The HousingPanic blog calls Serin "the physical representation of fraud, greed, debt, fear, bubbles and human folly." Others, including some inside the U.S. Department of Justice, have been prodding federal and state prosecutors to indict Serin for mortgage fraud. A more recent suggestion is to take up a collection for a Galina Divorce Fund that would cover "legal fees, basic living expenses, psychological therapy."

(the article gets even better!)

Discussion is locked

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Hey, Ian, was that you?

by James Denison Jun 23, 2007 5:12PM PDT

There's a connection to CNET and Australia too.

A CNET News.com reader appears to have footed the bill for the Australia trip. In an e-mail message on June 2, that reader offered to pay $1,000 to keep the blog going--and apparently followed through. Serin wrote in follow-up message four days later: "That guy WAS for real. A true supporter. Crazy things happen when you're blogging."

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(NT) I doubt it was Ian unless he recently hit the Lottery!

by Dave Konkel [Moderator] Jun 24, 2007 5:25AM PDT

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Bear Stearns?

by James Denison Jun 23, 2007 5:24PM PDT

Here's the young man's site.
http://iamfacingforeclosure.com/162/why-should-i-go-to-jail-for-mortgage-fraud

If anyone's been keeping up with the stock market lately and all the "subprime" lenders going under on bad loans, there's a connection between all that is what this young man was doing. Just Friday though the markets reacted badly to fears caused by Bear Stearns admitting they were going to bail out a hedge fund who invested in a lot of these subprime loans made to people like the young man of this story. Supposedly Bear Stearns will bail out their hedge fund with over 3 billion dollars, which it turns out is a sizable chunk of their own total market capitalization. Friday markets reacted badly due to the news, not just for that one hedge fund or Bear Stearns but over realization that the subprime lending mess may have deeper roots in our economy than first imagined.

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From what I've heard.....

by Angeline Booher Jun 24, 2007 2:19AM PDT

........ reality has finally dawned re: those schemes that resulted in people buying homes they could not afford.

Some people might think that they have it coming for being so ignorant re: financial matters. I think it goes beyond that. After all, it was the lending institutions who came up with the plans. Maybe they aren't so savvy re: financial matters, either.

House values do not always continue to rise. There are local and national factors that enter into the mix.

There are countless ads for home equity loans. "Use the money for anything you wish." I see those as possibly leading to more national foreclosures.

Angeline
Speakeasy Moderator

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What makes it worse.....

by Angeline Booher Jun 24, 2007 1:50AM PDT

...... is that he is able to garner so much attention.

Must be because there are always folks who think they have just the perfect comments that would lead to his change of heart, and of others of his ilk. guy like him are immune to both constructive and destructive criticism.

He has been given what he wants....... attention.

Angeline
Speakeasy Moderator

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The Absolute Truth of it.

by James Denison Jun 24, 2007 3:20AM PDT

The attention. That's what he wants and seems to feed off of. I think you nailed it. He's not to blame for the current and growing crisis in the home lending financial markets though, that's the fault of mortgage managers eager to initiate new loans so they could get those up front origination fees. My father's runs a real estate appraisal firm in Florida and one of the worst problems he's had to contend with the past few years is constant pressure from mortgage brokers to stuff an appraisal here or there to push the deal through. He of course refused, and he's been in the business so long his state registered number is "8" since he was the 8th person approved when the state began certifying appraisers. According to him the biggest part of this problem is the up front fees the mortgage brokers get when they can push a loan through. They are the ones telling the people to lie on the income part of loan applications. The competition was so fierce among them, adequate checking was not going on, and besides pushing through loans for those unable to really afford them the same mortgage brokers were "appraiser shopping" to try and justify even higher loan amounts than the property would have justified.

A lot of those loans were sold to REIT's who in turn operate as publicly traded companies with investors. The lenders are the first ones to be hit by this meltdown, the most notable being the ticker NEW, but also LEND. Next in line will be the REIT's who bought those loans in packages sold to them. The REIT's which invested exclusively in such will be the worst hit of course, those more diversified will still be hit by that along with the drop in R.E. values of the properties in their portfolios.

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RE: telling the people to lie

by JP Bill Jun 24, 2007 3:35AM PDT

telling the people to lie on the income part of loan applications.

The people do/should realize they are also lying to themselves, don't they?

There is a reason for certain requirements.

Perhaps they think they are on Oprah,

You get one, You get one, everybody gets one. (a new car/ a new house)

yeah!

No sympathy here.

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...

by Carboglace Jun 25, 2007 1:43AM PDT

wow, he does sound like quite the freak.

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