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Scripps Investments & Loans 17 percent return didn't last
I am not so sure I would call those that lost money "victims". This was common in the second half of the eighties, with companies pooling together investors to lend second, third, and even forth loans on a distressed owner's property (which they sought out through public records). They charged the borrower ridiculously high origination fees and points. They would then assign the percentage of beneficial interest of the note to the investor in accordance with the amount they invested. The company never owned the loan. Once they collected their fees, they were out (sometimes they serviced the loans, though, collecting the payments from the borrower and charging a servicing fee before divying up the payment to the investors, but there were other companies that did this for them, because typically they did not like to be involved.) Sometimes the investors would go on to sell their beneficial interest to ANOTHER investor, with the loan company brokering that deal, with the original investor making points and sharing with the broker. The returns were fabulous for those that chose to keep their beneficial interest, double-digit interest rates being the norm. But they were risky. Requests for notices of delinquency had to be filed for all the upper-position lien holders for each investor to be notified in the event of non-payment to them. If you could sell your interest in the note and make money off the fees, it was a better and less risky way to make money than on the interest, especially if you were sitting on a large sum of money that wasn't making much in conventional investments. This is because some of these (not all, this was before the days people just "walked away") distressed owners went on to foreclosure and the underlying loans got wiped out by the first trust deed holder, usually a large financial institution. Almost all of these borrowers used the hard money loan as a last ditch effort to bring their other loans current. But by the time they received their proceeds, the costs had reduced a loan of maybe $50,000.00 to $35,000.00 or less. It's when market conditions change and the companies dupe their investors into continuing to invest to support the principles in the company's lifestyle that gets them in trouble. A lot of the little companies just went away, Pioneer being a glaring exception. Scripps operated on a much grander scale, but these investors knew what they were getting themselves into. It's called due diligence. If you don't do your due diligence, it's called greed, and you get what you deserve.— June 9, 2011 5:19 p.m.
Rump Ready
I think your feet look just perfect, Nan! I have "get a pedicure" on my to-do list. That was such a great poem. When you write, it feels like I am there.— June 9, 2011 4:27 p.m.
Then and Now
Hi, Quill!! Congratulations on your win. You have always been one of the best contributors to the neighborhood blogs and it is great to see your efforts get the reward they deserve!!— June 4, 2011 9:44 a.m.
A Dog's Tale
You attached a dog to a fence and left him there and you come here looking for sympathy?!??! Sister, you came to the wrong place. Your history with animals proves that you are unfit to be a pet owner. I am sure your current pet will eventually succumb to a fate similar to your other pets when your life circumstances change and he becomes just another disposable nuisance.— June 4, 2011 9:42 a.m.
A Fired Heart
Absolutely perfect.— May 28, 2011 4:16 p.m.
lost in the translation
OMG!! I did not think anything would get me back to posting on The Reader, but this was one of the BEST things I have read in a really long time. I did not want it to end. This should be in The New Yorker.— May 28, 2011 4:11 p.m.
Where were you when????
Best response yet. http://www.real-time-with-bill-maher-blog.com/blo…— May 5, 2011 2:41 p.m.
It's a Nicey Nice World
Just a throw out, there was a band in the late seventies that was playing in San Francisco with The Dead Kennedys' called "Chrome Dinette". We walked by the marquee and had to pop in. It changed my life as far a music is concerned. I was all of sixteen.— April 20, 2011 9:15 p.m.
The Neighborhood Dog
She was a great dog. 80 pounds of pure loyalty. Thanks, I really hope to move onto something other than pets dying :( I hope my neighbors get a shelter dog. Knowing them, they will :)— April 19, 2011 4:56 p.m.
Stupid Things My Husband Does--Day 3
Bugger off, viewer. I have no idea how the Reader Blog became a creep-fest for misogynist types such as yourselves, but it used to be a great place for women to have a bunch of fun until the guys ruined it for us. Go away to your untoward blogspots of "we hate women" and get the f\ck out of here.— April 17, 2011 3:28 p.m.