“Do Not Disturb”
That’s what Freddie Mac’s Chairman is probably thinking right now.
Today, Reuters.com released a news article titled “Freddie Mac chief disregarded warning signs: report.” The article discusses decisions of Freddie Mac’s Chief and how he led Freddie Mac into its financial troubles.
According to the article, New York Times reported more than two dozen current and former high-ranking executives warning the chief of company’s internal financial problems. So what happen? How did the Chief respond to these warnings?
Well, I think we can figure that one out. Not very well. Not very well at all.
I especially like the picture taken of the chairman and chief executive of Freddie Mac, Richard Syron, while he was speaking at the Housing Summit in New York on February 21, 2008.
All I have to say about that picture is this…priceless!
What can you do Mr. Chairman? “Hmm…I don’t know”-answers Mr. Syron with a puzzled look on his face.
It seems to me that most politicians do a lot of talking but not a lot of doing. Freddie Mac had many warning signs. They decided to ignore them. Why? I don’t know. Maybe because when the market was flying high, the times were good and loans were given out left and right. The thought that all this could end someday was, well, impossible.
So, here we are. The Mortgage Market Giant is in trouble. Local Real Estate markets are sinking. The Big Three are fighting to stay afloat. (I should know since I live in the Automotive Capital of the World, Michigan- at least for now). The inflation rate and gas prices keep climbing. Doesn’t sound so good now, does it?
All this talk reminds me of my post I did on June 30th, 2008 when news about Freddie Mac troubles were were starting to appear. In my Mortgage Lender Crisis-Join the Challenge I challenged our leaders to start working with real estate investors to help get this economy back on the track. I did get a lot of positive reinforcement from that post but was it enough? Who knows.
On a positive note, there is good news when it comes to U.S. Economy and the Local Real Estate Markets. Because of this big downturn in housing, opportunities for real estate investors are countless. You can find motivated sellers anywhere in your local area. And by incorporating the internet into your real estate marketing strategy, you’ll be well ahead of your local competition.
I need your opinion. What do you think about this whole Freddie Mac mess? What do you think about Mr. Syron’s reaction? Share your thoughts in the comments.
To Your Success,
Peter K.
Founder of RealEstateBlackBook
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As usual Peter, a great find.
It’s almost laughable how the Gov steps up to handle some of these crisis. They either do nothing at all, or they terribly over-react, and create new problems trying to fix the old.
One thing you nailed… is it’s a great time to be investing!
Nick Cifonie
Host: REI-TV.com
Thank Nick.
I get a kick out of what the government does sometimes. Especially the picture of Freddie Mac’s chairman. Wow! We can all learn some valuable lesson from all this…
We all need to pay attention to what’s going on around the industry and our communities. If we don’t, we’ll be playing catchup in our business.
Peter
I always heard the government is suppose to be “of and for tbe people”. If Freddie gets bailed out – how about bailing out the rest of us “people”. The stimulus checks did not work since they wound up as deposits or payments in the banks. The banks got helped. Perhaps the banks should go out of business as a punishment for THEIR fraud because the rest of us are being punished – why not the banks since their greed is what created this mess. Afterall, if we committed fraud, we would be held accountable. I think the CEO of Freddie should do jail time or take everything he owns to pay back his neglectful carelessness. Or, why don’t we let Jesse Jackson bail Freddie out since Jesse contributed to the problem.
Since when did our government become “of and for the almightly corporation”? and why do we “the people” allow it. Our government has become a Frankenstein – a monster out of control. Why doesn’t anyone care to stand up to the government and take back our country from the real terrorist – the government and their pet monkeys – the corporations and their renegade CEOs?
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[...] Syron, Freddie Mac’s CEO, might be leaving the company. Why? You can read my post “Do Not Disturb“ I wrote back on August 5th, 2008 about how Freddie Mac’s Mr. Syron didn’t [...]