02/14/2026
This was posted today by a friend of mine - Dave Dopp Sr. He retired from many years in the back end of mortgages.
"Foreclosure bloodbath deepens as banks seize 40,000 homes - and the pain is only beginning"
Apparently, today is "let's yank Mr. Dave Dopp's statistics chain" day! The above headline is from this morning's Daily Mail, a UK newspaper that often comments on the American markets.
What's wrong with the headline? Well, yes foreclosures are up compared to last year - in fact, compared to the last several years. However, foreclosures have been running at historically low levels for several years.
40,000 homes were not seized at all. What happened is that 40,000 mortgagees were notified they were in default due to missing payments and if they don't catchup their home will be seized. So, the procedure is: a notice of late payment when you miss the first payment, a second notice when you miss the second payment, a notice of default when you miss the third payment, seizure and sale of the property if there is no payment or plan to repay by the fourth payment. (Some lenders use a different process but in general there is no seizure without significant default.)
Is 40,000 a bloodbath? I hardly think it is. there are about 96 million homes (1-4 family) in the US. There are about 14 million additional apartment type homes.
Assuming just the 1-4 family homes are the subject of the article, those 40,000 homes represent 0.04 percent of the housing stock! Even better - the actual number of homes seized and sold for December was 5,950 and for January, 4,710. Hardly a bloodbath!
The old newspaper saw about where to place stories is "If it bleeds, it leads" is alive and well. Sadly, most media outlets today will do their best to throw blood on a story that doesn't exist.
Is there any truth out there in the media? Damn little no matter if it's right wing, left wing, Republican, Democrat, MAGA wingnut, Anti-Trump raving maniac - it's all lies, distortions and half-truths at best."
Which kinda proves the point that the "Real Media" is the fake news and Social Media is where you can find the truth and nuances.
You are supposed to believe that the Real Media is telling the truth so you don't question it and therefore they can lead you around by your nose.
With Social Media you know some of it is false so you question and dig and low and behold the truth is right before your eyes. And it seldom matches what the media is telling you.
The difference is in the presumption. QUESTION EVERYTHING!
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