Foreclosure crisis hitting renters, too
To the editor:
My husband and I are in our 60s. We signed a two-year lease on a house. We have made our payments on time every month for 18 months.
Six months ago, our landlord stopped making his mortgage payments. Since he kept cashing our rent checks, we were not aware of this. Our home is now in foreclosure and will be going up for auction in three weeks. Neither the landlord (who has skipped town), nor the lending bank, nor the facilitator of the auction ever sent us a notice of these circumstances. We found out accidentally.
So, at our age, we have to find a new rental, pack, find the several thousand dollars for moving and putting down a new deposit and two months' rent.
After trying to find out what was going on, we were told that we would receive a 72-hour "notice to vacate" in three weeks. If we cannot get out within those three days, the locks will be changed and the police will not let us back into our home. They also will confiscate everything we own. We have no legal option to avoid this.
In all the news coverage of the home foreclosure crisis, little has been reported about what is happening to the poor, honest renter as a result of the mortgage companies making loans to people who could not possibly make their payments, or to the greedy buyers of a second house to collect rent, when they knew that they could not afford it.
What are we supposed to do? And why has this not been addressed by legal firms? This is America. We expect better.
Phyllis Smith
LAS VEGAS
Government wealth
To the editor:
The Review-Journal's Friday editorial titled "Boom time for government hiring" should be a real eye-opener for taxpayers.
While the editorial states that there are more than 22 million employed by government, it failed to mention that these 22 million-plus all get salaries, benefits, retirement and other perks. Also, let us not forget the employees' dependents -- they, too, get all sorts of benefits.
Speaking of retirement benefits, does anyone know how much of the public employees' pension funds are invested in foreign companies?
In addition, does anyone have any idea as to how much the government owns? Who owns most of the land in Nevada? The federal government! How much is it worth? What about all those cars, trucks, tanks, aircraft carriers, buildings and other assets owned by government? How much do those 88,000 government entities own all together?
Some estimate that American governments have more than $110 trillion in assets. That's more than $300,000 for every man, woman and child in America.
This is not good for the common folk, and it certainly is a real concern for the future of all private citizens.
BRUCE FEHER
LAS VEGAS
Not from these parts
To the editor:
In response to Jane Ann Morrison's Saturday column: state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus has mentioned numerous times that in 2006, people said they wouldn't vote for her for governor because of her Georgia accent.
Where is she meeting these people? I have a Texas accent and am proud of it. I have never been put down because of my speech and have been told often that my accent is enjoyed and admired.
Ms. Morrison goes on to write: "I am a Southerner who deliberately lost my accent." She acts as if a Southern accent is a handicap to overcome. I am insulted.
As much as we in America strive for diversity, such insanity is an affront to individual rights. The race card or the gender card may not be discussed, but it is all right to put someone down because of an accent? We all need to talk the same? I don't think so.
I will keep my "ya'll" and slow way of speaking, and I will love the sound of my New Hampshire friend's accent. America is a mixture of all cultures.
Maybe people did not vote for Sen. Titus because of her politics.
Cheryl Boyd
LAS VEGAS
Gasoline prices
To the editor:
Tired of the price of gasoline? Urge General Motors to expedite production of the Chevy Volt. Call for Congress to encourage "Big Oil" to dig for every bit of crude they can find and not complain about industry profits. No profits, no exploration.
Do not ask any politician to "do something." You may not appreciate the cost of gasoline, but there is no shortage. The last time politicians "did something" was in the 1970s. What did we get? Intolerable lines and eight gallons when you got to the front.
Yes, gasoline is expensive, but it is available. If you do not remember the long lines, ask your parents or grandparents. Remember these words that you do not want to hear: "I'm from the government, and I am here to help."
Guy Roark
LAS VEGAS
