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Welcome to the very first Blog for my new book: “The Foreclosure of America: The Inside Story of the Rise and Fall of Countrywide Home Loans, the Mortgage Crisis, and the Default of the American Dream.” (Now available on Amazon and whereever fine books are sold.) My hope is that this forum, like the book, enlightens the debate over the current crisis, allows for the thoughtful sharing of solutions, and adds to America’s understanding of how we got into this mess, and how we get out of it.
My book is the last untold chapter, and the first Inside story, of what arguably is the most catastrophic economic crisis the globe has faced in 75 years. I felt compelled to tell my true account from within the halls at Countrywide Home Loans, and provide the reader an answer to the question that all of America is still asking, “What on earth were these financial companies THINKING in offering these loans?” If I did my job right, readers will be right there in the meeting rooms with me, witnessing the crisis being born.
My hope is that this tale will be read by future generations so that we can prevent it from happening again. Thank you for reading the book, and this blog, and thank you in advance for your thoughtful contributions to the debate.
5 Comments so far
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This book lands us right next to the water cooler on the VP level at the world headquarters of Countrywide. Adam shows us exactly what happened. A must read. He opens the window and lets us be the proverbial fly on the wall. However there’s so much good stuff going down on every page that the fly gets a great buzz. Thanks for the inside double scoop.
Comment by alan January 6, 2009 @ 8:26 amI wanted to be the first to congratulate Adam here in his blog. He worked for two years on this, starting before the fiasco, with a great deal of insight and foresight.
Comment by Mike Parise January 6, 2009 @ 3:56 pmAdam, you were right!
Superb interview on NPR:
Comment by n.w. January 7, 2009 @ 3:19 amhttp://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/01/06/pm_countrywide_q/
(beg. at 9:00 in)
Clearly, for some consumers, playing the blame game against corporations is far easier than taking personal responsibility for controlling ones own hungry eyes.
I really “got it” when you reminded us here that millions of Americans, through careful management of their own circumstances, did NOT experience foreclosure, just as millions of Americans enjoy fast food and alcohol without catastrophic consequences.
As Paracelsus opined, “It’s the dose that makes the poison.”
Though Countrywide made it possible for me to buy my first home (and for that I am grateful),
I waited a long time before it was prudent for me to choose to assume this commitment.
You have certainly humanized this hot topic; thank you for making it so accessible by sharing your educated experience from the inside.
Thank you for writing this! I blogged about my foreclosure back in Februrary:
Comment by Suzanne January 7, 2009 @ 12:57 pmhttp://suzannesez.blogspot.com/2008/02/foreclosure-personal-story.html
At that time, Countrywide was not seeing the writing on the wall and refused to take partial payments. Amazing how much can fall apart in such a short time
Some years ago I worked for the Credit Risk Organization at WaMu. The head of the group would say, “The motto of the rest of the bank may be ‘The Power of Yes,’ but our motto is ‘The Power of No.’”
Given what is happening,they should have listened instead of tossing him out.
Comment by Rickvid in Seattle January 7, 2009 @ 7:34 pm