My only question is how many hundreds of thousands of "Casey's" are there out there? If there's an entire loan product called the 'liar's loan', pushed aggressively by unethical unregulated commissioned mortgage brokers, our late friend Casey is just the tip of the iceberg folks, and the entire house-of-cards-housing-ponzi-scheme is now tumbling down and tumbling down fast and hard.
I think a lot of folks will be joining Casey in their run for the hills (and the border, and the bank, and into hiding).
On a personal note, I hope the little guy will be OK. HP'ers have been hard on him since we broke the story, but in my view, even though he's 100% responsible for his own actions and is paying a price, he's also a victim of a corrupt and evil REIC. If the jail cells are limited, I'd start there.
What I did was Stupid!
September 24, 2006.
This blog was the WRONG kind of exposure. I APOLOGIZE to my friends, family, associates and especially EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME with my real estate transactions.
I DO NOT BLAME ANYBODY for ANYTHING and take full responsibility.
What started as an honest desire to share my experience turned into something dangerous - playing with fire. After talking to a business associate this morning I realized I went TOO far and shared TOO much. I turned something small into a big exaggerated mess. Others were telling me this too, but I wasn't getting it. Now I crossed the line. I misused my ambition.
I have damaged my reputation and I have damaged many good relationships through this. I never meant to hurt anyone. So to stop any further damage I am shutting down and laying low.
I am sorry.
Casey Serin
I am Facing Foreclosure .com
September 24, 2006
FLASH: Run, Casey, Run! The $2.2 Million 'liars loan' kid shuts it down and heads for the hills
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53 comments:
I think Casey will soon resurface on the big screen as the poster child of this ponzi scheme. I think that we are entering new terrory now and am not sure how it will eventually ends.
I am not selling my house or my cash positive rentals. I am not about to panick. No one makes money panicking.
I think he'll be hightailing it back to russia or wherever he's from, leaving behind a trail of debt for the banks to deal with
run, Casey, run!
Business associate? I figured it was a matter of time before his blog reached the title escrow companies, realtors, lenders, and sellers involved in his transactions. One of them probably put the fear in him. I hope he had the presence of mind to record the call - however illegal that may be. When you're in deep, go deeper.
When he mentioned cash back from a wholesaler at closing that was off the books (ie not reflected on the HUD-1), what did he mean by wholesaler? I know retail mortgage lender, correspondent mortgage lender, wholesale mortgage lender. I didn't think a wholesale mortgage lender dealt directly with consumers. So, what's a wholesaler?
Well on the list of people for whom I have sympathy he comes pretty far down -- say after a few million Africans dying from poverty and disease.
If he had just tried to scam one house to live in (gasp, perish the thought!) while otherwise struggling with a real job etc. that would be one thing.
Instead he was a greedy get-rich-quick bastard and now claims he didn't do anything THAT bad...
Tell that to the black kid from the slums who's doing 20 years for stealing a pizza.
Fingers have been lost for less, Will Casey sleep with the fishes? The only thing worse than these foreign criminals are the americans who defend them.
young immigrants believe in the American Dream, and part of that is getting rich. How do you get rich in today's America?
You lie. You steal. You go into debt. You don't work for a living. You don't get an education. You emulate Donald Trump.
Casey completely and fully represents our sick society, one that has fallen off the tracks.
This story isn't over HP'ers, it's just begun.
Keith wrote:
"My only question is how many hundreds of thousands of "Casey's" are there out there?"
(Reply) Uh, Keith, it's a little worse than that, my friend.
Try, oh, about FIVE MILLION FBs out there, in deep doo-doo, already missing payments.
Now, I know that my last couple of financially-apocalyptic posts have generated some controversy on this board, however I am afraid those who are not sufficiently terrified simply have not done their homework.
Luckily for us all, the Internet exists and allows "the little guy" to have more access to more information than at any time in human history.
For instance, Fannie Mae just released a report last week.
Innocously entitled "Economic & Mortgage Market Developments", this eleven-page PDF file reads like a roadmap to ruin.
I strongly suggest that all posters on this board go to Fannie's site, download the report and CAREFULLY scrutinize it for the golden nuggets of doom and gloom that it offers (I will NOT give the link here as I want to separate the serious students from the lazy wanna-be slackers out there.)
If, after VERY CAREFULLY reading this report and digging out the massive amount of horrible, terrible stats and projections (even though Fannie TRIES to put the best perfume on the pig), anyone can honestly say "I think we'll just muddle through", well then, all I can respond is:
Good luck.
c'm on whats the link?
Keith, why are you so much yearning that the authorities go easy on Casey, but you have no sympathy for illegal immigrants? The law is the law, right? Or, should the law only apply if you have brown skin?
Casey is white, so he obviously meant well, and the fact that he has no job and is contributing nothing to society is really of no concern...he's white.
Illegal immigrants are brown, so round em up no matter what they've done, how hard they're working, and how much they are contributing to society!...they're brown!
You're a transparent racist, Keith.
Richard is crazy with his conspiracy theories, but he's dead on about you being a racist, and this just proves it even more.
http://www.fanniemae.com
/media/pdf/berson/monthly
/2006/081606.pdf#search=%22
Economic%20%26%20Mortgage%20Market%
20Developments%22%22
"a victim of a corrupt and evil REIC"
Keith, your head is usually in the right place (or not too far off) but not on this one. There always have been and always will be easy shortcuts to try to strike it rich. This "little guy" is a fully-grown man who is considered an adult by the legal system (if not by you). Just because the members of the REIC told him it was ok to lie because everyone does it, he shouldn't have lied. Just because you grow up in south central and the crack dealer tells you it's ok to sell crack because everyone does it, it's not ok to do it. No difference. If this guy worked at a real job, he'd probably be embezzling money or somehow cheating his employer.
This man is a criminal and should be treated as such. His co-conspirator mortgage brokers and real estate agents (if they knew what was going on and facilitated it) should go down with him. End of story.
casey is an immigrant from uzbekistan I believe, coming over with his parents when he was 14. I presumed he didn't walk across the border illegally to get here
my problem isn't with immigrants. my problem is with illegal immigrants
however, your point is valid that I presumed Casey was legal because he 1) wasn't from mexico and 2) appears to be white.
what an interesting this story will be when it's an illegal mexican immigrant doing the liars loan, cash out and mortgage fraud, then hightails it back to mexico, which you know will happen too
bottom line is we're screwed
He didn’t sneak across the border in the trunk of a car! That’s what illegal border jumpers do and they are not immigrants in any sense of the word. To imply any one who breaks the law and crosses the boarder is an immigrant in any capacity is pure BS… They are criminals plain and simple, it don't matter if they came from Mexico or Ireland.
on why I'm going easy on the kid, it's because I believe in redemption, and apologies.
he's satisfied me that he was trying to come clean and make a difference. Once someone does that, they've redeemed themselves in my book.
I'll miss him.....now THAT was an interesting blog.
Keith you don't have to splain crap. We all know who the white hating racist is.
what's your book worth, keif?
He bailed?
I'm Shocked!
NOT!
I hope he brings that blog back online.
am fence sitter,
You are obviously not intelligent enough (Keith barely is, it took him two answers to finally answer the point I was making) to get what point I was making:
Casey broke the law, not by being an immigrant, but by falsifying his loan applications. Casey's immigrant status was not mentioned by me at all. He broke the law by falsifying loan applications.
Why are the laws that Casey broke any different than the laws hispanic illegal immigrants break when they enter the country?
Keith has no sympathy when Mexicans break a law to try to make a better life for themselves. Why does he have so much sympathy when Casey does? Why is it the REIC's fault and not Casey's?
I submit the answer is obvious: Casey's skin is white, so he doesn't fit Keith's prejudicial profile of somebody deserving to go to prison, especially since he would have to go to a prison that may be full of Mexicans and Blacks who might not treat poor little Casey very nicely.
K Butch,
I read it and did not understand all of the charts, but the projections looked like what we have all been discussing on HP for months, Recession, slow housing starts, home sales down by 8 to 11% depending on geographic area and other economic factors such as job growth and local economy health. Arms adjusting up, Will the Fed stall again or not on interest.
Did not see Pig Lipstick or any Weimar Economy Projections or 1929 scenarios.
In 6 years of corrections, we will be back where we are today, is what I read.
I am no guru, please give us your elevator interpretation.
Not a wanna be, just not a genius like some of you, but curious for the knowledge and open minded.
InfidelWoman,
Okay, since you actually took time to PERUSE (but not read carefully) Fannie's Skullduggery Report, I will reward you with the "Smoking Gun" parts.
1. Fannie REFUSES to give a forecast for home sales units for 2007. This is unprecedented.
2. Fannie admits to THREE TRILLION DOLLARS of ARM-suicide loans exist, but doesn't count all the HELOCs because this isn't something that Fannie buys or guarantees. Furthermore, Fannie ONLY admits to $633 BILLION in MBS will be affected, but doesn't count all the "Jumbo" loan and the above mentioned-HELOC MBS that will be CRUSHED as the homedebtors continue to default. Therefore, we are easily facing over TWO TRILLION DOLLARS IN DESTRYOED MBS!!!
3. Neither does Fannie mention who holds these MBS. Well, I happen to know: It's YOUR mutual fund, YOUR money market account, YOUR bank, and of course, Asian Central Banks, pension funds and other suckers.
I simply cannot over-emphasize how interconnected the economic sphere is to the MBS-securitization-derivatives scam and that when one goes (as the homedebtors continue to default), ALL THE OTHERS ARE SCREWED.
And I won't just be a matter of the Fed "monetizing" the TWO TRILLION DOLLARS in MBS. This crisis will be systemic, rippling through the banking, mortgage, real estate, derivatives, bond and stock markets.
Again, I challenge posters on this board to do some MORE homework by visiting www.bis.org and having a gander at the derivatives positions outstanding. Then go Google and find the Senate report on the use of derivatives to hide and obscure financial malfeasance.
This thing is far, far deeper, dirtier and more dangerous than the vast majority of people--even semi-hip posters on this board--can fathom.
Just don't say you weren't warned.
AM Fence Sitter,
He didn’t sneak across the border in the trunk of a car! That’s what illegal border jumpers do and they are not immigrants in any sense of the word. To imply any one who breaks the law and crosses the boarder is an immigrant in any capacity is pure BS… They are criminals plain and simple,
it don't matter if they came from Mexico or Ireland.
"IT DON'T MATTER"
The success of the American educational system is on display once again on this site. Care for another beer while watching Nascar my friend.
Dear Butch,
It is just over my head. (:
1.Fannie REFUSES to give a forecast for home sales units for 2007. This is unprecedented.
I did catch that, but did not know it was not Normal.
2. HELOC; are all adjustable loans as well, but I did not connect the dots. I can not talk my friends out of paying them off or fixing the rates, but have tried.
3. Thank God I do not have a lot of these things, including a lot of cash. Note sarcastic fonts...
4. I am a simpley Marketing Executive with a Creative mind. I have very little econimic training, except for Real Estate. My knowledge of such things is very shallow. I had to research what a lot of the terms on this board even mean. Like MBS, stagflation and monetizing.
Thanks for sharing your education and thank you for facts presenting. I appreciate statements backed by reliable sources.
I really just started a fun incentive marketing product for the
consumer industry, which I hope will save me from this pending soup line as well as stimulate sales for my clients.
$
Social Security is also a bust and I am just trying to prepard for a retirement that only I can fund....
I think I have less time than my partners and investors are counting on.
Now, I reckon a safe depost box is the only safe place for your dollars, gold and silver.
Again,
Thank You
Google cached his site for us:
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:b3kNSdUaRjEJ:iamfacingforeclosure.com/+http://iamfacingforeclosure.com/&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1
google cache
butch:
Do you have any thoughts about Gold Money or Bullionvault accounts? Since they aren't part of fractional banking, do you think they'd offer any protection?
New Jersey had one !!!
Rise and Fall: Inside Solomon Dwek's Empire
infidelwoman:
I found this article interesting. It's long , but goes into what the government did at another point in our history. Some think it has implications for the future. http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/garrett1.html
Casey-
Be humble, get a job, work hard.
Forget about the instant riches thing for a couple of decades and you'll do fine.
While your at it, you might want to think about blowing the cover for whoever advised you to take out a bunch of loans simultaneously, whether it was an RE guru, a loan broker, whoever.
A lot of people will be sick to death of RE by the time this is all over. You should be one of them.
Houses are to live in. They are not the stock market, or a Vegas casino.
Enough about casey already!!
Keith, You need to start talking with butch!! I think he has some major info that you need to start prying out of him before he goes away.
Oh come on... your comment that the "house-of-cards-housing-ponzi-scheme is now tumbling down and tumbling down fast and hard" is bullshit.
I went shopping for a beach house in San Diego this weekend. Having read all about this "housing bubble", I was looking for some distressed sellers, some people willing to sell significantly below recent comparables, some good deals...
What did I find? NADA! I couldn't find a single beach area property that was a GOOD DEAL. In fact, I didn't find a single beach area property with a motivated seller willing to go, say, 5% below recent sales comps.
Some of the brokers I talked to commented that sales were very slow, that inland prices might be down a bit, but NOT A SINGLE ONE knew where I could find a "distressed" beach property seller.
So I don't think this is "tumbling down fast and hard". It's not happening yet. What IS happening is that there are no more price increases and volume is down significantly.
But what really bothers me is that you use the "tumbling down fast and hard" description for your own purposes! Even though this isn't the case, it sure makes your blog worth reading, doesn't it? So basically you are LYING and MISCHARACTERIZING the situation for your own good.
I find that despicable, and I was disgusted- after my experience this weekend- reading those words on your blog.
Yeah, fact is, sales are down but prices are only marginally down. There's no panic, except on boards like this that are trying to make everybody think the end of the world is here.
It might get worse, but there's no big panic yet. There's not even a little panic yet.
Where's butch?
This is truly getting frightening. As I watch the bubble implode the human side is becoming very up close and personal. I truly feel sorry for this young man, and the other unknown number of FBs who could have learned a great deal from this guy.
From the Fannie Mae Economic Commentary August 16, 2006: "Continued (albeit slower) use of cash-out refis and home equity loans should help to partially offset the slowdown in mortgage debt outstanding (MDO) growth that will occur as the housing market cools. Still, MDO growth was very strong in the first quarter, so for all of 2006 we project a rise in single-family MDO of 10.2 percent the fifth consecutive year of double-digit gains. Even with next year’s expected MDO growth slowdown to 7.8 percent as the housing market and home price appreciation cool further, the annual rise over the decade through 2007 would still be 11.5 percent."
One apparent premise of this Fannie Mae report is that home appreciation will continue to "cool" during 2006 and 2007.
The report does not entertain the idea that home appreciation may turn negative, probably by as much as 40% in some markets.
Fannie Mae Economic Commentary 8/16/06
To anon at 11:23 PM on Sunday:
By "wholesaler", Casey means he bought the property from a guy who simply turned over the property to Casey for a profit, without any fixup. There are a few definitions of "flipping" but to me this is the truest definition, where no fixup is done. The seller to Casey simply was a middleman who (probably) briefly held the property as he bought from a previous seller, and then sold to Casey at a later one. The term "wholesaler" in this case has nothing to do with lenders.
sherman mccoy:
Beach front properties are typically owned by really really rich people with deep pockets. They're not affected by the bubble and perhaps they don't need your money.
I am not one bit sorry for that pathetic, greedly, little bas**rd.
He effectively stole 2 million dollars and blew a big chunck of it on trips and parties by arranging for "cash back at closing", ie. I will pay you $600k for your $500k house. After the mortgage comes through you give me back the $100k difference so I can go on vacation.
sherman mccoy=
Your blog is a porn site? Also, you live in NY and you were in SD to look for some property this weekend? Do you have a space ship to get home that quick?
crispy&cole
I think someone left a severed horse head in Casey's bed as in the Godfather part 2.
For him to take down that site there was some death threat made by people he owes a lot of money to.
I have to sympathy for his stupidity of trying to get rich quick by doing shadey deals. If they do kill him someone else can cry him a river.
"He effectively stole 2 million dollars..."
He did not. He owes 2 million dollars.Hahaaaaaa!
Excuse me but there are still ways to do legitimate honest work and strike it rich. He could have gone to law or med school if he wanted a job that could never get outsourced.
BTW, insurance for doctors is so high because they can afford it. Capitalism is based on prices that the market will tolerate.
Just a list of some people who did legitimate work and became very wealthy:
Bill Gates
Mark Cuban
Tucker Carlson (collge dropout but maybe not legitimate work if you hate politics)
Steve Jobs
Ray Crock (McDonalds brothers were suckers anyway)
Mrs. Fields
Martha Stewart (became corrupt AFTER becoming wealthy)
The point being these people worked for years and many starved before they made it big.
Casey just lied on forms, took money and made bad investments, and now we are supposed to feel bad that he owes over 2 million bucks?
I hope the Mob tortures him real good before they kill him. Mob money has got to be involved in this depending on what banks financed this guy.
>>>Just a list of some people who did legitimate work and became very wealthy:
Bill Gates
Mark Cuban
Tucker Carlson (collge dropout but maybe not legitimate work if you hate politics)
Steve Jobs
Ray Crock (McDonalds brothers were suckers anyway)
Mrs. Fields
Martha Stewart (became corrupt AFTER becoming wealthy)
The point being these people worked for years and many starved before they made it big. <<<
Gotta add
Dave Thomas
Sam Walton (whatever you think about his company)
Herb (Southwest Airlines Founder)
Berry Gordy
Montgomery Ward
(KRN Wrote:)
"butch:
Do you have any thoughts about Gold Money or Bullionvault accounts? Since they aren't part of fractional banking, do you think they'd offer any protection?"
(Reply)
Sorry for the delay. I had to take a short nap.
Nope, they will not.
Unfortunately, your "government of the people" will consider such alternative money options a threat to the power of the state. You will be facing the same confiscation issues that "gold hoarders" (translation: savers who TRIED to preserve their wealth in the PREVIOUS Great Depression!) faced in the 1930's.
Sorry to say it, but there will be NO safe havens as the crisis unfolds.
The governmnet will impose "capital controls" of all sorts including:
1. Making it illegal to have ANY offshore account.
2. Gold or silver "hoarding".
3. Heck, Bernanke himself stated that he would favor a TAX on people who just tried to save their money in a bank, should the U.S. suffer a serious recession and people stop spending, so THAT should be a big hint as to what you will be up against.
4. Look for "Windfall Profits" taxes on those who are smart or lucky enough to enjoy capitial gains on gold, silver, oil or other things deemed "opportunistic".
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Do NOT underestimate just how powerful the state has become over your life and your ex-personal freedom and privacy.
However, it doesn't HAVE to be this way. All we need to do is get a few million uneducated, ignorant, lazy sheeple off their butts to study up on sane economic policies (like NO fiat currency, NO fractional reserve lending, NO central banking, NO "securitization", NO derivatives, NO government bailouts of every Tom-Dick-and-Harry, NO deficit spending, NO trade and current account deficits for any sustained period (like more than one year).
In other words, we are screwed because the odds of the above proactive effort on the part of the sheeple is zero.
So, I say relax, scale bakc the ol' lifestyle to near-poverty level, learn how to dumpster dive, live on one kidney (because you'll be selling the other one for food!), get used to walking, and buy a good cookbook on how to prepare delicious meals from small, domestic animals!!!
Butch,
I agree that EVERYTHING is tied together financially and that the downfall of the MBS's will affect bank accts, mutual funds, etc....
however, you didn't offer us your opinion on how to deal with the situation when it all hits the fan. Are you one of those guys who thinks we should stock pile food, ammo and cash???
-AF
One thing in the fannie mae report I noticed is that hybrid arms are about seventy percent of the current market.
Seventy percent of the loans now will reset in what three to five years...
Can't be good.
The guy's got to take responsibility. To the extent that the loan officers / banks pushed him into these loans, the will be paying in the end, too. But everyone must take responsibility for their own actions. He is an adult and should be treated like one. I'm glad he's coming clean with everyone, but IMHO he should also pay for what he has done.
butch: Thanks for the response. I've looked into this stuff a little and have been taken aback by just how difficult they (laws, regulations) make it. Sure, it could be due to terrorism and crime, but I can't help thinking it has little to do with that and everything to do with control of the masses. I mean, why leave the borders open but work so hard to chip passports - next step US citizens? You can get a lot more taxing millions of little guys than going after a drug bust. I had a dual currency account with TD Waterhouse. Within a month's notice, I was informed they were closing down those accounts and all Canadian funds would be converted to US. I doubt this had anything to do with terrorism. Do you post anywhere else? Your posts are thought provoking and I'd hate to lose track of them. Plus, you obviously have kept your sense of humor.
Sherman --
I know the beach area in San Diego well; I grew up there and visit every year. My dad has his house in PB -- not on the beach but in a quieter area that's better for families -- on the market for $948 K and has had no nibbles in 5 months. Realtor is now saying take it off the market for a few months and either rent it or relist at $850 K. Dad had an informal offer before the house went on the market for $800K and should have taken it IMHO. He paid $79K in 1976 for this house.
Talking to his realtor (who specializes in PB/LJ area properties and is a family friend), *nothing* is selling. She finally believes that the buyers are asking too much, and most of them are, in fact, wealthy enough to just sit on their property if it doesn't sell. For someone who's owned their house for a while, like my dad, renting it makes more sense; he needs $1500/month to cover *all* the costs of the house and could rent it for twice that amount with no problem. If someone *needs* to sell, she'll tell them to knock 20% off whatever the "comparable home" price was a year ago. And be prepared to take 25% less.
(And from a tax/inheritance perspective, it actually makes more sense for dad to just keep the house and rent it until he dies. He's below the threshhold for the estate tax, so unless the house sells for less than $500K or so after he dies, my brother and I come out ahead. I suspect that a lot of beach area rental homes are just like this -- held in trust for the heirs.)
How about creating an article about Casey Serin on Wikipedia? We don't want this thing to fade away, do we?
Any volunteers?
Hey Anonymous 9/25/06 7:15:23:
>How about creating an article about >Casey Serin on Wikipedia? We don't >want this thing to fade away, do we?
>Any volunteers?
To suggest is to volunteer. I'd love to see that article. Get cracking!
I disagree with your opinion on Bullionvault. While govt will very likely ban offshore accounts and not allow moving money offshore, there is nothing they can do about an account created today.
Bullionvault allows your choice of vault: NY, London, or Zurich. Allocated gold with no middle-men. If all related entities go under, the gold still belongs to you. They are also sensitive to the possibility of taking delivery in non-standard ways.
A combination of gold on premises + bullionvault + safe deposit box works for me.
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