Menifee News & Notes, June 8, 2009
Economy - Menifee resident Dan Denton and his wife were featured in the Los Angeles Times yesterday, unfortunately not under good circumstan...
http://www.menifee247.com/2009/06/menifee-news-notes-june-8-2009.htm
Economy - Menifee resident Dan Denton and his wife were featured in the Los Angeles Times yesterday, unfortunately not under good circumstances (link)...
Parrot Club - There's a new parrot club in Menifee. The "Beak Squad" is a not for profit club dedicated to parrot education. They meet monthly and discuss topics of interest regarding the health, safety and the well being of companion parrots.
They have a special guest speaker for this month's meeting on June 20, at 4:00pm, and are hoping to gain a few more members. Contact them through their website at: http://www.thebeaksquad.com/
Where's the Wi-Fi?- I stopped in at Bob's Pitstop around 4:30pm today to use their Wi-Fi. I remembered they had free Wi-Fi. But it wouldn't work. It looks like their router is working, but it must be their modem is either off, or needs a reboot. The bartender was going to call her boss to get it fixed, but I left after 10 minutes.
So I went to Starbucks instead, but discovered they don't carry T-Mobile Wi-Fi, or at least I couldn't pick up that signal. Rather, they have AT&T. I have a subscription to T-Mobile Wi-Fi, and every other Starbucks I've been to has T-Mobile. AT&T says I can get 2-hours of free Wi-Fi per day, provided I buy a Starbucks card. Forget it!
Their Menifee, Calif., home plunged $250,000 in value. The couple are preparing to move into a trailer and are living on less than $1,000 a month in unemployment benefits.Maybe the city council ought to build trailer parks, instead of new homes.
Parrot Club - There's a new parrot club in Menifee. The "Beak Squad" is a not for profit club dedicated to parrot education. They meet monthly and discuss topics of interest regarding the health, safety and the well being of companion parrots. They have a special guest speaker for this month's meeting on June 20, at 4:00pm, and are hoping to gain a few more members. Contact them through their website at: http://www.thebeaksquad.com/
Where's the Wi-Fi?- I stopped in at Bob's Pitstop around 4:30pm today to use their Wi-Fi. I remembered they had free Wi-Fi. But it wouldn't work. It looks like their router is working, but it must be their modem is either off, or needs a reboot. The bartender was going to call her boss to get it fixed, but I left after 10 minutes.
So I went to Starbucks instead, but discovered they don't carry T-Mobile Wi-Fi, or at least I couldn't pick up that signal. Rather, they have AT&T. I have a subscription to T-Mobile Wi-Fi, and every other Starbucks I've been to has T-Mobile. AT&T says I can get 2-hours of free Wi-Fi per day, provided I buy a Starbucks card. Forget it!
Old town temecula has free wi-fi. maybe the menifee market place should consider free wifi at the food court?
ReplyDeleteStarbucks is in the process of converting all their stores to AT&T WiFi. Expect to see no more T-Mobile at Starbucks in a few more months.
ReplyDeleteis wi fi free at SB/?
ReplyDeletetry It's a Grind...free wi fi there...
ReplyDeleteWhat a great city..people are loosing their homes and the only comments is about wi-fi. I guess (Mini-Fee) wants to ignore that their area is becoming a ghetto,barrio, trailer park other known as South Perris. But let's mutter about WiFi. Wake up and smell the poverty around you..and it don't smell like Starbucks fresh Roast. Get your act together City Council and stop handing our City over to your Land Developing and Real Estate Buddies. Stop the bleeding by demanding that Property Tax Assessors Office review property at that real value and stop overcharging your Citizens...or are you some greedy &****8 who could give a dam.
ReplyDeleteTo above post:
ReplyDeleteDon't bash anothers concern if it is not inline with yours. Yes I agree no one wants Menifee to become Perris however, come on the housing problem is partly to blame on people who bought houses way beyond there means and now they want to cry about it and have the banks or gov't step in and take care of them. Is that fair, no way. I pay my payment and I am not looking for a handout. I want responsible people to live in our city, not ones with hands out streched waiting for a freebie because they made poor choices.
Amen to that!!
ReplyDeleteBe careful what you say. Not everyone that loses a home bought "beyond their means". Job loss can effect anyone at any time. I hope the above two posters don't get that phone call that has job loss on the other end.
ReplyDeleteI am saddened too by the comments posted here. Steve... sometimes I get the impression that you don't like Menifee. I think we all need to take pride in what a great city it is. People have settled down and put roots here with their children... we should show more pride. The "trailor park" comment is just creating an unwanted stereotype. Be careful what you wish for! Also, everyone's home values have plummeted... not just here in Menifee. The value of my last home in Valencia, CA has dropped 300K from 2006. I love Menifee 24/7 and I think it is great that you have created it, Steve, but I didn't like your comment one bit.
ReplyDeleteJob loss or poor financial accounting does not negate ones responsibility to plan for the future and always live within your means and not keep up with the Jones!
ReplyDeleteSure I can buy a 600K house but if I lost my job I would be lucky to get a 350K house based on my spouses income.
I agree with the trailer comment. There are plenty of nice trailers out there (pre-fabbed homes for one). To blanket a statement that a trailer carries a stigmata of poor trash is not proper. Heck we might as well say every person in Perris is a drug dealing gang tooten felon based on assumptions alone!!!
I feel bad for the couple however, bills just don't magically appear!
As long as you are not in a hurry to sell your home and you are working, you have nothing to worry about. Just sit back, raise your family and enjoy all the things that Menifee offers. Things will change. They alway do. Just hang in there.
ReplyDeleteI say, this is the weeding out process. Their are too many people in my neighborhood who are trying to compete with the Jones. Some people are here only because they have mommy and daddy's money. However, they have no class!
ReplyDeleteFirst off the city council doesn't build anything.......secondly areas have to be zoned for trailer parks. Not sure that was an ignorant comment on your part or you were just trying to be sarcastic. My family and I have lived in Menifee for 6 years and moved here from Vista. Recently due to dirt cheap prices we are being surrounded by rif raf, so the South Perris comment was spot on IMO. It is sad how this community was once a grat place to raise children, didn't have to worry about forgetting to lock your car or leaving your garage open. Currently I am in the same situation as most as I owe over 2x the amount on my house that they are selling similar bank owned homes on my street for. After getting approximately a 50% pay cut, I have decided to stop paying on my house as the value is not there on a city that is tumbling into the dumps real quick. If my house reaches forclosure I plan on moving my family back down to north county, where there is rif raf, but at least it is close to the beach. Such a shame to watch this great community spiral down so fast.....
ReplyDeleteI think your just making excuses for your decision to let your home foreclose. Rif-raf? Really? Anyone buying a home today has to have excellent credit, money down, have no more than 33% of their income going to their mortgage payment. Actually what is happening in my neighbhood is just the opposite. The folks who got in with zero money down and sketchy credit are out. Things are looking up on my street.
ReplyDeleteBy Anonymous, at June 11, 2009 8:56 AM
ReplyDeleteNICE-You are the prime example of what is wrong in America. "I am not going to pay and let the tax payers pay for it (via increased bank fee's, taxes, and gov't bail outs) THANKS ALOT! Good move to North County and be a problem for that county. Perhaps YOU are the rif-raf you speak of?
YOu guys fail to realize the government is buying bank owned homes and putting low income families and /or HUD to meet their quota......ignorance at it's finest. a married couple making minimum wage eash can afford a mortgage of $200k and less.....vandalism and theft has spiked within the last 1 year (and I live in a good neighborhood) can't imagine what the bad neighborhoods are like right now. BTW banks are bailing out people that made poor decisions and purchased homes they could never afford.......don't let the facts and perception skew you
ReplyDeletewhere is a good hood in menifee and where is a bad one? I have yet to see one person post they live in a "BAD" hood.
ReplyDeleteTierra Shores is ok except for the punk kids who run wild due to Mom and Dad not supervising there childs actions.
Sun City has some crappy areas, as does Quail Valley, in actual Menifee there are some neighborhoods off Newport that have high crime.......
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that folks who make minimum wage are rif-raf? The government is NOT putting low income people in foreclosed home in my neighborhood. Bank are getting the bail out, not home owners. You are a firestarter and a negative person. Just because your home is worth less your going to stay in it without making your payments (probably let your yard go too) and then foreclose. Talk about rif-raf. Hurry back to Vista, PLEASE!
ReplyDeleteDid I in one sentence make a correlation to rif raf and minimum wage earners??NO You don't know me, you don't know where I live or how my house looks, so don't go there. Reosrting to personal attacks is usually the last line of defense and shows your maturity level.
ReplyDeleteTo the last poster. You need a lesson in sentence structure and spelling.
ReplyDeleteThanks for confirming^^^^
ReplyDeleteTO By Anonymous, at June 11, 2009 12:29 PM
ReplyDeleteWow, defensive! Perhpas there is some truth in the other post you refer to. Perhpas we are glad we do not know you. Thanks for moving, at least you will not be able to leech off of us.
SO HOW MUCH HAS YOUR HOME VALUE DROPPED?
ReplyDeleteI purchased brand new exactly 2 years ago for $459K. Current appraisal just came back at $184K.
Let's hear some more stories.
Sure would be nice to post open topics for discussion instead of just having Steve post stuff.
Leach??? How do you figure?? I don't collect unemployment, food stamps, any assistance from the government whatsoever.....So please oh wise one (that has spelling issues) how I leach off of you? BTW I used to make 6 figures a year, I pay my share of taxes.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster two up....walk away! The bank would....
ReplyDeleteTo: June 11, 2009 4:44 PM
ReplyDeleteIf you made 6 figures then at the very least you now make 50k. Why are you letting your home go into foreclosure? Did you get a sub-prime loan or do you have to much credit card debt? Or are you just being a deadbeat and walking away from your home because the value has dropped. Yes, there are bad pockets in Menifee, same story in Temecula and Murrieta. Menifee is not turning into a dump. Your just bitter because things are not going well for you and you want others to feel bad too. BTW - With your grammar I doubt you ever made 100k or more.
Grammar errors happen when you are trying to type on a blackberry, I apologize. I have a fixed rate at 5.75% which I have had since 2005. I never said I am letting my house foreclose so please stop drawing assumptions. My mortgage is $3100/month, with the economy the way it is and major decrease in my salary the value is not there for me to drain my savings account to cover my mortgage along with other expenses. My bank has told me they will not even talk to me until i miss a payment, which I have this month. We will see what they will do.....Since you feel the need to continue to try to make personal attacks I question your age and or maturity level. Do you really know what is going on out there? it appears yoou have blinders on or something
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say who is who since everyone is anonymous. I guess its not important anyway. I will just say I take offense to anyone referring to the town that I live in as a "dump" or comparing it to Perris (its not even close). Menifee is a sweet little town.
ReplyDelete~d
How ignorant people can be. Not everyone losing their home is living beyond their means. I have lived in my 1250 sq. ft. home for 20 years. Yes we did re-fi once, during the last housing crash when my husband got laid off from his job in the aircraft industry. We re-fied and managed to stay afloat, now I am a single parent trying to hang onto that home and am losing it because of the current economy. I don't have a pool or a motorhome and haven't had a vacation beyond a long weekend in years. I drive an economy car and shop at discount stores, but will still end up losing my home because of a 22% paycut at work. Did I expect that to happen when we bought the house? No. Did I expect that to happen when we got a divorce 5 years ago and decided to keep the only home my children have ever had? No. Pull your heads out people. Yes, some have lived beyond their means, but not all.
ReplyDeleteExactly.....great post!
ReplyDeleteRight on, Sister.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing funnier then a poster calling someone out on their grammar and spelling, all while have grammatical and spelling errors. It also is funny they can make personal attacks and act like a tough guy/girl behind and anonymous name on the internet. I will hope and pray that you and your family are not greatly set back by this bad economy....
ReplyDeletewho cares about spelling and grammer it is a blog. Pointing out stuff like that is silly. Who cares how you get your opinion out. Just don't get you feelings hurt if someone has a diffrence of opinion with you.
ReplyDeleteI noticed Menifee is becoming a one street town (Newport).
I would never walk away from my home just because the value has dropped. When you put down almost $200K you don't throw that away.
ReplyDeleteI could care less how much my home value has dropped because I know it will go back up. I did not buy my house to take loans out on it or to turn around and sell it.
For the person who mentioned that their loan company will not even talk with them until they miss a payment you might want to question the integrity of the company. It is my understanding that all loan companies are required to abide by the presidents Home Affordable Program. You do not have to be behind in your payments to qualify. If your house payment including taxes and insurances is more than 31% of your gross monthly income, you are eligible. You will still need to prove income, have somewhat decent credit and the amount to be modified is not more that 110 percent of the current value.
Wrong...I have a 30 yr fixed rate Countrywide loan, but since it is not backed by freddy or fannie I do not qualify. Others I know that have Countrywide as well are backed by fannie are eligible. I was told it was by "bad" luck that my countrywide loan is not backed by freddie or fannie......I have exhausted all options.
ReplyDeleteThe Obama plan is porous
It’s my understanding that California law limits the liability of homeowners as long as they have not refinanced, taken out second loans or borrowed against principal. Returning the house to the lender satisfies the outstanding balance regardless of its current value. Modifying the original terms nullifies this protection.
ReplyDeleteThose who bought at the market peak and haven’t modified their loans should be able to walk away and not look back. They’ll lose whatever equity they have, of course, but that might be their best option. It’s the one I’d consider if I were in trouble and had little equity.
Mortgage companies are so overwhelmed by refinancing that they can’t handle all the people who are behind in their payments. They simply don’t have the resources to also deal with people who aren’t delinquent.
Anonymous, at June 12, 2009 6:04 PM
ReplyDeleteYour loan does NOT need to be back by Fannie or Freddy! If the loan is, then you have a couple of additional options. If not, you still have options. I just got my loan modified without being back by Fannie or Freddy and I have not missed any payments.
Countrywide is probably so overwhelmed that they do not want to work with you unless you miss payments. This is not good because it screws up your credit rating and you need a decent credit rating to get qualified for the modification.
I make my payments, my mortgage is owned by Freddie and cWIDE has told me I am not eligilble. I asked for that in writing and was denied. I wrote HUD, ,Freddie and Obama. No repsonse yet. That was 3 months ago. I was told by Cwide if I miss a payment a "collections agent" would discuss options". That was almost like a suggestion. Weird. What happened to customer service? Why is the bank messing withme? Shouldn't this whole process be transparent? I mean I get a letter fedex'd saying I am eligable and then get the cold shoulder. Meanwhile, I send my payment month after month whilst hearing my neighbors stiffing the bank.
ReplyDeleteUnless you absolutely have to, do not intentionally miss a payment. Once Countrywide pulls their head out of their ass, or they are forced to by the government you will get your loan modified. By missing payments you will screw up your credit and then you will possibly be disqualified.
ReplyDeleteThis entire program is so confusing and the mortgage companies are just now getting their act together.
I called the week after Obama made the announcement and have continued calling every week for months. I was told to check into refinancing with another company and I kept on those idiots. After 3 months of calling and requesting to speak with supervisors and managers I finally got someone to admit to me that they just got the final information on the governments programs.
I finally got my loan modified.
Good luck and all I can say is you just have to keep calling and speaking to management. Write down dates, times and names of everyone you speak with. Keep records!
Thank you so much for all this great information "Anonymous".
ReplyDeleteI am wondering where these bad areas are in menifee. i live and love to live in the hills above bundy cyn/scott road. 10 yrs now and loving it. many mobilehome along with stick built homes on land. where are these bad areas
ReplyDeletePerhaps instead of saying there are other options......maybe post some phone number and or websites? I am going off what my mortgage company told as well as a lawyer. I have also talked to a few of those agents that specialize in renigotiating your loan. Like I said unless your backed by Fannie or Freddy and have a second on you home you are out of luck.
ReplyDeleteMy Loan not backed by Fanny or Freddy.
ReplyDeleteI have No second loan. No missed payments.
My Loan was modified per government standards without a problem.
Citimortgage did it for me so I dont know what else say.
Modified in what way? Lower interest? Longer life of loan? Principal reduced? In other words you went from what to what?How long was the process with Citibank before they agreed to do it? Can you give details? The exact terms would great. It gives us some guidelines to shoot for. You are anonymous so one one will be able to cite you as a source. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteyou got "modified" because you didn't have a second, just as i said. Most modified loans I hear about are basically turning the term to a 40 year term and lower the interest rate a point sometimes 2 (if you had an already high term). Very rarely are they lowering principal.....instead the banks are willing to pay the foreclosure price tag then seel the house to a new buyer for damn near half the owed price, seems they could save money by splitting the difference and keeping the original family in the dwelling, which would be a win win.
ReplyDeleteBottom line is the banks greed got us in this mess and their greed is preventing us from fixing the problem quicker
I would still like to see phone numbers and/or websites on valuable info
I wish I could modify my last post ^^^....anyways here is a link to an interesting article that basically backs what I have been saying.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_modification14.493e916.html
hmmm... anyone who is not willing to give details even though they are anonymous is a little sketchy. You take the time to write your post be won't give details. Why the heck not?
ReplyDeleteThere is a article (almost a complete page) in the Press Enterprise today on this very subject. Good luck.
I am wondering where these bad areas are in menifee. i live and love to live in the hills above bundy cyn/scott road. where are these bad areas
ReplyDeleteThe sheriff's dept would probably be able to tell you were the most crime happens in Menifee/Sun City. In my opinion the only area of Menifee that looks less than desirable is on the west side of 215 between Haun and Murrieta on the north side.
ReplyDeletewe live in that area and have little/no crime...and we all keep our houses up..yes, there are a few streets that are shabby but we have less foreclosures than the east side of the freeway....just because its an older area, doesn't mean there is more crime here.
ReplyDeleteNo "area" is bad. Yes pockets of scum does exist and always will however; vigilant, watchfull residents who report suspicous activity and problem people will ensure our community continues to be safe.
ReplyDeleteI wish we had more programs for the teenagers and kids to keep them away from the lure of vandilism and what not.
I figured anyone who lived in the area (North Newport Ave) would be a little defensive if they saw something negative written about their neighborhood. I would be too. But the truth is the truth. Drive down any 5 streets and you will see that most homes are not well kept making the whole neighborhood look rundown.
ReplyDeleteAll of menifee is a dump. Blame the residents and city council. YOU ALL ARE TO BLAME!!!
ReplyDeleteTo the last poster.......move the F out!
ReplyDeleteTo: June 16, 2009 7:45 AM
ReplyDeleteI would be embarrassed to be your parent, your spouse, your child.
I am embarrassed you post on here hahahah
ReplyDeleteNot in our housing tract...our entire trace except for about 1 street are very nicely kept up....and that one street is getting better with new homeowners moving in and cleaning the yards. We are west of Murrieta Road...friendly neighbors, great kids, a very nice place to live..we've been here 5 years.
ReplyDeleteI talk with the deputies that patrol Menifee and there are NO BAD areas within the city limits. Keep in mind that when I say bad, I am comparing it to the city of Perris.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like it here within Menifee then work with your specific community and make it a better place for you and all your neighbors.
The bad or good areas are directly the responsibility of the people that live within them.
Our community had some minor problems. We formed a Neighborhood Watch and virtually all the problems have been resolved.
to June 16, 2009 2:10 PM
ReplyDeleteLook in the mirror pot calling the kettle black.