Letters to the Editor

Re: 'New York expands appraisal probe to Fannie, Freddie' (Nov. 7)

Dear Editor:

We seem to be looking for who to blame regarding the financial debacle we in the real estate business now find ourselves in. Correcting this is simple; just see who is left with the bags of money.

It should not be the citizens of this country who are left holding the bag to repair this fiasco but those who became wealthy from this rampant greed. The list should include real estate agents, lenders, mortgage brokers, appraisers ... just follow the money.

However, in the real world these gluttonous individuals (and institutions) will be slapped on the hand, required to pay back an appallingly small amount of money (compared to what they made), and leave us -- the taxpayers -- to fix their mistakes. Look at Michael Milliken who was able to keep hundreds of millions of dollars of his ill-gotten gains while throngs of people lost everything watching him become disgustingly wealthy.

It all comes down to politics, and we all know politicians do not want to upset the wealthy.

Jeff Fox
mail@jefffox.com

Re: 'Losses at banking, securities firms widen as market continues decline' (Nov. 8)

Dear Editor:

It's too bad that Morgan Stanley will probably fire its chairman and give him a $100M boot. We poor real estate brokers are in the wrong business. Apparently, as Gordon Gekko said, "greed is good."

Mike McCutcheon
Coldwell Banker NRT
Walnut Creek, Calif.

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