These criminals won't go to jail:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/us/23vacant.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
[WS:] Yup. As they say, in the US the most scandalous things is not what is illegal, but what is legal.
One thing that really defies my understanding of this country is why on earth even the poorest schmuck insists of individual home ownership, instead of pooling their resources in a cooperative? Cooperatives are big elsewhere, Canada, Europe, Australia, but they are rare here. It is not that they cannot be established. I live in one that was created in the 1970 as an alternative to public housing - today we have 200+ units, well maintained, financially sound, debt free and darn cheap. It cost less than a half to live in our coop than it would have cost to own a similar unit.
However, there is very little interest in coop membership. People are buying overpriced real estate like crazy, risking insolvency, but there is little interest in coop membership. We get a lot of inquiries in relatively short term rentals, but not in long term coop membership.
This is something that I have difficulty understanding. Why on earth people chose overpriced real estate and loan sharks to cooperatives? Is it just rabid yank individualism or something else? Any insights?
Wojtek