ray mathoda

Proactive government and bank efforts to help distressed borrowers have largely, if not exclusively, been focused on ‘home retention’ programs in 2009. On the one hand this focus makes sense: the first question that should be asked and answered when a family stops making their mortgage payment due to financial hardship is whether an change to the loan terms would make the home affordable for the same borrower (thereby avoiding all the negative effects of a pre or post foreclosure home sale) while being acceptable to the investor.

(more…)

There are a lot of people who have gotten “unlucky” recently, in one way or another, and are finding themselves unable to make payments on their debt because their income and expense equation is no longer what it used to be (i.e., their income is down, or their expenses are up). Of the millions of homeowners currently not making their full monthly mortgage payments, it’s hard to tell which ones were unlucky, who got defrauded or lied to, and who just plain made a stupid (intentional or unintentional) mistake and bought something they couldn’t really afford.

(more…)

Most everyone knows that America is not very popular abroad right now, and hasn’t been for the past several years. Just ask any American who has travelled abroad recently. From Davos to Delhi, the general current perspective is that America is on the decline and other countries (such as China and India) will be the global leaders of tomorrow.
 
While I certainly agree that countries like India and China will continue to gain importance and power as their economic power increases to levels consistent with their massive populations, I disagree with this pessimistic view of the future of America.

(more…)

Please find below a brief proposal I have put together on the issue of foreclosure prevention and housing market stabilization based on what I and the team at HausAngeles as well as our colleagues, clients and strategic partners are actually seeing (and not seeing) on the ground in Los Angeles/Southern California. I and we do not claim to have all the answers on this “massive issue”. Nor do we claim all of the ideas below are mine or ours (please see footnote 1: acknowledgements). However, refining and executing on some or all of these ideas will be a key focus for me and the team at HausAngeles for the foreseeable future and until the housing market stabilizes. Our primary geographic focus is Los Angeles, but we plan to share learnings and information widely and freely to maximize impact at the ground level.

(more…)

What is the #1 worry that most Americans have when they get laid off? I believe it is that they might lose the roof over their and their families’ heads in a worst case scenario (i.e., if they are unable to find adequate alternate sources of income).

(more…)

AV’s recent inpatient surgery experience - she had a cervical dystectomy (relatively common neck surgery) - reminded of how fundamentally flawed our US healthcare system is. Almost every industry/market that’s “efficient” functions on some basic common principles/dynamics: Customers make purchasing decisions based on cost, quality and service and producers/companies compete on the basis of these 3 core product/service “differentiation” dimensions.

(more…)

I’m glad to see the government is finally using 2 “smart” tools – capital and risk sharing –  to help address the financial institution panic and resulting failures we have seen since earlier in 2008 which have seriously escalated the financial and economic crisis facing the US and global economies today. While these tools don’t comprehensively address the myriad of financial and economic issues facing the US or the world today, they:

(more…)

The Mumbai “terrorist” attacks are a clear message to President Elect Obama, us, and the rest of the world. The problems of the world aren’t just economic….they are equally urgent, social and extend deeply into our homes and places of worship.

(more…)

One of the fatal flaws of the Bush approach/policy framework that I would love to see Barack Obama change…is this idea that it is America’s job to spread Democracy around the world. As a student of Democracy and child of the largest Democracy in the world (India), I do believe in and love Democracy. However, just like Capitalism….Democracy, too, is a flawed, chaotic, and imperfect system and I just don’t think it’s America’s job to tell other countries what political system is best for them.

(more…)

I was trying last night to have a mellow evening at home after a full day of work. The full day of work was quite an experience after spending 3 blissful months ‘Exploring my Zen’ (as I like to call it) following the collapse of Indymac during the Summer. So here I was…cuddling with my 2 freshly bathed (and good smelling) Great Dane’s Lara and Tank…watching TV. But what I saw on CNN shocked me.

(more…)