With foreclosure season just getting underway in the economy as the housing bubble has begun its unsurprising collapse, it bears some thinking about the current state of the middle class of America, which has been the hardest hit by the drops in housing values. Record foreclosure rates, a record credit bubble, and predatory lending and financial practices dominate the current economic climate, while many homeowners are finally beginning to wake up to many of the discrepancies between what they expect from their government and the market, and what they are actually getting.

The record foreclosure rates were a direct result of the wild inflation that was used to stimulate the economy after the tech bubble burst in 2000 and the events of 9/11/2001. The Federal Reserve created massive amounts of money, literally flooding the banks with this cheap liquidity created out of nothing. The banks, in turn, lured in every consumer who could sign their own name and was intelligent enough to lie on a mortgage application (but was not intelligent enough NOT to lie), giving out trillions of dollars of loans with introductory interest rates on houses that were worth far less that the amounts loaned. Everyone in Suburbia had a house worth half of what they bought it for, a couple of SUVs that cost them $20.00 in gas to get to the nearest strip mall, and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of promises to repay money that hadn't even existed until they agreed to pay it back.

And then, when every homeowner knew their home would double in value in a few years and they would be able to borrow more money to pay back what the loans they already had -- it all collapsed. Incredibly, borrowers who had no income could not afford to make payments, and the banks finally caught on to that eventuality, long after the point of no return. Energy prices increased, homeowners lost jobs and faced medical problems, and multinational firms ate up local jobs, shipped them overseas, and returned them in the form of Wal-Mart greeter positions to be staffed by the elderly and desperate.

Representatives of the government and celebrity/government wannabes/has-beens have brought their false promises and hollow threats and aimed them directly at the companies they helped put in power and gave the opportunities to abuse consumers. Let the Federal Reserve create an enormous credit bubble and then make filing bankruptcy more difficult. Allow banks to lend out ridiculous sums of money that they knew would never be paid back, and then suggest the Federal Reserve be put in charge of overseeing the lending industry.

Now that it is abundantly clear that Americans have been encouraged, tricked, and propagandized into spending every dollar they earn on borrowed consumption, what options are left? For most consumers, it seems to be continued consumption to the breaking point, often ending in foreclosure or bankruptcy after trying to work more or take on a second job or sell assets, or simply losing faith in the entire system and looking for some way to escape the fate that has been decreed for them, or even more simply feeling wanting the government's help and a free handout. Once they've borrowed all they can with impossible promises to pay back the debt, the next logical step is simply to ask for money with not even a requirement that it ever be paid back.

So, what is the government doing to protect their constituents? Well, so far this year, all we've had is diversions as entertainment, playing catch-up, and actions that are in defiance of the will of 90% of the American people. Oh, and the continuance of a couple of wars that 70% of the American people are now against.

There have already been numerous presidential candidates debates for an election that is a year-and-a-half away. What a great way to keep everyone focused on Hillary, Obama, Giuliani, McCain and all of the other corporate spokespeople and away from the fact that all of these candidates have been bought out by the very same companies enacting the financial devastation on homeowners and consumers right now. Will we have our first Socialist woman president or our first Authoritarian thug former mayor? Stay turned for 18 months and find out!

The Democratic Congress has also been looking into such matters as the firing of judges by the Bush administration for potentially political reasons, while the Bush administration has done everything they can to prevent anyone from associating the word "accountability" with them. They have even gone so far as to declare the vice president's office as above the law and not a part of the Executive Branch of the government. This is all just political maneuvering on each party's part and another bit of diversion, just as the Amnesty Bill for illegal immigrants, a bill that nearly 90% of Americans are against, is one of the last nails in the coffin of American sovereignty before dissidents from the American Union who are not carrying their Real ID papers are bussed along the NAFTA superhighway from one Halliburton detention center to another.

Oh, and the war. No Congress in recent history was elected with a stronger mandate from 70% of the American people than the Democrats were to End The War. Just stop the war, stop funding it, bring the troops home, and get out of Iraq. The peoples reward for giving the Democrats control of Congress? Well, a big fat blank check was written to keep on funding the war indefinitely. More killing of American soldiers, more carnage of Iraqis and by Iraqis, and more contracts for the government's favorite companies.

Where did they get this money from, and who gave it to them? And here is where we come back to where we began. The government authorized the black check, sent it to the Federal Reserve, and the Fed, once again, created the money out of nothing to be given to the administration to use to wage a war of aggression on the people of another country who do not want us there.

The last time, and every time, we have allowed the Federal Reserve to print the money, nothing has happened to prevent the resulting bubble from inflation and speculation. Once the bubble bursts, it is the middle and lower classes that suffer the most, the ones who dutifully elect politicians to protect them from abuse and who continue to trust in the inherent goodness of America, but who are so often betrayed by the very people they elect and the very businesses that they patronize.

In all fairness, there is a lot of goodness in America, and the messages of personal freedom and liberty are still very powerful. But when psychopaths and cowards are put in powerful government positions, then psychopathy and cowardice will begin to corrupt and alienate the system from the people who created the government to act in the best interests of the country. When these same psychopaths and cowards leave government, only to be replaced by other psychopaths and cowards, and join private businesses, the corporatocracy that exists now at the highest levels of government are given free reign to continue the abuse and propagandization of the people.

The current problems that homeowners face, whether it be job insecurity, high medical costs, or even foreclosure, will not be solved by free handouts from a monolithic government that will protect consumers from predatory businesses. The businesses became predatory at the will of the government and by the same people who used to work in government, now work in government, or will work in government in the future. Homeowners have only themselves, their own families, and their local communities that may be willing to help them face the systemic problems and find solutions that benefit everyone and keep wealth in the family and community.

This is not a pessimistic thought, but possibly the most liberating one of all. Instead of relying on a government that has continuously proven itself to be untrustworthy and predatory in nature, people are given the freedom to affect and alter their own lives, without having to wait for a change. Change does not come gradually, by small steps every few months. Change occurs in great leaps and bounds, and the most significant change a person can make is simply to take responsibility for his or her own life.

The book that is the subject of this review is Metallica: This Monster Lives: The Inside Story of the Hit Film Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, written by Joe Berlinger with Greg Milner and published in 2004. The subject of the book should be obvious by its various titles and subtitles, but it is an inside look at the film in question by one of the two directors of the project. Joe Berlinger, along with his partner Bruce Sinofsky, spent nearly two and a half years with the band Metallica, documenting their struggle to undergo therapy and repair their broken relationships, record a new album, and face their inner struggles.

Berlinger focuses on three main themes throughout the account: Metallica's story, the story of the documentary film, and his own personal story. The book is told in a mostly chronological sequence, but many discussions necessitate a simultaneous looking forward and backward for the reader to understand the context. This is, of course, quite logical, as the film came together from Metallica's story, which was put together by the directors months after the actual scenes were shot. A short look at each theme should give a potential reader a taste for what the book contains.

Metallica's story in the film Some Kind of Monster, in a nutshell, is the story of an immensely popular rock band being shaken to its core as its bass player of fifteen years leaves, the members realize they have never taken the time to overcome the emotional and psychological walls they have built, and the struggle to "clean house," all while employing the help of a full-time performance coach/therapist and trying to write and record a new album, and then beginning a world tour in support of said album.

In the book, Berlinger elaborates on many of the most important and moving scenes in the film, including the infamous confrontation between rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich soon after James returns from rehab for alcohol and other addictions, in which Lars actually shouts the F-word in James' face. Other scenes that are examined closer in the book include Lars' meeting with former guitarist Dave Mustaine, the Ramones cover songs and their context of Dee-Dee Ramone's death, and the first gigs that Metallica played after getting back together, including the show on the back of a truck in a parking lot at an Oakland Raiders football game.

Many of these scenes were gems of Metallica documentary film making, but they did not fit the context of the movie's story arc. With thousands of hours of film that the directors had to sift through, many scenes were pared down, intercut with each other, or simply dropped altogether. Berlinger also takes the reader through the "back end" part of the documentary, from its initial concept as a historical commercial piece, to the threat of it appearing as a mini-series on VH1 or Showtime, to its final product as a two hour and twenty minute documentary film. These themes were absent from the film itself, as its subject was Metallica, not the making of a documentary about Metallica, but Berlinger adds more interesting context to the making of the movie.

Berlinger also examines his film-making history and his relationship with his partner Sinofsky throughout the book. At the beginning of filming, the two were not on the best terms, and Berlinger was attempting to overcome the disgrace of being involved in the movie Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows. As they become involved in watching Metallica sort through their personal and professional relationships, though, the two begin to gel as a team again, just as Metallica come together in the end to complete their album and begin a tour. Sinofsky offers a brief forward to the work, echoing the same problems the two were experiencing, but the very fact that he wrote such an endearing forward should go to prove that the two are on much better terms. They both attribute much of this conciliation to their work with and observance of Metallica.

For Metallica fans, one of the most intriguing aspects of the book is the use of various quotes and transcriptions of conversations among the members of Metallica, producer Bob Rock, and performance coach Phil Towle. Nearly every chapter opens with dialogue that sheds more light on the dynamics within the band culled from the thousands of hours of film that were shot for the movie. The final Appendix also contains snippets from interviews that Berlinger conducted with the band in regards to their feelings on the movie. They provide valuable insight as to their intentions to produce such as personal documentary, and its effect as a mirror that they can always look back to in the future.

Metallica: This Monster Lives provides the reader with a very personal inside account from one of the few people ever to get this close to the biggest heavy metal band in the world. It provides a unique perspective of the band as seen from the eyes of a professional documentary film maker, who focused his attention on the much larger picture of the band's story through its fracture, near-dissolution, and renewal. For anyone who has ever sought to understand Metallica's album St. Anger, the film Some Kind of Monster is absolutely essential, and for anyone who has seen the movie, Berlinger's book is absolutely essential to understanding the structure and making of the film, as well as its context in the history of Metallica.

In complicated foreclosure situations, there are literally hundreds of mistakes that homeowners can make when trying to save their homes, from responding to court summons to knowing where to turn for help. The following are three of the more common mistakes that tend to trap foreclosure victims and cause them to waste valuable time and money that they could otherwise use to stop foreclosure.

Waiting Too Long
This is the most dangerous mistake for homeowners in foreclosure to make, as the nature of the foreclosure process gives them precious little time in which to come up with a solution. Even in situations where foreclosure proceedings can take several months, the deadline for saving the home can come up very quickly and catch many homeowners by surprise. Too many of them realize that they have no reasonable solution to prevent the foreclosure and are rapidly coming up to a sheriff sale. Waiting to deal with foreclosure should be avoided any way possible.

Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket
This is a topic that we have discussed numerous times on our blog, and one which needs to be repeated as often as possible. Foreclosure is such a difficult situation that any attempt to get out of it is uncertain, at best. Homeowners may just not qualify for the solution they are attempting, or they may find that they have been unknowingly working with a foreclosure scam company and will not receive any real help. So it is the best policy for foreclosure victims to have as many options as they can come up with, in case their preferred method to stop foreclosure falls through. Putting all of their trust in only one solution to foreclosure is possibly the worst mistake a homeowner can make.

Not Knowing Who to Trust
Another common mistake that we have discussed in the past is this issue of homeowners putting their trust undeservedly in quite a number of shady foreclosure help companies that provide more promises than actual solutions, and charge their clients a lot of money for nonexistent services. Even worse, some foreclosure victims, in a desperate attempt to avoid foreclosure, will sign over the deed to their homes and find themselves kicked out of their own house by their own actions. Seeking out as much foreclosure information as possible is best for every homeowner in foreclosure, as understanding how the process works will help them find various solutions to foreclosure and protect themselves from being taken advantage of by a foreclosure scam.

Once homeowners are aware of these three common mistakes, then they can begin reacting to the foreclosure situation and taking back control of their lives and their homes. But far too often, foreclosure victims will make a combination of these mistakes, and will find that they have run out of time to come up with another plan to save their homes. Waiting too long, trusting in only one solution, and trusting in the wrong solution due to being uninformed are sure-fire ways for any homeowner to guarantee that they have as little chance as possible to be able to stop foreclosure. But being aware of and avoiding these mistakes will allow homeowners to pursue the most relevant foreclosure advice available and put together a real plan to save their home from foreclosure.

One common theme in much of the foreclosure advice we give is that homeowners should have as many options as possible to save their homes from foreclosure. There are so many potential solutions, though, that organizing them into a few broad categories of foreclosure help is useful. Thinking of options in this manner can allow foreclosure victims to cover all of their bases and put together a more complete plan to stop foreclosure, with the necessary insurances against one or another options falling through.

The most common broad category of ways to save a home involves homeowners working with their current lender to put together some sort of agreement to give the foreclosure victims another chance to repay their loan. These options are usually considered as loss mitigation plans and include forbearance plans, loan modifications, or using a partial claim for FHA-insured homes. The foreclosure victims, in these cases, work with the bank and have the foreclosure put on hold while the homeowners are given another chance to pay back the mortgage and get the defaulted payments caught up.

The second category of foreclosure avoidance options will replace the current lender completely, either through a foreclosure refinance loan, or using a private investor to put together a leaseback or buyback arrangement with the homeowners. Then the foreclosure victims will have a new loan and a fresh start, allowing them to begin the process of rebuilding their credit while they stay in their own home until they can qualify for a better interest rate. These kind of options can be extremely useful in cases where the lender does not want to work with the homeowners any further and is threatening foreclosure.

The last group of options to stop foreclosure take into consideration the fact that homeowners should have at least one last ditch effort. This can include filing bankruptcy to stop foreclosure, or giving the bank a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Voluntarily giving the property back with the deed in lieu can prevent the foreclosure from being quite so financially ruinous, while filing bankruptcy will give the foreclosure victims another chance to establish a repayment plan for their debts under the protection of the law. Homeowners usually do not want to consider these options to avoid foreclosure, but in some instances a final method should be considered, just in case nothing else works, or if the lender is simply unwilling to provide any assistance to the homeowners.

When homeowners are looking at a plan to stop foreclosure, they need to consider options from each broad category. Workout programs give the homeowners another chance with their current lender, while replacing the loan completely may often give them the fresh start they are looking for. But in any event, having one final option to save the home from foreclosure is absolutely vital, in case any of the other options fall through. All homeowners should avoid putting all of their trust in just a few options, though, as they will find themselves severely unprotected.

The overriding theme of many of our foreclosure articles is to provide homeowners with the most relevant options they can use to stop foreclosure. But with such a large number of potential options, homeowners in foreclosure should consider them in larger categories of assistance. Thinking of these methods in generalized groups can help most foreclosure victims put together a more comprehensive plan to save their homes, along with a number of backups in the event one does not work.

The first main category of foreclosure help is in services that let the homeowners work with their current lender to put together a plan to get the defaulted payments taken care of in some way. They can be broadly thought of as loss mitigation options, and may take into account special forbearance plans, mortgage modifications, or the FHA partial claim. The homeowners would be able to work with their bank to come up with an agreement that can stop the foreclosure process and give them a chance to get caught up on their mortgage without switching lenders or selling the property.

The second large group of ways to avoid foreclosure involve the complete replacement of the current mortgage with such options as a new foreclosure loan or using a private real estate investors and executing a buyback agreement of some sort. Paying off the foreclosed loan completely in this manner would give the homeowners a brand new fresh start and still let them live in the home and rebuild their credit to qualify for a new mortgage with a lower interest rate. In situations where the lender is unable to come to an agreement with the homeowners, this is an especially useful category of options.

The final broad category that homeowners should consider is having one last option that will help them stop the foreclosure. Typically, this last ditch effort will be either bankruptcy or a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The bankruptcy to stop foreclosure puts the entire process on hold while giving the foreclosure victims the protection of the law to establish a repayment plan, while a deed in lieu allows the homeowners to give the property back to the bank voluntarily and avoid foreclosure. Neither of these are usually a homeowners' first choice to save their home, but having this last chance when there are no other options can make a significant difference and gain them some extra time to find a better solution, or end the foreclosure as efficiently as possible, even if the home must be lost.

In any plan to stop foreclosure, homeowners should consider methods from every one of these large groups. Bank workout programs allow the homeowners to work with their current lender to reestablish their payment history, while a complete replacement of the defaulted loan and a fresh start may be better for other homeowners in foreclosure. If these first two groups of solutions do not work, though, it is important for homeowners to have one or two last ditch options. Putting all of their eggs in one basket puts homeowners in a very unprotected position.

The book that is the subject of this review is A Different Kind of Teacher, which is a collection of essays and speeches given by the author, John Taylor Gatto, and released in 2001. This is Gatto's follow-up to his previous collection, entitled Dumbing Us Down, which was reviewed here previously, and represents a growth of the author's disillusionment with the modern school system of the United States.

The essays and speeches are grouped into three main sections, each with their own purpose. The first section," Schoolrooms Speak Bluntly," examines some of the circumstances under which Gatto developed his ideas of school, while the second section, "Analyzing the System," delves much further into the history of schooling as an institution that parents are forced, under threat of law enforcement, to send their children for their entire natural young lives. The final section of the book, "The Search for Meaning," is the author's analysis of how school actually teaches children and its results in society, what really matters in life, and what conversational and critical thinking skills a child should develop and which development school discourages.

Gatto displays great skill and passion in his criticisms of compulsory schooling, and suggests that no amount of "reform," money, or other solutions will ever contribute to repairing a system that breaks children. In fact, the more dysfunctional their students turn out, the more proof that school has done its job. These results are contrasted by the author with famous individuals who had failed at school but excelled at educating themselves, such as Benjamin Franklin, as well as with examples of his own students who simply had no time to waste by going to school. These anecdotes, including a short essay written by one of Gatto's students, provide a stark contrast with the author's description of children who have been put through the school institution from start to finish.

These children, according to Gatto, are much more likely to be unable to think critically, take responsibility for their own lives, and find themselves with no real meaning in life. The emotional dependency created by the school system encourages this, as children are taught to chase after A's, gold stars, standardized test grades, and other meaningless achievements. They are meaningless because the student is given no opportunity for self-reflection and the grades are based on standards that are a result of research by professional think-tanks who simply practice their theories, untested or not, on unsuspecting children. States, administrators, and teachers are given these standards to enforce with no critical analysis of them and are put under enormous pressure to have their students and themselves conform to these directives from above, and parents are told how angry to be at their children based on these same abstractions.

Gatto also sees the roots of social ineptness in the modern schooling system. Because students are alienated from each other and forced by strangers to compete with other strangers in competitions that many of them are simply not interested in, there is little other possible result than the current litigious nature of society, where seventy percent of the world's lawyers make their home in the US. People are forgetting the concepts of family and community life, denying responsibility for their lives and this is a direct result of the irresponsibility that schooling allows its students.

There is no solution to these problems to be found in our concept of school as it exits at the present. According to the author, schooling serves a much different and contrary position than does education. A person can always educate himself on any subject that they are interested in, whether it be learning about the history of his family, how to build a house, or how to master solitude. Learning for an educated person is always interdisciplinary, according to Gatto, and so is life. A product of schooling, though, will be dependent on other forms of authoritarian teaching, such as television, to provide superficial compartmentalized "subjects," with no relation to each other and no possibility for analysis. This type of schooling has both the questions and the answers delivered in prethought thoughts designed as pretty packages written by the newest wave of advertising executives and soap opera writers.

Possibly the most insightful parts of the book are when Gatto displays his mastery of language and with to get his point across. For example, in discussing the role of school in the economy, he states that "Our own economy requires a managed mass of levelled, spiritless, anxious, family-less, friendless, godless, and obedient people who believe the difference between Coke and Pepsi is a subject worth arguing about." And further in the book is when he brings up the topic of what really matters in life: "The truth is, if we can believe advertisements, what matters to most Americans is personal ownership of machines... Yet here we are, all of us, frantically lost in a tunnel of loneliness, cut off from each other, disliking ourselves, envying those with superior machines."

A Different Kind of Teacher goes to great length to explain that the only kind of teacher is oneself. The result of decades of mass forced schooling has been vast numbers of people who are still dependent on others to tell them what to do, even though this makes them less and less happy with themselves and others. As Gatto states in the last essay in the book, "An educated person writes his own script through life;" a schooled person, on the other hand, follows a tragic script given to him by someone he has never met and who cares nothing for him, and he follows this script to its tragic end of constant anger, desperation, and depression.

It is no secret that the sheriff sale is the most important event that homeowners in foreclosure will experience. Many foreclosure victims, when facing a sheriff sale, would like additional time in which to work out a solution. Postponing a sale gives both lenders and homeowners a chance to get the loan reinstated or paid off, and benefits both parties. As little known as this issue seems to be, there are three distinct ways in which a homeowner can have a sheriff sale postponed while they work on another solution to stop foreclosure.

Asking the lender to postpone the sale is the first method, although it is commonly overlooked. Lenders, though, will put a sale on hold, in many instances, in order to give the clients another chance to save their home or get out of foreclosure. The mortgage company will usually request some documentation to prove that the foreclosure victims are actively seeking a solution, such as a loan modification or foreclosure bailout loan, or any other plan that they may have to save their home.

The second way to have a sheriff sale postponed is when the homeowners petition their county court for additional time. This option is especially appropriate in cases where the lender is not willing to give the homeowners any more time to save the property from foreclosure. The county court can automatically postpone the sale regardless of the lender's intentions. Again, the homeowners will usually have to provide some proof that they are working on a viable solution that will stop the foreclosure entirely. This method of stopping a sale is the least-known option.

The third common way that homeowners can use to prevent the sheriff sale is by filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to stop foreclosure. Most of the time, this is the least-desired option on the part of the homeowners. Foreclosure victims would rather find a different solution to foreclosure other than filing bankruptcy. However, if no other option is available to the homeowners, bankruptcy to get a sale postponed may give the homeowners one last chance to save their home. During the bankruptcy, the foreclosure victims will have a chance to pay back their debts through a payment plan that will give them protection under the bankruptcy law. Of course, bankruptcy is a much more in-depth process, and homeowners should consult a lawyer to determine if this is a reasonable last ditch effort to prevent losing their home to foreclosure. Although many homeowners would rather avoid this option, it may present the one chance the homeowners need.

These three methods of stopping a foreclosure auction are the most common options that homeowners may have. It is very easy to ask the lender for a postponement, but then all of the decision-making power is in the hands of the bank. Requesting that the court automatically postpone the sale is another option that is almost never talked about in the foreclosure industry. The final option, bankruptcy, is usually considered by the homeowners to be the last resort to prevent them from losing the home and if there are no other ways to gain additional time. As soon as a homeowner is in danger of missing more than one payment, they should seek out as much foreclosure information as they can, so there are more options to stop foreclosure and the situation does not progress to a sheriff sale. It is much easier to stop foreclosure before a sale is scheduled.

The problem of scams in the foreclosure industry is a very broad topic and one that has been discussed over and over again in news stories and articles. But each description of a scam only provides more evidence that a problem exists, without analyzing where the problem comes from, or how homeowners in foreclosure can protect themselves from being taken advantage of. The exposure of foreclosure scams after the fact does very little to help most homeowners avoid the same or similar tactics practiced by other unscrupulous con artists.

Scammers often target homeowners in foreclosure for a number of reasons. Chief among them is the fact that most foreclosure victims are woefully uninformed about the entire foreclosure process and how their own mortgage works. Despite the fact that it may take only a few hours for homeowners to have a firm grasp of these issues, they put their trust in a virtual stranger who appears as if he has the magical secret that will help the homeowners stop foreclosure. In reality, the scam operator has little more knowledge than what the homeowners could learn on their own through an hour or two of internet searching.

Foreclosure scams also capitalize on the homeowners' unwillingness to call the lender and simply explain the problem -- these homeowners believe that someone else will be able to communicate with the lender where the homeowner was unable. In most cases, though, the mortgage company would rather work with their clients first, before any other third party is involved. But the scammer knows that many homeowners are afraid that they will be berated and threatened by the lender, so they avoid calling at all.

It is a clear sign of how far community and interpersonal communication and bonding have broken down in the modern world, that homeowners are afraid to speak with their mortgage company, so they put their complete trust in an indifferent stranger who professes to know the secrets of the universe and can magically stop foreclosure. The homeowners are far too trusting, and the foreclosure scam operator far too morally bankrupt for any progress to be made. And the lender is clearly guilty as well, of doing to their customers exactly what the homeowners are afraid of. They constantly call, threaten their clients with the loss of their homes, and generally focus on the single issue of money to the detriment of their own reputation and respectability.

Even further alienating everyone involved from each other is that, very often, the foreclosure victims, lender, and foreclosure scammer will all be operating in different states in the country. Homeowners are first afraid of someone that they have never met and will never meet, so they put their trust in someone else that they have never met and will never meet. And they expect the other two parties, who have never met and will never meet, to patch up the original problem. Is it any wonder why these arrangements so often break down and the homeowners lose their homes and a good amount of their money and a significant amount of their time?

And what is it that discourages the homeowners from doing the research on their own, to find the relevant foreclosure information that would show them exactly what to expect, what to do, and what to avoid? Simply typing "foreclosure advice" or" foreclosure information" into a search engine will give any foreclosure victim potentially hundreds of hours of reading that they can engage in to learn exactly what they can do to save their homes from foreclosure. There is no lack of free foreclosure help resources available, and foreclosure victims should take full advantage of these at every opportunity.

Foreclosure victims unwilling to face their fears and gain the appropriate knowledge may want to reconsider their decision to own a home in the first place. If they can not take the time to research their own situation and how they can repair it, and would rather blindly trust someone to fix their problem for them, then it would probably be best for them to move back in with their parents, or become wards of the state. Unwillingness to take personal responsibility and unwillingness to attempt critical thinking to gain understanding are two huge barriers to success for any homeowners who wants to stop foreclosure on their homes. Most importantly, though, they are barriers that are easily conquerable.

Foreclosure is one of the most stressful events that can happen to a family; however, it does not happen independently of other financial issues, such as taxes and inflation, as we have discussed earlier. Homeowners, regardless of how far into the foreclosure process they find themselves at the present, should take some time to research the deeper reasons why they feel they are unable to get ahead or get caught up on their mortgage enough to stop foreclosure.

Although nearly every American pays some sort of taxes, very few have actually studied what makes this enormous tax system work. Even fewer have a working idea of how the largest tax works, namely, the federal income tax. In this documentary, called Theft By Deception, homeowners can learn how the tax system works and what its purpose is in this country. With a working knowledge of taxes, many foreclosure victims may find that they can reduce their own taxes just enough to be able to get out of foreclosure and find a solution to their current financial difficulties.

An even larger issue, though, is how money works in the economy; how it is created, distributed, and concentrated. A highly informative documentary called Money As Debt examines these concepts and puts them in very easy to understand terms. It is the hidden inflation tax that eats away the most at homeowners' incomes, and it would be wise for any homeowner to learn how the mechanisms are created that slowly eat away at their own abilities to pay for basic necessities and other bills.

Foreclosure should be considered by its victims to be a symptom of a much larger problem, both in the homeowners' private financial lives, as well as a social problem with clear causes. Just learning about how money works or how homeowners can save on taxes may not contribute directly to the ability to stop foreclosure, but understanding these concepts will help the homeowners gain a financial education that they can hold onto far into the future. This will help prevent them from facing foreclosure ever again, and may also assist them in using money wisely by understanding its true role in their lives.

The lack of financial education is one of the main causes of so many homeowners taking on far too much debt and then facing foreclosure. There are many reasons for schools not teaching students how to manage their finances, but regardless of these reasons, homeowners who take on the responsibility of borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars should take a couple of hours out of their lives to learn how to manage their money. Banks know how money works and use their knowledge to manipulate homeowners; homeowners who understand how the banks do this can avoid being taken advantage of and can avoid ever facing foreclosure.

Our blog and most of our website focuses on giving homeowners as many options as possible when they are in foreclosure. With so many different methods to stop foreclosure to choose from, though, it is more realistic to focus on a few broad categories of foreclosure help. By thinking of these options as more categorized, homeowners can move between them much easier, especially in the case that one method fails and another backup is needed for them to save their homes.

A first broad category can be considered any option that requires the homeowners to work with their current lender to put together a plan to keep the current loan and get back on track. These options usually fall under the heading of Loss Mitigation, and encompass such ways to stop foreclosure as mortgage forbearance, loan modification, or partial claim. Using these methods, foreclosure victims will have to work with the bank to come to an agreement that puts the foreclosure process on hold and gives the homeowners a chance to pay back over time the amount that they are behind.

Also, homeowners may want to consider a category of options that replaces the current loan completely, either through a loan to stop foreclosure, or a private investor leaseback program. These options would result in the homeowners receiving a completely fresh start with a brand new lender or with a private investor who will allow them to remain in the property and repair their credit until they can qualify for a more reasonable interest rate. This is especially useful in situations where the lender is unwilling to work with the foreclosure victims, or have turned them down for a workout program.

And finally, it is best for homeowners to have a last ditch effort that will stop foreclosure. Usually, this can be accomplished with a deed in lieu of foreclosure or bankruptcy. A deed in lieu allows the homeowners to give their property back to the bank voluntarily, whereas a bankruptcy will put the entire foreclosure process on hold while the homeowners seek protection under the law to receive a chance to pay back their defaulted loans. These may be the last actions any homeowner wants to take when facing foreclosure, but they may result in them having one last chance to save their homes from foreclosure. When no one else can provide the foreclosure help the homeowners need, they can decide to move on or seek protection from the law.

Every homeowners' plan to stop foreclosure should encompass options from each of these broad categories. Workout programs can give the homeowners another chance to redeem themselves in the eyes of the current lender, whereas getting a fresh start is sometimes the best course of action. Regardless of these, though, it is very important for foreclosure victims to have a few final options on the table in the event every other plan fails. Having more than one plan is the entire concept of what we try to teach homeowners to do, because it makes no sense for anyone to put all of their eggs in one basket, no matter how much they trust the process that is their first choice.

The book that is the subject of this review is The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution, by Kevin Gutzman and published this year in 2007. As with all of the books in the "Politically Incorrect Guide to.." series, the subject matter is the lesser-known side of a popular topic: in this case, the United States Constitution. Gutzman provides an historical and topical examination of the original intent of the Constitution and how the views of the founders have been distorted over time by the three branches of government. However, the judicial branch is clearly held most responsible for the changes, additions, and convolutions to constitutional law.

In fact, if any book suffers from the lack of a subtitle, this is it. A few come to mind off-hand as potential nominees, such as "How the Supreme Court Ruined Everything," or "The Founders' Losing Battle with the Judgeocracy." After reading the book, it is clear that the decisions rendered by the Supreme Court over time have eroded the states' rights that Thomas Jefferson held so dear and accomplished the consolidation of power in the hands of the federal government.

Of course, Gutzman is not positing a vast conspiracy of any sort that designed to take away the liberty of state and local governments to decide their own social laws on contracts and place this power in the hands of the national government. The court, though, from its inception realized that it was designed to be the least powerful branch of the government and various chief justices decided to alter that power balance as much as possible.

After some preliminary battles between the Court and the original intent of the Constitution, Gutzman sees the "imperial judiciary" beginning in earnest with the fourth Chief Justice, John Marshall. Gutzman states that Marshall's chief legacy was the writing of "the defeated Federalist Party's constitutional views into American constitutional law." Despite the fact that the people of the United States at the time voted into office politicians who advocated states' rights and limited power of the federal government, Marshall was the main advocate of using the Court to strengthen the central government and apply the same laws throughout the Union, even overriding state laws.

Marshall's position was at odds with the beliefs of Thomas Jefferson, who saw the growing power of the Supreme Court as a threat to the constitution. Jefferson believed that laws were the social agreements that people agreed to be governed by and judges were to apply the meaning of these agreements as clearly as possible. In contrast, Marshall and various other judges believed in a "natural law" underlying all laws and that the role of a judge was to examine laws in relation to these universal statutes. This, of course, replaced the role of the people in deciding their laws with an aristocratic Philosopher Counsel that would determine the rules that all people should live by.

Most of the book focuses on various Supreme Court decisions on a range of social issues that were being debated at the time. From President Abraham Lincoln's suspension of habeus corpus to slavery and the original intent of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, to the flip-flopping done on the issue of segregation, Gutzman illustrates that the Court has rarely acted in the interest of the people or the states, and instead consolidated power with the federal government. Although some states threatened secession at various points in time, Lincoln eventually stated that secession was an impossibility and the Civil War was fought to prevent the southern states from dissolving the Union.

The book moves through historical decisions one after another, hitting on the irrationality and vagueness of the antitrust laws, the Court's battle against Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal legislation and FDR's decision to replace the judges with his own partisan appointees who would follow his policies. It is in the discussions of religion's role in the government that is the most interesting, however.

Originally, the Constitution was intended to prevent the federal government from institutionalizing a state religion for the entire Union. State religions, however, could have their own religion, and often did. It was not until the twentieth century that Justice Hugo Black put up the wall of "separation between church and state," and denied state or local government's the right to deal with religion as they wished. This took the power of deciding on the role of religion in a community out of the community itself and installed it firmly with the Supreme Court. The First Amendment, originally intended to limit the power of the federal government, was extended to state and local governments, as well, reversing the intent of the Founders. Gutzman remarks that Christianity was the main target of the Court's decisions, stating that "any religion is okay, so long as it is not Christianity."

As well as the victory against religion, the Supreme Court also took on issues of morality, criminal law, and discrimination, as well as the ever-popular-to-discuss-and-argue-about Roe v. Wade abortion decision. The decisions rendered by the court served to further transfer the rights of states to govern as they will and place it in the hands of the federal government or the Supreme Court itself. Gutzman sees these decisions as a complete inversion of the original intent of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution itself: "The Court has overturned the right of the people of the states to govern themselves, overturned the Tenth Amendment, and thus overturned the Constitution -- and called it the "rule of law." In fact, this may be Gutzman's main argument and an adequate summary of the entire work (although too long to be a subtitle).

The book hits on another of additional topics, as well, including the teaching of constitutional law in school, which examines various cases but does not discuss the original intent of the writers of the laws the Supreme Court has decided upon. This leaves law students with a firm understanding of the decisions rendered upon various laws and their applications over time, but no idea if these applications were intended for the subject laws in the first place. Thus, one mistake is piled on top of another, until the original mistake is buried under years of precedent.

Gutzman's work is an interesting and useful guide to the US Constitution, its original intent, history and its application (and perversion) over time. While the book could easily be quite a bit longer and the issues discussed in more detail, it is quite ideal as an introduction to the history of arguably the most important document to the history of the United States and possibly the best agreement ever made between a government and its people.

Foreclosure rates are currently at a 50-year high across the country. That's really an amazing bit of news, since everyone still seems to be deluded into thinking that the world has not moved on from the real estate market conditions of the past 4-5 years. Apparently, very few people who have not lost their homes yet have learned any lesson from the vast numbers of homeowners around them who were unable to stop foreclosure from taking their homes from them.

There is some fear that these record foreclosure rates could have an impact on the rest of the economy, which is in a state of relative health. But even that is just another illusion, as the recent rises in the stock market are just keeping pace with (or falling behind) inflation, and are built on an even larger credit bubble than the one that kept the housing bubble going for so long. Just as the housing market has been crashing, the newest corporate debt bubble will also be realized by the world to be unsustainable. This time, though, there will not be another housing bubble to prop up the economy.

Ironically, despite all of this, both real estate investment gurus and homeowners themselves are just as deluded now as they were years ago. From investors recommending pointless investments in real estate and encouraging homeowners to pull more loans out of their quickly-diminishing equity, to homeowners believing that small cosmetic improvements to their houses will increase the value by tens of thousands of dollars, unrealistic expectations still rule the housing market.

When homeowners started treating their homes as if they were ATM machines, the stage was set for the inevitable collapse. Using inflated appraisals to grab as much fake wealth as possible led to homeowners overextending themselves in all of their monthly expenses. Paying off high-interest credit cards just to be able to use them again and again, and then hoping for more funny money in the form of fake equity was a scam that was destined for failure.

In fact, most homeowners do not even know how much they owe on their mortgages until they one day get a notice in the mail from an attorney who is suing them for foreclosure, after they have not been able to make a payment for several months. This is a rough way to find out that the home is upside-down, buried in a mound of fake values, expensive late charges, and accelerated interest. After years of enjoying the playground of equity loans and refinances, the time for homeowners to grow up is long overdue. No one, certainly not the government, will take care of homeowners and give them an education on what it means to live in the real world.

Homeowners in foreclosure often feel out of control and very helpless when facing the loss of their homes. They often turn to various sources of foreclosure information that may give them insights into their situations, or may point them in the wrong direction that will end up with the foreclosure victims losing their homes. With the large amount of information and disinformation available to homeowners, it is important that they receive as much foreclosure advice as they possibly can.

Gaining enough foreclosure information, first of all, will give the homeowners a broad base of knowledge of how the foreclosure process works, what methods can be used to stop foreclosure, and just what all of the terms mean that so many foreclosure specialists, lenders, and everyone else uses. This type of information helps foreclosure victims learn the basics of what will happen to them in each stage of foreclosure, as well as what foreclosure procedures will be followed under their state foreclosure law. The drawback to just gaining foreclosure information, though, is that it is often not put in context for the homeowners to understand how the information relates to their specific situation.

This is the reason that foreclosure victims should gain as much foreclosure advice as they possibly can. Learning from a foreclosure professional or foreclosure help company will provide the homeowners with a context to put their own situation in. They may learn what worked for other homeowners in similar situations, either with the same lender, the same amount of missed payments, or similar property value and loan amount considerations. It is one thing to know that bankruptcy can be used to stop foreclosure, but it is entirely different to determine if this is the best option that the homeowners have. This goes for all other ways to save a home, as well; just knowing that some lenders will provide a loan to stop foreclosure does not mean that any of them will provide a new mortgage in that specific situation.

Obviously, taking blind foreclosure advice without examining the truth or usefulness of it is just as useless as not taking any advice at all. Whenever a homeowner speaks with a new foreclosure consultant, they should independently verify as much of the information as they can, even if it means calling another foreclosure help company to provide any insight. Knowing that each foreclosure specialist will usually try to convince the homeowners that every other specialist's advice is wrong may help the foreclosure victims come to some middle ground, where they understand on their own what they can do to stop foreclosure and who has been the most reliable and open with them.

Foreclosure is not an easy situation for anyone to understand fully, but it is definitely not as complicated as many other fields of research. Homeowners need to gain a broad base of foreclosure information and determine what context the information fits into by seeking out foreclosure advice from reliable sources. This will help the foreclosure victims prevent from being taken advantage of by foreclosure scams, as well as help them stop the foreclosure process on their own homes in the most effective way possible. It is also important to gain this foreclosure advice so the homeowners are not pressured into putting all their eggs in one basket to stop foreclosure.

One of our very first posts on this blog ever examined the issue of homeowners in foreclosure putting all of their eggs in one basket. In that post, we briefly mentioned the fact that there are usually more than option to stop foreclosure that a family will qualify for, and they should find out as much about each option as they can. Trusting in just one method to save a home is a dangerous activity to be engaged in, especially due to the uncertain nature of foreclosure situations.

Foreclosure victims should make sure that they have looked into various ways to avoid foreclosure, such as a forbearance agreement, loan modification, foreclosure refinance, or a bankruptcy to stop foreclosure. It is quite certain that many homeowners will not qualify for every one of these options, but they may find two or three that could help them save their homes from foreclosure. Having one option is better than no options, but having two or three can make a big difference between a homeowner being able to keep their home and having to move out.

The most important reason for homeowners not to put all their eggs in one basket is simply due to the fact that there are too many unknown factors in foreclosure. The biggest unknown factor is how the lender will react to each option presented to them by the foreclosure victims, whether it is a repayment plan, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or just a request to postpone the sheriff sale or eviction. There are many hard-working foreclosure help companies who attempt to provide homeowners with quality foreclosure assistance, but whose efforts are railroaded by the mortgage company. This is not to say that the lender will not accept any plan to stop foreclosure, but they are rejecting the proposed plan of that particular foreclosure help company. Obviously, this is another reason that foreclosure victims should have more than one option, in case this event occurs (and it will! ).

There are also many foreclosure scam companies that do very little work for the homeowners in foreclosure, and having a backup plan to protect against this issue is vital for foreclosure victims. There are far, far too many homeowners who simply put all of their trust in a company, send all of their money off, or sign over their homes, only to find out at the last minute that they are being taken advantage of and being provided with no other solution at the last minute. This is probably the most important reason why homeowners facing foreclosure should have several different plans to stop foreclosure that they have put together. Not every company is bad, but certainly not every company is bad.

Homeowners who do put all of their eggs in one basket and trust in only one method to stop foreclosure often find themselves without a house and wondering why their one-legged stool failed to stand up. It is unfortunate seeing how many foreclosure victims end up as their own worst enemy, in many cases, because they placed all of their faith in someone else, rather than in themselves and their own ability to handle the problem of foreclosure that they were facing.

The book that is the subject of this review is Gold Wars, published in 2001, by Swiss banker Ferdinand Lips. Lips' stated purpose is to inform the public of a critical monetary, currency, and gold war. His book spends much of its time examining the role of gold in our current worldwide fiat monetary system. The subject of sound money is one that should interest homeowners who find themselves falling behind on their mortgages and in danger of foreclosure.

Lips wastes very little time in explaining how money works and getting into in-depth theoretical discussions of monetary policy and the gold standard. He starts with a brief overview of the role of gold as money throughout history, from the Ancient Egyptians up to World War I, the Genoa Convention, and the Bretton Woods agreements of the 1940's. Lips sees the beginnings of the current financial crisis in these events and agreements, as they allowed for governments and central banks to print paper money with no backing.

The book spends much of its time moving throughout the history of central banks' manipulations of gold as money. Lips states that governments strive to keep the price of gold down because the precious metal is one of the few goods that they can not control. National currency that is backed by gold would not allow for governments or bankers to destabilize the price of gold arbitrarily, or cause inflation by printing too much money.

A vast number of other issues relating to the use of gold are also raised. Some of these issues include the manipulation of prices caused by hedging, the role of the International Monetary Fund in controlling gold prices, and the financial and human devastation caused by the manipulation of the price of gold in poor gold-producing countries, mostly located in Africa. Although there is little room in this short (280 page) book to examine each of these items in detail, Lips does a remarkable job of bringing these often overlooked issues to light.

It is the last chapter, though, that seems to touch the author most intimately. He examines the betrayal of Switzerland in the 1990's that caused that country, whose currency was one of the last to be backed totally by gold, to abandon its sound money and join the rest of the world in the funny money fiat game. Lips sees the country's joining of the IMF as the real end of Swiss monetary sovereignty, although the nation did not officially abandon its gold until 1997. This event caused the Swiss currency to float against all the other currencies of the world, and the country has sold much of its gold since this time.

The overriding theme of the book is the gold wars that have been waged between central banks and the precious metal. Although it is inevitable that the current system of debt-based paper money will eventually fail, the designers of this system have chosen to manipulate the price of gold ever more, in order to keep up the appearance of gold as a poor backing for sound money. However, through quote after quote from respected bankers and researchers, Lips presents the case that this manipulation will only make the crash of the current system all the more serious when it finally arrives. Lips uses such sources to back up his arguments as Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, and Congressman Ron Paul, former member of the Congressional Gold Commission who recommended that gold once again be used in monetary policy.

This book is an amazing introduction to the ideas of gold as money and its manipulation by central banks throughout time and across the world. It is also a well argued treatise on the futility of continuing to drive down the price of gold and the cruelness of the current credit-based system that is so easy for governments to manipulate. The book is highly recommended to anyone who has ever wondered why prices always seem to rise even when their own financial situations have remained stagnant or are declining.

In the foreclosure process, the sheriff sale is one of the most important events. Too often, homeowners will have a reasonable solution to stop foreclosure, but they do not have enough time to see it through. A postponement of the sale, though, would give the homeowners just the amount of time they need to save their home and get their loan back on track or paid off. There are three common ways that foreclosure victims can use to have the sheriff sale put on hold or stopped completely while they work on their solution to foreclosure.

The best way to have a sheriff sale postponed is simply to ask the lender to put a hold on it. This commonly-overlooked option benefits both the lender and the homeowners by giving them another chance to get out of the foreclosure process. Most of the time, the mortgage company will request documentation that proves that the foreclosure victims are seeking a long-term solution to foreclosure, such as selling the foreclosed home, working out a foreclosure loan, or any other option that applies.

The most commonly overlooked option to postpone a sheriff sale is for the homeowners to request help from the county court system. The court can grant an automatic extension of the sale, giving the homeowners additional time to save their home. This is very useful even when the lender will not give the foreclosure victims another chance, because the court can override the lender's decision. The homeowners, though, will have to prove that they have a solution to foreclosure that they are working on, in order for their request to have any merit.

A final way that homeowners can prevent the bank from selling their home is by pursuing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to prevent foreclosure. This is usually the least desired option for most homeowners, though, as they would usually rather find a better solution to the foreclosure than filing bankruptcy. This option should be used as a backup, though, in case no other way to stop the sale is available. Bankruptcy to stop foreclosure can give the foreclosure victims one more chance and a little more time to save the home, while they are under the repayment plan that gives them protection under the law. Bankruptcy can be a very complex process, which is why any homeowner considering this option should consult with an attorney to determine if filing bankruptcy will put them in a better situation with their home. Many homeowners would like to avoid filing bankruptcy, but it can present one more chance to save the home from foreclosure.

These options to stop a sheriff sale are the three most common options that homeowners have in foreclosure. Asking the lender for a postponement is very simple but it leaves the decision up to the mortgage company. Using the court system is an overlooked option and gives the homeowners more of a chance to present their case to an unbiased third party that can grant an extension of the sheriff sale. Bankruptcy, the final option discussed here, is often considered a last resort by homeowners who want to save their homes, but it can give them one more chance if they have run out of other options to stop foreclosure. Any homeowner in danger of foreclosure should seek out as much foreclosure advice as they can, in order to learn more about the foreclosure process and prevent the situation from getting to a point where the home will be auctioned.

One of the most important actions a homeowner in foreclosure can take is to get a valid, legitimate valuation for their property, as well as find out what liens are on the property. No matter what option the foreclosure victims use to save their homes, they will need an unbiased, third-party assessment of their home, and this can mean the difference between having a reasonable solution to foreclosure and being turned down at the last minute.

The main reason for the homeowners to obtain a fair valuation of their property is to make sure that no predatory lending or mortgage fraud took place in the original loan, and to prevent it from happening if the homeowners apply for a new refinance to stop foreclosure. Inflated appraisals have become one of the reasons cited for the housing bubble of the past four years, when appraisers artificially increased the value of a home, in order to help the loan applicants qualify for more money and the real estate and mortgage brokers to gain more commissions. Having a true valuation of a property will help homeowners determine how much equity they truly have in their homes, and what options they have to be able to use it.

A title search is an even more important tool that homeowners have when fighting to avoid foreclosure. This document will show them exactly how much their yearly taxes are, so they know if they have overpaid any amount to their lender for escrow. A lien and title search will also help the foreclosure victims determine if there are any other liens on the property that they are not aware of. We have found a number of homeowners in foreclosure may have child support liens, federal tax liens, or other judgments against the house that they did not know about. These liens have to be paid off if the homeowners refinance or sell their property to stop foreclosure, so it is important for them to be aware of these issues.

Possibly the most important reason to have a title search performed, though, is just for homeowners to make sure that they are still the legal owners of their home. There are a lot of horror stories about foreclosure victims signing over the deed to their homes when being pressured by a foreclosure scam to sign documents without reading them. If a homeowner finds out that they are not the owners of their home any longer, they may find that they have no way to prevent the foreclosure from making them homeless, unless they can have the deed reversed and put back in their names.

There are a number of places online and locally that offer these types of services to homeowners, but the most important issue is that the foreclosure victims just find someone who can do the research for them and present an objective view of their property. Every value is partly subjective, and title searches can miss some information that may not be readily available, but it is important that homeowners research as many options to stop foreclosure as they can, as well as research as much about their own homes as is reasonable and search out relevant foreclosure advice that will help them further understand how best they can save their homes.

The book that is the subject of this review is The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI, by Jonathan Beaty and S.C. Gwynne. It was originally published in 1993, and tells the story of the infamous Bank of Credit and Commerce International and how the author’s penetrated some of the most closely-held secrets of the bank and it’s so-called Black Network, which was alleged to have been involved in money laundering, drug trafficking, and weapons sales in both the First World and Third World countries.

The authors separate their story into four distinct sections. The first and third sections deal mainly with their own experiences in tracking down the BCCI story. The second section of the book presents a brief overview of the economic conditions and geopolitical and historical situation that allowed the bank to flourish. The final section of the book ties up some of the loose ends and analyzes the entire story of BCCI and its dealings throughout the world from its start in 1972 until it was shut down in 1991.

Throughout the book, the authors make it a point to switch between the more technical and dense issues of financial markets, black markets, and history, and their own involvement in the story as reporters for Time magazine and independent researchers. This provides the book with a much faster-paced narrative than most books that present the historical facts and analysis, as the authors of The Outlaw Bank were able to penetrate very deeply into the bank’s hidden dealings in weapons and the black market in general. These corrupt dealings were so rampant in the bank that Robert Gates, former Director of Central Intelligence under Bush I and current Secretary of Defense under Bush II, referred to the bank three years before it was shut down as the “bank of crooks and criminals,” an apt analogy.

In fact, it is this involvement the authors had with various players in BCCI’s “Black Network” that provides the most interesting parts of the story. BCCI made it a policy to buy influence in as many governments as possible, one reason being to compromise or buy off any possible regulation of its illegal activities. The bank was also a principal player in money laundering and drug trafficking, with some of their more famous clients being Manuel Noriega of Panama and the Columbian drug-trafficking Medellin cartel.

Some of the more interesting aspects of this Black Network involve the weapons deals that BCCI facilitated. These transactions are often described in the book in detail or provided in lists of exhausting deals between various governments. Every major country in the Middle East is identified as a client of BCCI in one way or another, including Iraq, Iran, and Israel. BCCI also shows up in the story of George W. Bush, when he was a director of Harken Energy that, without having any offshore drilling experience, was awarded a drilling concession for an offshore oil field in Bahrain that was worth millions of dollars.

Other areas that the authors focus on include the bank’s involvement with William Casey and the CIA, the secret BCCI ownership of American bank First American, New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s case against BCCI, and the unwillingness of the US Justice Department to look seriously into the wide-ranging allegations against the bank. The authors present these topics throughout the book as their paths cross with the major players in the BCCI story, and show that the threads in this story lead to nearly all of the major players in the Middle East during the era in which BCCI operated.

The final point the authors have to make is that no significant banking regulations have been changed to prevent another BCCI from appearing, fleecing billions of dollars from its depositors, operating illegal throughout the world, and shutting down with virtually no assets available to pay back its creditors. The only difference between BCCI and other banks was simply scale: BCCI was the most corrupt, largest Third World bank ever to have been shut down. And there is nothing to prevent another BCCI from engaging in the same exact activities.

The Outlaw Bank provides a very interesting look into the public and private dealings of the most corrupt bank ever shut down, as well as how it was aided and protected by some of the most powerful departments in the US government and elsewhere. Although the book is more difficult to find now than when it was released, it is well worth locating and reading. The authors provide a well-written and easily-read analysis a unique perspective of the story of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.

Even though the sheriff sale is probably the most important event in the entire foreclosure process, many homeowners and foreclosure specialists are unaware of how they can gain additional time or get their sheriff sale rescheduled. Getting a sale held off on benefits both foreclosure victims and lenders, as it gives everyone another chance to get the defaulted loan paid off or back on track. There are a number of ways to stop a sheriff sale, but three methods are more common than others.

The easiest way to stop a sheriff sale is simply to ask the lender to put it on hold. Most lenders will do this in order to give the homeowners more of a chance to pay back their loan or get out of foreclosure. Usually, they will want to see some sort of proof that the homeowners are pursuing some solution to the foreclosure, like selling or refinancing, or any other method to stop foreclosure.

Another way to postpone a sale is if the homeowners ask the court to grant them additional time to solve the problem. This is especially useful if the lender is unwilling to postpone the sale any further. The court can automatically have the sheriff sale held off and allow the owners to pursue their solution. The foreclosure victims would still have to provide some proof that they're working on a solution to foreclosure, of course. In our experience, this is the least known, least difficult way that a homeowner can gain some extra time to work on a solution to stop foreclosure.

The final way that is generally used to stop a sheriff sale is by filing bankruptcy to stop foreclosure. Obviously, this is the option that is least desirable to most homeowners that are in danger of losing their homes. Most would rather do anything than further damage their credit by filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. But if there is no other option besides losing the home to foreclosure, homeowners can file bankruptcy just to get the entire process put on hold. While they are in bankruptcy, everything that is involved in the filing is put on hold, giving the foreclosure victims one more chance to seek protection under the law and pay back their debts. There is a lot more to bankruptcy, of course, and it may not be a great option for homeowners who have other options to stop foreclosure, but it can be relied upon as a last resort for foreclosure victims who are intent on saving their homes no matter what.

These are the three most common ways that can be used to postpone a sheriff sale. The easiest is to ask the lender, of course, but this puts all of the decision-making power in the hands of the mortgage company. Seeking a postponement from the county court system is a little-known but effective method to gain additional time to stop foreclosure, as well. Bankruptcy, usually considered a last resort by most homeowners, sometimes has to be relied upon if there is a valid solution to foreclosure but if the lender and court will not provide additional time. Most homeowners should seek out foreclosure advice as soon as they miss more than one payment, so that they are not in a position to have to get their sheriff sale postponed. Ideally, the foreclosure process will be stopped long before a sheriff sale is even scheduled.

For years, self-proclaimed real estate gurus have been teaching wannabe foreclosure investors on how the short sale process works, and how to identify desperate homeowners whose lenders are in a position to consider the possibility of allowing the foreclosure victims to sell their homes with the bank taking a loss. These types of deals have received a lot of negative feedback recently, due to criminals using unscrupulous tactics to trick homeowners into believing in false promises of being able to keep their homes and stop foreclosure, when all the short sale professionals are really doing is grabbing as much equity and cash as they can from the foreclosure victims before they move onto their next target. However, this type of deal, when done correctly, can put the homeowners and the investor into a much more mutually beneficial situation.

These type of deals are not illegal, but some unscrupulous investors set up homeowners in payment plans that are simply unaffordable. They know the foreclosure victims are desperate to save their homes and they take whatever option they can get to avoid foreclosure.

The concept of doing short sales and sale-leaseback or sale-buyback deals is not illegal in itself. The illegality comes in how some investors proceed with the deals. Real estate investors do deals like this all the time, whether it's to help families with poor credit or to generate income for their own portfolio, or whatever. Owning a property and leasing it to someone with a valid contract is completely legitimate and legal and happens every day.

The problem comes with investors who arrange deals that are most definitely not in the clients' best interest. This usually includes taking a lot of equity as a fee for doing the deal, or setting up a payment that is too high for the renters/buyers to pay. Then the deal can be qualified as a loan and thrown out in court, because no one is legally allowed to give a loan to someone knowing that they can not pay it back. In some cases like this, the homeowners will sue the investor and the courts will declare the leaseback an illegal loan that was designed to take the collateral. Far too often, this is true, because some investors target homeowners in desperate situations like this.

The government lets it go on because there are a lot of legitimate investors who do similar deals and they can not restrict trade deals like this. They can prohibit the clearly predatory deals and try to protect homeowners, but they can't just ban a completely legitimate transaction. And they certainly can't ban seminars that teach the concepts of this type of deal. Most of the seminar "gurus" don't advocate taking advantage of homeowners, in any event.

So make sure that the investor that homeowners choose to work with put together deals that are completely legal and the clients are able to make the payments, based on their current income. The foreclosure investor obviously can not predict if they will lose a job or face medical problems in the future, but should ask for income documents that will prove the homeowners bring in enough money to make the buyback payment without using all of their monthly income. Investors who do not attempt to prove the foreclosure victims can actually make the payments may just be interested in stealing the house and evicting the former homeowners.

Sale-leasebacks with homeowners in foreclosure is just one option that can be used to stop foreclosure, and, with any solution, the details are the most important. Homeowners should also look for other foreclosure advice to determine which option to save their home is the most appropriate for their specific situation. No option is the magic bullet, so to speak, but a combination of options, carefully considered, can result in the foreclosure victims getting a fresh start after foreclosure and remaining in their homes.

Short sales to stop foreclosure are one of the most misunderstood and difficult solutions to save a home that exists. With so many different variables involved and various self-proclaimed gurus teaching people how to do short sales, there are a lot of ways that homeowners and investors can go wrong in a situation involving a short sale.

One issue that has come up is the possibility of a homeowner doing a short sale with the property that is in foreclosure and actually selling the property to themselves. This is, of course, impossible. The reason is that the bank and title company and county would not like that at all, or ever agree to allow this situation to happen. Since the property is not actually changing hands, it is not even really a sale. Homeowners who speak about selling their home at the short sale to themselves seem to be trying to get the lender to modify the terms of the loan and disguising it as a sale to themselves.

If the foreclosure victims are still intent on pursuing a short sale as an option to stop foreclosure, they should attempt selling the foreclosed property to an investor or a friend/family member with a different last name, who can then sell it right back to the original property owners. This is always a possibility, but with tighter lending regulations right now, it may be more difficult for anyone to get approved for a loan without having a down payment of some sort and decent credit.

Selling the home to someone else who can then sell the property to the foreclosure victims is a much more viable solution to foreclosure than short selling the property to themselves, which is simply impossible. As an alternate solution to foreclosure, they can just ask the lender for a mortgage modification and see if they approve the homeowners for one. That may lower their monthly mortgage payment or help them get back on track with the current mortgage company, if no one can purchase the home.

In any situation involving foreclosure where the homeowners are intent on saving their home and keeping it, there should always be a focus on making sure the homeowners end up with an affordable monthly payment. If they agree to a payment that is too high, or one that they know they will fail on, there is no reason to pursue any option to stop foreclosure. In this case, it may be wiser to sell the property or give it back to the bank using a deed in lieu of foreclosure. But a short sale is one of the most useful, if misunderstood, methods that a homeowner can use to save their home and avoid foreclosure. Of course, every homeowner should seek as much foreclosure advice as possible before making a decision on any option they are offered.

Taxes, inflation, and interest: these are the three black holes into which most consumer's income disappears, with inflation being the hidden tax. With the summer not yet even begun, it is important to look slightly ahead to determine whether the inflation problem may get better or worse in the coming months. And, not surprisingly, the future seems to be full of higher prices and more homeowners facing foreclosure.

The biggest issue that is confronting consumers right now is the cost of energy and the cost of using energy for transportation. Gas prices are higher than ever for the average homeowner, and prices are expected to hit $4.00 for a gallon of gas this summer. Some sources expect prices to rise to $5.00 or $8.00 within a year. These extra expenses for transportation to and from work, school, and to pick up basic necessities are just the smallest indication of the looming inflation problem brought on by higher energy prices. As consumer's energy prices rise, so will the cost of energy for businesses, who will pass their costs right back down to the consumers.

For instance, with higher energy costs comes higher prices for food and other goods. With our current global economy and food being shipped around the world before it ends up in our grocery stores, more expensive transportation may make food more and more prohibitively expensive for some homeowners. Along with the rising mortgage payment that is attached to so many adjustable rate mortgages scheduled to reset this year, homeowners will have very little, if any, remaining money to keep up their current standard of living, and may even begin falling behind on their obligations, including facing foreclosure. This is not a very encouraging situation, if it becomes a reality.

Also, the reason for the rising energy prices is almost irrelevant. There are some who believe that the world is simply running out of cheap, easy energy, while other groups believe that governments and corporations who are in power are falsely driving up prices in order to gouge consumers and take all of their money and, eventually, their homes. But regardless of whichever theory is true, energy prices are rising and are expected to stay that way.

Homeowners already facing the problems that come with higher prices and higher mortgage payments may find it more and more difficult to keep on track and take care of their families. When they reach the point where they begin falling behind on certain bills, foreclosure can approach very rapidly. This is the main reason that they should attempt to stop foreclosure before they are in a dangerous situation, and they should learn how to save money or establish an emergency fund so that they can hold onto their current standard of living for as long as possible, until they have an opportunity to gain additional income or find more affordable circumstances. For those who are already falling behind in their payments, these homeowners should seek out as much foreclosure advice as they can, and research various sources of foreclosure information so they do not find themselves in the middle of a financial collapse when they assumed everything was just fine.

It is always a little disheartening to read and hear about homeowners who treated their homes as if they were a giant ATM machine and could pull out a few thousand dollars whenever they needed. This gambling on the value of a home to pay off past, present, and future debt is one of the main contributing factors to the current foreclosure situation, and it was a factor that wholely avoidable. The missing counterbalance was simply education for homeowners on the actual use of a house.

The necessary lesson can be summed up in a single sentence: a home is a place to live in, not a slot machine that periodically pays off every few years. Given a choice to pay off the mortgage completely and own a home free and clear, or keep going further and further in household debt while increasing the amount of money is costs to pay back that debt, it is amazing that homeowner chose the second of the two possibilities. Instead of eliminating their mortgage payment completely, they chose to increase it stedily over time, to keep up with their own rising consumption rate. This is, frankly, crazy.

Now that the bills are coming due, many homeowners are realizing that their house is more important to them as a place to live, even as they desperately try to use it as a bank one last time to hold onto it and remain living there. But with so many others facing the same problems of rising payments and falling home values, these homeowners are unable to stop foreclosure from taking away both their homes and their equity.

What is even more disturbing is the fact that foreclosure victims are made to feel as if they are alone in this situation. This is exacerbated by the fact that almost no one is talking about the dangerous atmosphere in the housing market; in fact, many "authorities" are talking up the rebound in the housing market as if it actually exists. Besides a few isolated areas of the country in which housing prices are rising or holding steady, there is a general decrease in property values this year, the first since 1990-1991. This time, there are no huge bank failures or a meltdown of the Savings and Loan industry to blame it on. And with even more Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) about to reset this year, the devestation may just be in its initial stages.

Homeowners are not alone in their quest to stop foreclosure and save their homes. They should seek out the best foreclosure information that they can find, and put together the best plan to work with their lender or get a fresh start. But this is also a time that foreclosure victims should take a careful examination of their situations and work towards viewing their home as their place to live, and making sure they own as much of it as quickly as they can. Treating a house as if it was a bank or ATM machine will only cause more problems the next time the machine runs out of money.