Say hello to the decision makers
This post is all about contacting your representatives in government – getting clarification on where they stand regarding housing economics, and letting them know where you stand as a voter. Many readers on this site have mentioned the importance of writing to your MP, so I figure it’s high time we do a story thread where we can share ideas and contact information.
First off a list of Vancouver area members of Parliament including email links and mailing addresses. (thanks Drachen for the link)
Now a few questions / opinions I have for my MP. I should clarify these are just points for discussion and not intended to be copy and pasted into an email. Writing a letter in your own words will likely be more effective than a form letter.
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation
I believe that the CMHC is flooding too much cheap credit into the housing market temporarily driving up prices. Where do you stand on the CMHC and how effective do you feel they are addressing their mandate of making housing affordable to Canadians? Is ‘affordability’ measured best as temporarily low monthly payments or as total debt load?
OSFI Conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) has a draft advisory (pdf) that is set to be put into effect at the end of this year. There has been some opposition to implementing these changes at this time. Where do you stand on the OSFI advisory, specifically on taxpayer funded securitization of mortgage debt?
* You may wish to contact the Honorable James M. Flaherty on this topic
Bailouts for speculators and negative equity homeowners
As housing prices fell in the US, there were a number of government bailouts and stimulus measures that tried to prop up the market. These measures have so far failed to keep house prices from falling more than %50 in cities like Las Vegas and Miami. Where do you stand on bailouts or other measures that attempt to prop up housing markets? If foreclosure rates rise further in Vancouver, what sort of action would you take if any? Would you support or oppose bailouts?
So what do you think? What do you want your MP to know and what issues do you want them to clarify their stand on? Are there other Government entities that you think would be worth contacting? Post your thoughts, letter excerpts and ideas in the comment section below.
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December 28th, 2009 at 11:41 am
I recently came across an apparently little known method of getting the governments attention. I don’t know if it has a history of being effective.
How to Petition Parliament from http://www.inkymark.com/site/node/36
“The petition must contain a request, called a “prayer”, for Parliament to take some action (or refrain from taking some action) to remedy a grievance.”
It needs 25 signatures, and can be sent to any MP, not just your own. However, MP’s are not required to present the petition, so one might be best served to find one sympathetic to the cause.
“Members of the public who wish to petition the House of Commons on a matter of public interest are advised to first submit a draft petition (without signatures) to a Member of Parliament to see whether it is correctly worded and whether the Member would agree to present it.”
December 21st, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Seems to me like the Feds are attempting to take some heat out of the market without a vote-losing ‘pop’:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reu....._mortgages
December 15th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Record profits from record securitization all 100% backed by the CDN taxpayer. Bank’s shareholders cash in and all the downside is socialized.
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/.....nglish.pdf
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/.....nglish.pdf
December 15th, 2009 at 11:43 am
@observer:
That’s true here, because if the mortgage is insured (virtually all bubble purchases AFAIK) the taxpayers are holding the bag and the bank doesn’t care if the property is underwater.
The big problem is not going to be willingness of the banks to renew, but the ability (and willingness) of the homedebtor to handle the huge increase in payments once interest rates return to normal, as they inevitably will.
The mortgage securitization and insurance regime during the US bubble was completely different from what we have here, although it looks more like it now due to the federal takeover of Fannie/Freddie and the exit of private capital from the mortgage market.
December 15th, 2009 at 10:49 am
@rp:
It’s true!
And it’s more credible than you think. Somebody on this site just last week (or was it the week before) posted a link to a MLS listing for a $2.5M west side house for sale that was currently rented at $1800/month. There’s plenty of west side ‘millionaire homes’ that are rented for between $1500 and $2000 per month.
December 15th, 2009 at 10:40 am
#53 @D. Bone: That’s so outrageous I can’t believe it. Those numbers aren’t credible, whether they’re true or not.
December 15th, 2009 at 10:25 am
This was a good thing… Well done. I’ve already gathered my ideas to send an email for him
December 15th, 2009 at 9:57 am
@richasian:
“Just keep making up stories to make yourself feel better bear. It’s ok that you’re a loser. Not everyone can be a winner by definition. ”
Now that’s what I call: ‘In Denial’!
My landlord had a $2M mortgage on a $2.5M west side house that I rent for $1500/Month. Do the math.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:53 am
There have been numerous occasions when it was asked what happens if your mortgage goes underwater (house value less than loan value). Typically, the official line from banks is that as long as you can still make payments there should be no problem. There is an interesting article calculated risk
http://www.calculatedriskblog......ed+Risk%29
and mish Underwater, Securitized, and Screwed by the “Pass the Trash” Strategy
about the things that happening in the us (where we have a real world example in recent memory as a reference point). It seems securitization causes problems for refinancing underwater mortgages.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:19 am
I have to say it’s a bit weird reading all of the MSM bubble warnings as of late.
Yet it seems that the lazy reporters just handing in press releases haven’t
got the message yet.
http://www.vancouversun.com/bu.....story.html