"I don't think that anyone can assume that the appraised value of their home is based on reality. Appraisal fraud is so common that homeowners need to assume the opposite," says research director David Callahan of Demos, a public policy center. Demos released a report about appraisal fraud in March, sparking intense discussion in the real estate press.
No one knows exactly how often appraisers tinker with reality. But reports suggest that they face enormous pressure to tweak their numbers.
In April 2005 Demos urged Congress to recognize the fragility of our debt driven consumer economy when considering the bankruptcy "reform" bill (S. 256/H.R. 685) that had been passed by the Senate and was under consideration in the House of Representatives. American families are not suffering from "irresponsible consumerism," as Senate sponsor Chuck Grassley claims, but from the effects of a stagnant economy and fraying social supports.
After a careful review of dozens of surveys and thousands of survey questions, most conducted within the past five years, the author categorized several images of government that emerge from existing surveys. These images are somewhat subjective and are simply intended to illuminate patterns in opinion that can lead to strategic insights for communicators. The analysis is constrained by the limits of existing opinion data, meaning that other images of government undoubtedly exist but were not apparent in existing surveys.
Many Americans have reduced the equity in their home to pay off credit card debts and cover day-to-day expenses. More troubling still is evidence that many appraisers fraudulently inflate property values during the buying or refinancing of homes. This paper explores the implications of appraisal fraud.
According to the consumer advocacy group Demos, from 1992 to 2001, the youngest adults (18 to 24 years old) saw the sharpest rise in credit-card debt-104 percent-to an average of $2,985. The second-highest increase-55 percent-was among young adults (25 to 34 years old), who also had the second highest bankruptcy rate, just after those ages 35 to 44.
According to the educational lender Nellie Mae, incoming college freshmen will amass $1,500 in credit-card debt before the end of their first term.
Passage of the bankruptcy bill would make it harder for families struck by financial misfortune to get back on track. It would benefit the very profitable ($30 billion in 2004) credit card industry at the expense of the modest-income families who represent the great majority of those who declare bankruptcy.
The children of the New Economy have responded to the economic disparity and social insecurities in our schools, neighborhoods and workplaces with a backlash against government bashing.
Experts debate if the housing market is an overinflated bubble, or a strong seller's market.
The forum was sponsored by Demos, a public advocacy group that among other issues concentrates on questions of economic opportunity.
Flaw-proof election machines. Easy-to-read ballots. Registration systems that catch double-voters or dead voters still on the rolls. For top state election officials meeting here, the pressure is on to make sure the election changes demanded after President Bush's disputed 2000 victory are in place by the Jan.
Senior Policy Associate Javier Silva examines the new financial insecurities created as more Americans refinance their homes.
That's the short version of a new and disturbing study by Silva called "House of Cards: Refinancing the American Dream." It shows how millions of U.S. households are falling into a vicious cycle of tapping their credit cards and then refinancing their mortgages to extract needed cash from the equity in their homes.
In response to ever-increasing financial pressures, families have come to depend on high-cost credit as a way to bridge the gap between stagnant or decreasing incomes and rising costs. How are families coping with their new burden? To hang on to the American Dream, to be part of the ownership society, homeowners are depleting their homes’ equity to pay off a growing mountain of unsecured debt —a financial strategy fraught with serious consequences.
As tuition costs and enrollment rose through the 1990s, grant money did not keep pace, meaning students have been shouldering an ever-increasing share of their education costs. While before, most were able to finance their studies with grants and part-time work, loans are now inescapable for many.
"This generation is the first to shoulder the costs of their college primarily through interest-bearing loans rather than grants," Draut said.
Steve Carbo, director of the Democracy Program, said voters should be allowed to cast provisional votes even if they vote in the wrong precinct, a practice many states now forbid.
A combination of escalating student loan and credit-card debt, rising costs, slow wage growth and underemployment have accumulated debt "unmatched in modern history" undermining the economic security and financial health of young Americans aged 18-34, according to a new study.
The report, "Generation Broke: The Growth of Debt Among Younger Americans," was released by Demos, a nonpartisan, public policy group, based on the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances as well as dozens of other sources.
Florida Republicans in Jacksonville have been busy compiling and disseminating lists that many believe will be used to challenge minority voters today.
(A report, "Securing the Vote, a Report on Election Fraud," would suggest the Republicans' concerns are overstated. The paper, released by the nonprofit group Demos, shows that election fraud is at most a minor problem across the 50 states and does not affect election outcomes.)
Millions of citizens were disenfranchised in the 2000 election when they were denied their right to vote. In response, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), which purported to correct many of the country's more egregious election problems. One of HAVA's signal promises was its so-called "fail-safe" voting provision. As of the first federal primary election this spring, no registered voter would be turned away from the polls because her name was not found on the voter lists.
While Florida’s purges of felons from voter rolls in 2000 have received national attention, little is known about the procedures other states use. To shed some light on these procedures, we surveyed the purge processes of 15 states.
Over the 1990s, credit card debt among young Americans rose dramatically—leaving many young adults over-extended and vulnerable to financial collapse. This briefing paper documents the rise in credit card and student loan debt between 1992 and 2001 and examines the factors contributing to young adults’ increased reliance on credit cards. Rising costs combined with slow real wage growth and skyrocketing college debt have eroded the economic security of today’s young adults.
Many citizens are anxious not just about the security of their jobs and adequacy of their incomes, but also about related issues: high levels of credit card debt, healthcare and childcare costs, and the affordability of homes and college tuition. These day-to-day worries are increasingly accompanied by a deeper anxiety -- that the middle class way of life in America is endangered; that it is harder for many Americans to get into the middle class, and harder for those in the middle class to stay there and feel truly secure.