Sound Familiar? Morgan Stanley walks away from $2 Billion in Commercial Real Estate
March 5, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Giant Wall Street securities firm Morgan Stanley has announced the “orderly transfer” (read “strategic foreclosure”) of five commercial San Francisco buildings back to their lender, Barclays Capital. Morgan Stanley bought the buildings at the peak of the market and since then, the properties have lost as much as 50% of their value. Like any business, they made the “business decision” to rid themselves of the assets to better their bottom line. They just don’t like to call it what it is, lest the millions of homeowners in the same situation decide to do the same thing.
And of course herein lies the irony. Morgan Stanley spokesperson Alyson Barnes, who apparently has no sense of shame whatsoever, was quick to point out that this is completely different from a homeowner strategically walking away from a home they are upside down on: ““This isn’t a default or foreclosure situation, we are going to give them the properties to get out of the loan obligation.” No, it’s not a default or a foreclosure situation, of course not.
Banks and corporations, and the media they control, continue to take great pains to report instances like this in a completely different light than the way they portray homeowners doing precisely the same thing. For banks and corporations, it’s an “orderly transfer” based on sound business principles, while for homeowners it’s a “foreclosure” as the result of irresponsible behavior.
Bottom line, if you’re a homeowner who is upside down on your home, make the best business decision for you and your family and don’t allow yourself to be swayed by the propaganda put out by the banks and the media about your moral obligation to hang onto an asset that makes no economic sense for you to keep.
