Somebody has to stop this housing crisis and that somebody is us.  It is apparent that our elected officials are so out of touch with what is going on and have no ability to comprehend or grasp onto even the simplest fix.  There going to bail out the banks and large brokerage houses that put us in this mess, but not fix us.

There are currently 500-600 homes a DAY being foreclosed on in Las Vegas.  This number has been going on for several months.  That's over 10,000 homes per month.

Housing analysts tell us that the largest number of sub-prime and adjustable rate mortgages facing a major interest rate change will begin in November and continue for 8-12 months.  It is estimated that this may result in an increase in foreclosures by as much as 20-40%.  This means that over 600-1000 homes per day may be foreclosed on.

This is not political party thing, or a bail out the rich guys thing, this is a trickle down economic disaster that sees Las Vegans losing homes in disastrous numbers.  This will affect every one who owns a home and every one who rents a home.  The current trend that will become even more pronounced is that housing prices will decrease even more and rents will continue to move up becoming unaffordable to the average person.  Every day sees homes at auction selling at values equivalent to $80 per sq ft.  In real terms if you own a 1000 sq ft home it is worth $80,000, if you own a 2000 sq ft home it is worth $160,000.  These decreases in values affect everyone, across the board in all parts of town, in all neighborhoods.  No one is exempt from decreases in value on their personal homes.  There is no magic tricks or spells that will exempt a home from devaluation.

Due to Las Vegas being in a declining market as judged by Fannie Mae before they went out of business, every time a property is given a fair market appraisal it is reduced by 5%.  If we continue to buy and sell homes in Las Vegas they will soon be worth nothing due to this federal regulation.

How do we stop it-SIMPLE-tell the state legislature, not our state senators their so attached to Washington and don't have a clue what is happening at home in Las Vegas.  Contact your state legislature and tell them to pass a bill outlawing foreclosures.  Make it mandatory that mortgage companies operating in the city and state or holding/servicing mortgages in Nevada that they can no longer foreclose.  They could pass this law tomorrow.

Anyone facing housing payment problems can tell you numerous stories of trying to work with their lender.  The most common solution given to homeowners by lenders customer service agents is to let the home go into foreclosure.  You can't begin to negotiate a short sale till your delinquent.

Someone needs to force these mortgage giants to negotiate with success and without harassment, a solution that is equitable for everyone.  But our elected officials need to do it.  This is not going away on its own.  But it is going to affect everyone.

What's even worse we've let the wolf into the hen house.  Chase Mortgage a division of JP Morgan Chase just purchased Washington Mutual because of the high number of mortgages that WAMU had as well as personal deposits.  Chase has led the nation in foreclosures nationally for years and has a reputation for having the worst customer service in the industry.  You can ask anyone who has a Chase serviced mortgage or most realtors as they have to deal with the homeowners stressed out by Chase's tactics.  It is apparent to me that Chase's business plan calls for foreclosures due to the MIP/PMI insurance and now the government bail our.  All of this will only drive our housing values lower.

Housing is the engine that drives the Las Vegas economy.  This engine needs an overhaul and needs it fast.  But until we stand up and yell, nothing is going to happen.

Housing prices have dropped back to levels similar to 10-15 years ago and could drop even more if something isn't done.

Contact your state legislature by phone, e-mail or go to their campaign headquarters or events, they have to fix this and they can.

We have to stop this crisis, we have to make this happen, it is affecting us not them, and we are the ones who need to fix this.

Ok now how about gas prices????