Warren Buffett, Slumlord – Predatory Loans, Kickbacks & Preying On The Poor

(Article Excerpt)
In so many ways, Warren Buffett and modern America are the same thing. An idea packaged and marketed so brilliantly, most of humanity unquestionably believes the myth. However, when you look beneath the surface, it becomes increasingly clear that neither of them actually come close to what’s printed on the package.

So ATS, Is one of our Most Admired Billionaires actually one of the Predatory Evil Elite Class after all? We've all heard so much about what a wonderful humanist this guy is "The Rich Should Pay More Taxes" and "My Secretary Pays A Higher Tax Rate Than Me". But, is Warren just a little bit slicker in hiding behind all The Sweetness and Goodness Stuff that The MSM can Conjure up?

Well as we all know, Now that Corporations are people too and being able to hide the fact that you have a Major Stake in Entities preying on people who can neither afford or be expected to pay back monies lent to them. Then, foreclosing on these same people taking what little savings these folks had in the form of down payments etc. It seems Warren may just be another Big Well Fed Grinch and Not The Grandfatherly Teddy Bear that The MSM portray him as.

So ATSers, Any Opinions, Replies, Comments etc. as always will be Well Regarded here on ATS and answered as to any additional Info Required by our Members. THANKS GUYS AND GALS FOR TAKING A LOOKEESEE and Peace to Y'All here on ATS Arjunanda.

www.zerohedge.com...–-predatory-loans-kickbacks-preying-poor" target="_blank" class="postlink">www.zerohedge.com... 2015-04-06/warren-buffett-slumlord-–-predatory-loans-kickbacks-preying-poor

The disastrous deal ruined their finances and nearly their marriage. But until informed recently by a reporter, they didn’t realize that the homebuilder (Golden West), the dealer (Oakwood Homes) and the lender (21st Mortgage) were all part of a single company: Clayton Homes, the nation’s biggest homebuilder, which is controlled by its second-richest man — Warren Buffett.

Buffett’s mobile-home empire promises low-income Americans the dream of homeownership. But Clayton relies on predatory sales practices, exorbitant fees, and interest rates that can exceed 15 percent, trapping many buyers in loans they can’t afford and in homes that are almost impossible to sell or refinance, an investigation by The Seattle Times and Center for Public Integrity has found.

Berkshire Hathaway, the investment conglomerate Buffett leads, bought Clayton in 2003 and spent billions building it into the mobile-home industry’s biggest manufacturer and lender. Today, Clayton is a many-headed hydra with companies operating under at least 18 names, constructing nearly half of the industry’s new homes and selling them through its own retailers. It finances more mobile-home purchases than any other lender by a factor of six. It also sells property insurance on them and repossesses them when borrowers fail to pay.

Former dealers said the company encouraged them to steer buyers to finance with Clayton’s own high-interest lenders.

Buyers told of Clayton collection agents urging them to cut back on food and medical care or seek handouts in order to make house payments.

To maintain its down-to-earth image, Clayton has hired the stars of the reality-TV show “Duck Dynasty” to appear in ads…

- From the excellent Seattle Times article: The Mobile-Home Trap: How a Warren Buffett Empire Preys on the Poor
In so many ways, Warren Buffett and modern America are the same thing. An idea packaged and marketed so brilliantly, most of humanity unquestionably believes the myth. Warren Buffett and the U.S. both sell themselves as encompassing the very best of human qualities; highly successful, extraordinarily intelligent, yet at the same time, extremely ethical. It’s that last part that’s actually most important to the continued power and prestige of both the man and the nation-state. However, when you look beneath the surface, it becomes increasingly clear that neither of them actually come close to what’s printed on the package.



Incredibly, Mr. Buffett has proven far more successful in maintaining and nurturing his own personal myth, than America itself has during these post crisis years. While more and more people domestically, and especially internationally, have come to acknowledge the hypocrisy of U.S. foreign and economic policy, it continues to be something marginally short of cultural blasphemy to harshly criticize Warren Buffett. This provides a fertile environment for him to continue to doggedly and ruthlessly expand his ubiquitous economic and political empire.

This is not an empire built simply on cheeseburgers, cherry coke and ice cream cones. As you will see in the following article, his empire is also dependent on predatory lending to the poor, kickbacks, market domination, lobbying and opacity, via Berkshire Hathaway’s mobile home company, Clayton Homes.

Clayton Homes was previously mentioned here at Liberty Blitzkrieg a year ago in the post, With 1 in 3 Homes Unaffordable, Freddie Mac Prepares to Enter the Trailer Home Loan Market, but an excellent deep-dive article recently published by the Seattle Times provides a great deal of additional and extremely disturbing information.

Here are some excerpts, but I strongly suggest reading the entire article:

Billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett controls a mobile-home empire that promises low-income borrowers affordable houses. But all too often, it traps those owners in high-interest loans and rapidly depreciating homes.

EPHRATA, Grant County — After years of living in a 1963 travel trailer, Kirk and Patricia Ackley found a permanent house with enough space to host grandkids and care for her aging father suffering from dementia.

So, as the pilot cars prepared to guide the factory-built home up from Oregon in May 2006, the Ackleys were elated to finalize paperwork waiting for them at their loan broker’s kitchen table.

But the closing documents he set before them held a surprise: The promised 7 percent interest rate was now 12.5 percent, with monthly payments of $1,100, up from $700.

The terms were too extreme for the Ackleys. But they’d already spent $11,000, at the dealer’s urging, for a concrete foundation to accommodate this specific home.

Kirk’s construction job and Patricia’s Wal-Mart job together weren’t enough to afford the new monthly payment. But, they said, the broker was willing to inflate their income in order to qualify them for the loan.

The disastrous deal ruined their finances and nearly their marriage. But until informed recently by a reporter, they didn’t realize that the homebuilder (Golden West), the dealer (Oakwood Homes) and the lender (21st Mortgage) were all part of a single company: Clayton Homes, the nation’s biggest homebuilder, which is controlled by its second-richest man — Warren Buffett.

a reply to: arjunanda

I have one to add to Warren Buffett's predatory tactics - the Kirby Vacuums and how they prey on consumers AND jobseekers to push their product:

After 64 years, the Kirby (there is only one model, updated periodically) continues to be marketed exclusively door-to-door -- often to people who can ill afford a $1,500 gadget but succumb to the sales pitch nonetheless. That has led consumer-protection agencies to question the company's tactics.

And of 22 state consumer-protection agencies queried, 15 have received a total of more than 600 complaints in recent years about Kirby distributors and their sales techniques.

WSJ Article on Kirby

Conclusion: Buffett is a scumbag. Good thread OP!

Its nearly impossible to become a billionaire if you have morals. The killer instinct of doing businessbdoing cut throat layoffs, cost cutting at every level, maintaining a low paid workforce are all ways. They think with their brains not with their hearts. Warren Buffet is still more ethical then most billionaires. He was a self made man, still lives in a modest home he has since the 50's. He often mentors young entrepreneurs and gives massive amounts to charity. He's not as bad as you think.

Great Reply FamCore!!! Good Info for The Thread as well. A Big Ol Star For You ! Peace Arjuanda. a reply to:
Second
FamCore

a reply to: arjunanda

It is sad when a man has more money than he can ever hope to spend in life and feels he needs infinite more

Hey Boxfulfer, Or maybe just has a better cover than most. His Hide is just maybe a bit more camouflaged. It's sorta like weighing Tyrants, who is Best and Worst, they're still just Tyrants. The jury is still out, we shall see what we shall see. Good Reply and A Star Arjunanda. a reply to: BoxFulder

a reply to: arjunanda

On 9-11 Bush flew to Offutt and had a meeting with Mr Buffett which to me makes him a little bit higher up the ladder than the benevolent grandpa he is portrayed as.

originally posted by: BoxFulder
Its nearly impossible to become a billionaire if you have morals. The killer instinct of doing businessbdoing cut throat layoffs, cost cutting at every level, maintaining a low paid workforce are all ways. They think with their brains not with their hearts. Warren Buffet is still more ethical then most billionaires. He was a self made man, still lives in a modest home he has since the 50's. He often mentors young entrepreneurs and gives massive amounts to charity. He's not as bad as you think.

Oprah? J.K. Rowling?

originally posted by: BoxFulder
Its nearly impossible to become a billionaire if you have morals. The killer instinct of doing businessbdoing cut throat layoffs, cost cutting at every level, maintaining a low paid workforce are all ways. They think with their brains not with their hearts. Warren Buffet is still more ethical then most billionaires. He was a self made man, still lives in a modest home he has since the 50's. He often mentors young entrepreneurs and gives massive amounts to charity. He's not as bad as you think.

He has billions already, and then uses predatory lending tactics on the poor who already have next to nothing, ya he is a real gem.

If you have a billion dollars you should be banned from ever making another cent.

If that happened then buffet would have no reason to prey on the poor, it wouldn't make him anything.

a reply to: FamCore

I had a "job" trying to sell those. They do that with the Rainbows and something called the Pig, too. It is predatory and more or less a scam. And yes, he is a scum bag.

I was reading a book the other day that suggests we "kill" and "eat" people like this.

Did you know that if you divide this guys net worth by the US population, it comes out to $226.65?

Of course, if you divide the amount of cash apple has on hand by the same number, that'd be $558.

I wonder how many people in this country don't even have $558 to their name right now. Something is wrong, here...

Yep lordcomac, Something is wrong here and it's called division of resources. This could all be straightened out through The Tax Code. Bring Back The Eisenhower Rates and close down the lobbying and corporate loop holes and have an independent citizens representative body to bring prosecutions for political corruption (Both Sides of The Aisle). There's a start for us. Arjunanda. a reply to: lordcomac

a reply to: FamCore

Conclusion: Buffett is a scumbag. Good thread OP!

Instead of buying expensive homes and exotic cars, keeping mistresses and living an extravagent lifestyle, he drives a Cadillac and lives in a fairly modest house. He has pledged to donate well over 90% of his money to charity.
Yea....a real scumbag.

That's a very Nice Image, though weather it's real or not is another kettle of fish. What's the use of becoming a Billionaire then , Just Sport? I'm always suspicious of those who say they're doing it for the poor. Usually you'll find those same ones with their hands deep in the cookie jar in not very obvious ways. It seems to me there's something else to the hoarding of vast amounts of money and it's usually not for the benefit of the many but the few. Arjunanda a reply to: ColeYounger

"Predatory Loans"

No one was forced to accept those loans. It's another case of people spending beyond their means and then blaming other people for their problems.