Odes to the Home Equity Loans: Homeowners are Asking What They Should Do

The rush to help homeowners pull out the equity out of their homes is long gone. Bank lenders are becoming more and more conservative.

The market for such credit lines, which practically shut down as home prices tumbled, remains tight as a drum despite signs of life in the rest of the home loan market. And offers that let you pay only the prime rate or just above that benchmark are long gone.

According to various reports including the following from LAtimes, one can start seeing the impact on families all over the country:

"The days of lenders falling all over themselves to help you empty the equity out of your home aren't coming back any time soon," said Keith Gumbinger, vice president at loan data tracker HSH Associates.

Even for homeowners with plenty of home equity still available, "access to it is harder to come by," Gumbinger said. "You need to be a much higher-quality borrower now. And if you can get it, the terms are going to be a lot less attractive."

Before the housing boom, home equity credit lines were a cheap way for homeowners to renovate their property, pay college tuition or buy a car. During the boom, they also were often used to make a down payment on a home or to finance a vacation or other indulgences.

"Not Totally Safe but Secure Job with LAPD": LAPD Recruiters Want a Few Good Men and Women to Protect and Serve! Are you One?

"Not Totally Safe but Secure Job with LAPD": LAPD Recruiters Want a Few Good Men and Women to Protect and Serve! Are you One?

There has been a surge of applications for Los Angeles police officer jobs from September, October, November and December. Recruiters are taking advantage of the sour economy to offer good jobs to all willing to protect the surrounding communities. The message is simple these days, "Being a police officer might not be completely safe, but it is relatively secure..."

These times of economic uncertainty are causing many people apply for the police officer jobs. On the pages of the Daily News and various career websites, the LAPD is always looking for a few good men and women to protect and serve the LA communities. "Never have to face a layoff again! Start your new career today!"

At at a time when various police stations all over the nation are cutting down in order to balance their budget because of lower property taxes revenue and high defaults, LAPD comes out to offer layoff-proof jobs. The question is whether the hundreds and thousands of applicants can cut and survive long enough to wear the LAPD uniform. The statistics are grim, "only one in 10 or 11 applicants ends up in uniform."

It seems that there is a current push to hire as many people as possible in order to meet the 10,000-officer force by the Fall as requested by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Staffing standards require that the department increase its officer ranks.

Officer I jobs promise starting salaries of $56,522 to $75,878 depending on education and experience.

Hurry up, people, put in your application now!



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layoff-proof job, LAPD beat, Career, Daily News, police academy, police officers, mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, attrition, retirement.