Foreclosure Hits The Simpsons

How did we miss this? On this past Sunday's episode of The Simpsons they lost their house due to equity extraction and an ARM resetting. To watch the episode click here (Warning this is the whole episode and may require a special plug in). The episode has it all - ARM resetting to unthinkable numbers, HELOC equity extracted - taking your money and sticking the house with the bill,a foreclosure auction, renters becoming homeless. Here is a write-up from TV ING titled The Simpsons: "No Loan Again, Naturally" Review. Lets take a look -

As the evening ended, Lenny asked Homer how he afforded such a lavish party every year. Homer explained that he had a magical thing called a home equity loan, so "the house gets stuck with the bill." This, of course, is not how that works, and Homer's adjustable rate mortgage was about to reset. Unable to pay the new monthly rate, the house went into foreclosure and was auctioned by the bank. It's hard to find comedy in a situation like this, especially with this being such a common occurrence in today's market.

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Instead of losing their home, Ned bought it and let the Simpsons live as his tenants. As their landlord, Ned felt obligated to make home repairs and Homer and Marge took full advantage. But when Homer became dissatisfied with the way Ned was performing, he went to the local media to try and expose Ned has an evil, uncaring landlord.

Here is another review from the SFGate titled On The Block - Foreclosure Follies. Lets take a look -

Last night's Simpsons episode, in which Homer and Marge lose their house to foreclosure, reminded me that there are plenty of other foreclosure stories in the news at the intersection of sad and weird.


Homer's explanation of how he lost the house provides cautionary words for our time: "It's a secret thing called a home equity loan. I get all this cash...and the house gets stuck with the bills!" Later he tells his mortgage broker, "When you gave me that money, you said I wouldn't have to repay it 'til the future. This isn't the future. It's the lousy, stinking now!"

Pretty good episode illustrating all the issues of the current crisis - even a forced out Countryfine CEO that is stuck with a measly $50 million severance package.

Judging from the reviews it may not be the best episode - but it is a classic, snapshot of the times one.