'I think a lot of people are scared out there'
Naperville area feeling effects of financial crisis
Naperville resident Ken Tracy thinks he knows how the country ended up in the current financial crisis. Cheap credit tempted too many people to overextend themselves, then the housing bubble burst.
"If people would stop looking at their houses as piggy banks and start thinking of them as places to live, it wouldn't be so bad," said Tracy, 40, who gave up a job as a stockbroker three years ago and now works as a Realtor for Keller Williams in Naperville.
(Sun File)
How have you been impacted by the housing crisis, bank failures, plunging stock market and tight credit market? Has your family had to make sacrifices, or have you largely been able to get by unscathed financially? We want to know how the tanking economy has sent ripples through our communities.
E-mail us at fvpreaders@gmail.com and share your story. Please include a name and hometown, as well as contact information.
BIGGERT VOTES 'NO'
U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Hinsdale, who represents Naperville in Congress, voted against the proposed $700 billion financial rescue plan Monday. The House voted 205 in favor, 228 against, and the proposed bailout failed.
"I agree that we have to act and act quickly," Biggert told The Sun through an aide. "But the plan they brought to the floor unfairly burdens the taxpayers with Wall Street's mistakes. There are a lot of alternative ideas on the table, and we should take the time to examine those options. I'm ready to stay in Washington as long as it takes to get this right."
ONLINE
People in the Naperville area tend to compare their situations to what their homes were valued at in 2005, when the local real estate market peaked, he said.
"I'm concerned the whole financial system was built on the notion that home values would continue to go up forever," Tracy said Monday.
Tracy, who blogs about the local economy and other issues at activerain.com/blogs/kentracy, said he was watching CNBC on Monday when the House rejected the $700 billion bailout proposal. He said he's concerned that President Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and others appear scared.
"It frightens me the gravity of the situation," Tracy said. "I think a lot of people are scared out there."
Local officials see evidence tracing the financial crisis back to the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. More homes in Naperville are foreclosed upon, and more families are seeking financial assistance.
"We are seeing a lot more people applying for help with rent," said Carol Bertulis, who has been Naperville Township clerk for 18 years. There's a spike in requests for general assistance or emergency assistance funds doled out by the township.
"People have been coming in pretty steady," she said. "We always run out of (our monthly allotment of) Salvation Army money. It's gone very quickly."
City of Naperville officials are handling more complaints about weeds and tall grass growing at abandoned or foreclosed properties. Sometimes the weeds "are 3 or 4 feet tall," said Ann Michaelsen, code enforcement team supervisor for the city.
"We're definitely seeing more complaints, specifically with foreclosed upon or vacant properties," Michaelsen said. "Often, the owners are hard to track down. They have no money or incentive to make repairs."
The city can cut the high weeds and place a lien on the property, but its budget for that is almost tapped, Michaelsen said.
"We're almost out of mowing money. We're saving to do one last round this year," she said.
• Tell us how you are affected• Online: How Illinois' delegation voted
• Poll: Would you have voted for bailout?
