Super: [EXANDAS DOCUMENTARY SERIES PRESENTS]

 

CBS

A big drop on Wall Street today…

 

DW-TV

The worldwide credit crash…

 

BBC

Big losses…

 

AL JAZZERA

The stock markets have plunged…

 

BBC

And now losses outside America.

 

AL JAZZERA

Major markets in the region including Japan and Hong Kong have closed hundreds of points down.

 

DW-TV

European banking customers fear that ultimately they will be the ones to pay the price for the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.

 

CNBC

14 million people took a mortgage in the last 3 years. 7 million of them will lose their homes. Someone come on TV and tell the truth about how bad this is. I’vetalked to the heads of almost every single one of these firms in the last 72 hours and he has no idea what it’s like out there! None!

 

Super: [PRODUCTION MANAGER: ΑNASTASIA SKOUBRI]

Super: [PRODUCED BY: ΝΙΝΑ ΜΑRΙΑ PASCHALIDOU]

Super: [DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ALEXIS BARZOS]

Super: [RESEARCH COORDINATOR: ΑGGELOS ATHANASOPOULOS]

Super: [EDITING: YIANNIS BILIRIS]

Super: [ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK: YIANNIS PAXEVANIS]

 

PLAIN OLD GREED

 

Super: [WRITTEN & DIRECTED: YORGOS AVGEROPOULOS]

 

Narration: The once almighty American economy is going through one of the worst crises of its history. Banks are crumbling and economic giants bankrupting, taking the world’s markets down with them.

 

DENNIS SCOURLETIS, STOCKBROKER

This particular situation might be worse than other situations most people have seen in their life times.

 

EDMUND SANTIO, ESTATE BROKER

There are about 226 banks and mortgage companies nationwide that have closedalready.

 

Narration: What happened in the United States was caused by something very familiar to us. It is called uncontrolled borrowing.

 

Banks openhandedly and effortlessly granted mortgage loans to all, betting on the famous American dream. And millions of people were convinced that they could, at last, fulfill it.

 

COMMERCIAL

Thousand of people get a big thrill out of looking at model houses. And a much bigger thrill when they buy one.

This couple is going to a model house now… suppose we follow them.

The husband apparently isn’t very keen about it all, but you know how wives are…

So when they go to this delightful living-room…

The girl is tremendously impressed with the room and its furnishing, but the fellow still just doesn’t seem interested. Just give him more a good book and a comfortable chair until his wife sees him and it’s a different story… Get up out of there boy and get going…

They find that the dinning-room is small but adequate for their small family and for modern entertaining. And so they pass on to the kitchen.

This cheerful room with its many handy cabinets impresses even this skeptic… and his wife is impressed by the modern flat up steel and by such convenient features as this built-in ironing board.

And now let’s see what we find upstairs…

Well they both would like to have this place for their very own. Too bad they can’tafford it…

Αh, but maybe they can…for according to this sign, they can buy this house withmonthly payments that are less than they now spend for rent.

 

Super: [CLEVELAND, OHIO]

 

Narration: Cleveland, Ohio, is the third poorest big city in the United States

 

A few years ago the country’s major industries were based here. However, they moved to China, sentencing the area to unemployment and decay. Today, Cleveland is the planet’s foreclosure capital.

 

AUCTION

- We have 142.000, any other bids?

- 142.100

- Ok, we have 142.100.

- 145.000

- 145.000

- 146.000

- 146.000

- 150.000

- 150.000

- 160.100

- 160.100

- 165.000

- 165.000

- 165.100

- 165.100

- 167.270

- Ok, we have a bid at 167.270$. Any other bids?; 167.270$ last call… 167.270 $… Once, twice… Sold.

 

MARK WISEMAN, DIRECTOR OF THE FORECLOSURE PREVENTION PROGRAM

That’s the city of Cleveland. This is very strange… This is the city of Cleveland that comes down here… Ok, now…So every blue triangle is one foreclosure case. So, for the first 10 months of 2006, you can see, there is 9.102 foreclosures for that 10 month period. You see all these inside the city… you see, I mean, the concentration is so great you can’t even see the individual ones.

 

Narration: Over a million US citizens across the country have already lost their homes. One out of 538 households is in the middle of a foreclosure procedure. In the following years, millions of Americans will find themselves on the streets.

 

The houses are foreclosed by the banks, since the owners are unable to pay back the mortgage loans they had acquired.  

 

Super: [SUZAN SEGRETT, SOCIOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK]

 

SUZAN SEGRETT, SOCIOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

I think some of the blame rest in our culture, in a very general way about it... That people feel they need to own a home, that they have to look a certain way, that they have to have a certain amount of possessions, in order to be respectable people in their community and they feel they treated differently if they do or they don’t, and they probably are.

 

JIM ROKAKIS, CLEVELAND COUNTY TREASURER

Look at all these houses. We’re coming in an area, which have been really devastated by lending.

 

Super: [JIM ROKAKIS, CLEVELAND COUNTY TREASURER]

 

JIM ROKAKIS, CLEVELAND COUNTY TREASURER

Look over here… empty, empty, empty, this is for sale, they can’t sell it.

 

Super: [TONY BRANCATELLI, SLAVIC VILLAGE COUNCILOR]

 

TONY BRANCATELLI, SLAVIC VILLAGE COUNCILOR

There is a lot of famous zip codes in the US. 90210 is one of them for richy Beverly Hills… this is 44105. 44105 zip code is one of the hardest zip foreclosuresin all US. And if you look around, you can see the fraud that was perpetrated and you can see the foreclosures that happened because of it and it’s not at its peak yet.

 

Narration: Slavic Village, at the heart of Cleveland, is a ghost area. Most of its residents have abandoned it, not because of some natural catastrophe, but due to the banks’ savage raid.

 

JIM ROKAKIS, CLEVELAND COUNTY TREASURER

If you look… empty… there’s somebody living here… but this house is empty and the one next to it… this entire block is utterly consumed by this foreclosure play.

 

TONY BRANCATELLI, SLAVIC VILLAGE COUNCILOR

The majority of these houses that we are seeing end up having to be demolished, because there’s not restoration. There are financially contemned and are physically contemned. You can go inside and can see what happened on these houses and see what we’re stacked with today.

 

This house gets foreclosed on… the jackals come in and strip all the value out of it… so now we have no value left.

 

All the plumbing, electrical are stolen out of it… the house gets destroyed and this house really needs to be demolished and as you walk to the house it’s kind of sad cause a family was living here not too long ago.

 

Narration: The few who continue to live in the neighborhood have tried to infuse some life to abandonment… even as an illusion.

 

JIM ROKAKIS, CLEVELAND COUNTY TREASURER

If you look at this house here, you’ll find that the neighbor group has placed wood over the windows and has painted curtains and flowers… It’s pretty obvious nobody is living here, but is one way of making a pretty bad situation a little more attractive…

 

If you look behind you, look over here, you’ve got another one, here’s another one where they’ve painted the frond and another one and another one and this is something you see in the entire neighborhood and in fact I would say that the number of homes here that are vacant and foreclosed exceeds the number of homes where people are living in them.

 

Narration: Sheriff Deputy Dave Row has been very busy lately. He is continuously carrying out evictions, which he shares with two other co-workers. His daily list alone includes 10 families that must leave their homes. And he makes sure the law is carried out.

 

DAVE ROW, SHERIFF DEPUTY

The house right behind you, right across from here…it’s going to be the white house with the orange, red ramp is the one that we’re going to be doing the eviction on… the individual that I’m looking to talk to is Dorothy MacLechen, but that doesn’t mean she’ll be here. There could be tenants here, there could be nobody.

 

Sheriff’s Office, Police…

 

Sheriff’s Office…

 

You think this job is routine, but it’s that one time that you let your gun down and get into that routine and you can get yourself into a lot of trouble… cause there could be 7 people in the house that come and storm out at you. So, you’ve got tobe prepared for anything…

 

Sheriff’s Office…

 

Sheriff’s Office…

 

He left before we got here and… they said he was going to try to come back but he’s not… that happens… Lot of times they may not want to talk to us, they may feel embarrassed about talking to us or they may have other reasons for not wanting to spend time with us or talk to us… so …

 

KAREN LUCAS

These are things that we’re trying to pack up and… These is going to go to my girlfriend’s and I’ve food that I want to give to some people, because I don’t know where I’m going to take all this stuff…

 

Narration: This is the last night Karen Lucas and her husband Michael spend in the house they have lived in for the past 36 years. The eviction will be carried out tomorrow.

 

KAREN LUCAS

Well, ok… If they’re going to have a sheriff here with the gun, you’re damn rightI’m going to be here. This is still my stuff, you know, even though they say they own my house! But they stole my house. They don’t own it.

 

You know, if they’re going to evict me and kick me out, steal my house from under me, they are going to have to pay for it… They are going to have to pay for it.

 

Narration: Karen and Michael mortgaged their house to obtain a 145,000 dollar refurbishing loan. However, Karen fell ill and left her job, while the company where Michael worked was sold and the new owners fired many employees.

 

KAREN LUCAS

My God is a big God… He is a miracle God, they say he waits till the last minute and we are all the way down, so… he’s ready to bring us back up…

 

Super: [THE DAY AFTER]

 

DAVE ROW, SHERIFF DEPUTY

Sheriff’s Office… Police…

 

Sheriff’s Office…

 

Sheriff’s Office…

 

Sheriff’s Office…

 

Super: [FINAL EVICTION NOTICE]

 

BUSH, ARCHIVE

We all encourage the housing market… to correct quickly… by encouraging, helping people staying at their homes.

 

DAVE ROW, SHERIFF DEPUTY

I swear I heard somebody.

 

KAREN LUCAS

What can I say? I’m here… It’s got to be done… I mean, they stole my house.

 

Angry? Very!

 

I have no more tears left… I tried to cry this morning and nothing would come out… I’m just… completely frustrated.

 

They’re going to lock the doors and goodbye and that’s it… there’s nothing more we can do.

 

SERIFF

How you are doing? Mrs. Lukas?

 

KAREN LUCAS

Yes.

 

SERIFF

Are you aware what’s going on?

 

KAREN LUCAS

Yes, let me see your papers, please?

 

They are greedy!

 

SERIFF

Ok, step outside for a second. You are Mr. Lukas?

 

MICHAEL LUCAS

Yes.

 

SERIFF

Do me a favor! Don’t put that on my face!

 

Ok, and they’re all here. If you have any question, I’m going to try and help you out. Now… anything that you would like to say… The bank will pay the storage… Do you have any questions…?

 

MICHAEL LUCAS

You have a business card?

 

SERIFF

No, I don’t. I work for the Deputy Sheriff of the County.

 

MICHAEL LUCAS

Ok, can you write your information down on piece of paper for me?

 

SERIFF

It’s all in here, sir.

 

MICHAEL LUCAS

Ok.

 

SERIFF

And as soon as we take care of this, I’ll give you this paper and you can have them.

 

KAREN LUCAS

Ok, do they pack my stuff?

 

SERIFF

They will pack your stuff. The stuff goes to the storage, the bank pays for 30 days free… the only one that goes into that storage area is you… nobody else have access except for you or whoever signs for you.

 

KAREN LUCAS

These are not evidence…

 

-I never…

 

SERIFF

Do you want to step inside?

Let me tell you something… between you and me…

 

Super: [MEANWHILE]

 

DAVE ROW, SHERIFF DEPUTY

I have evicted a lot of people I felt sorry for. I’ve had to evict other police officers, from when the city laid them off… I’ve had to evict fire fighters and EMS workers from there and I’ve also had to evict elderly people that had no clue why they were being evicted and they got caught up in the predatory lending. And believe me… it’s taught! You know… you feel bad, but you still have to do your job.

 

Hello! I’m looking for Michael Kristino.

 

MAN

Yes, ask me.

 

DAVE ROW, SHERIFF DEPUTY

You are the son of him? Do you mind I step in, I’ ll explain what’s going on?

 

I basically, we’re here for the eviction process, the movers are here... if there is anything you’d like to move, they will help you move it… They will store it for 30 days free of charge. The only thing that can’t store is plants, animals anything is food or flammable fuel.

 

MAN

Ok.

 

DAVE ROW, SHERIFF DEPUTY

Ok. Now, I have to ask you two questions, I ask e