Bill & Ted have done a fair amount of foolish things in their time, with that Libor based adjustable mortgage being perhaps the foolishest.
Now they and millions of others are underwater, taking down the world's economy with them.
And as many an expert has told us, the situation will not improve until house values stop dropping. And yet solutions are frought with moral hazzard -- something Bill & Ted are pretty familiar with, with redefaults, people rumored to default just to get a better deal, etc.
Well, the time has come to apply some collective bargaining techniques to the process.
Using the web and neighborhood organization, people can organize across two axis -- their bank, and their location, location, location -- after all, even one foreclosure in a neighborhood accelerates the spiral down in home values.
Thus armed with colective power, Bill & Ted become a meaningful force to the bank, and can act to speed up the inevitable loan modification process but avoid the worst of its effects.
For example, while the bank might not return Bill & Ted's call and normally wouldn't allow them to qualify under a restructuring, would consider a petition from an entire town that might otherwise hold up payments.
The bank in turn gains a benefit from getting a clearer picture, and more certaintly, of the value of a larger portfolio of loans.-- theircompetitor, Dec 15 2008 hee hee-- po, Dec 15 2008 I would like the idea (paraphrased, "local groups of mortgage-holders of the same bank should band together"), but need more detail about how the organizing and collective bargaining would actually work.-- jutta, Dec 15 2008 jutta, I added some exaples, I'll work on some additional ones.-- theircompetitor, Dec 15 2008 It certainly wouldn't hurt the banks to realise their clients are beginning to bargain on a collective basis. +-- UnaBubba, Dec 16 2008 And years later, when they retire, Bill and Ted can talk about this story, smiling, wearing their Excellent Dentures.-- RayfordSteele, Dec 17 2008 halfbakery