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Rising home values are nudging more Chicago-area homeowners to tap the equity in their homes via lines of credit. In the first quarter of 2018, about 22 percent of home loans in the Chicago area were home equity lines of credit, according to Attom Data Solutions, a property information firm based in Irvine, Calif. That is, more than one of every five home loans issued was a home equity line. It was the first time the figure was over 20 percent since the last quarter of 2008.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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