My parents contract with an attorney in large scale, large money transactions such as home purchases. They do not use the victim mentality to try and squirm their way out of contracts. Everyone is not a victim of someone. There are very few TRUE victims. I’m very sorry but the bottom line is if you cannot understand the terms of your contract you do 1 of 2 things – hire an attorney (or other person with a fiduciary responsibility to you such as accountant etc) to interpret for you or you DO NOT PROCEED WITH THE TRANSACTION.
About one thing you are correct, my parents would not get help from me as a victim of a scam – they know better than to get into that trouble in the first place. It is YOUR OWN FAULT if you believed the sales pitch that some used house salesman with no fiduciary responsibility to you told you about a transaction. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN LIFE AND QUIT LOOKING TO BLAME OTHERS FOR YOUR PROBLEMS!
Most of the people who were hurt were working people, like ourselves. I know of a couple who lost their home and the mortgage company put them in the street with their 3 small children. Now, their credit is so poor, they can’t even rent an apartment. Right now, they are living with different relatives just to try to make it.
Everyone wants their small piece of the “American Dream”. It is just unfortunate that some companies took advantage of this and left some truly honest people homeless, with extremely poor credit and with no easy, short term way out.
I am an escrow officer in Florida and witnessed closing after closing of very un professional mortgage professionals explain to their clients, not to worry about the terms they would be refinancing in a year. That year of course is long gone and I am sure the majority of these folks are losing their homes. These are everyday workers that trust in the “professionals” giving them advice. I applaud caveat for reading his documents I wonder if that wasn’t the 6 hour closing I had a few years ago. It actually is not neccessary, as lenders are suppose to have the documents available to you 24 hours in advance. That is the regulation, but again how many folks know that? I guess not many.That is why the title companies are usually given the fault, when it si actually the lender that decides when documents are given. I can only say ask questions, call around and if in doubt ask the title company, or attorney, they can usually give you where to turn to, but always ask before you sign.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The biggest change in the nation’s banking system since the Great Depression became law Friday, when President Bill Clinton signed a measure overhauling federal rules governing the way financial institutions operate.
“This legislation is truly historic and it indicates what can happen when Republicans and Democrats work together in a spirit of genuine cooperation,” Clinton said at a White House signing ceremony. The event brought together the president and several Republican members of Congress who have been among Clinton’s sternest critics — a sign of the bipartisan support that eventually developed for the package.
Congress passed the bipartisan measure November 5, opening the way for a blossoming of financial “supermarkets” selling loans, investments and insurance. Proponents had pushed the legislation in Congress for two decades, and Wall Street and the banking and insurance industries had poured millions of dollars into lobbying for it in the past few years.
I have a fixed rate 6.25% mortgage and a few years ago I received an offer from Countrywide in the mail and called them on it. They were going to lower my rate to 6.15 and I only had to pay roughly 5,000 in fees for this great deal! There needs to be some sort of standardization in the mortgage industry so that you can compare loans. There are so many different ways to structure the loans and fees that its next to impossible to tell what you’re really getting.
Everyone had a hand in this mess…EVERYONE! Executives and “Professional investors” dreamed up these risky loan programs so that they could beef up their bottom line and satisfy the insatiable appetite of hedge fund/pension managers, securities brokers, and let’s not forget the greedy individual investor. The logic went that “property values will ALWAYS increase! After all God isn’t making any more land.” And while the “supply/demand” angel is rooted in logic but cheep financing threw a monkey wrench into the equation.
With cheep financing more people than ever before could afford to buy a house. As those buyers flowed into the market the supply of properties became scares, pushing up values. Furth more, cheep financing made it possible for people to buy more house than they otherwise could have. As a result loan amounts got bigger. But there were some people shut out of the market because they could not get financing due to a troubled credit history, lack of employment or otherwise. To keep the market rising and satisfy the demand of these “risky” borrowers a “subprime” market was created. And if you were an executive or securities investor this “subprime” market was great because the perceived risk of these borrowers translated into higher interest rates, which would ultimately lead to higher returns. The risk involved in the “higher returns” was diminished by rating agencies that gave these risky securities an “AAA” rating. This made the sale of these securities easy and further pushed up demand. As the demand increased loan underwriters were under pressure to produce more loans. In order to produce more loans they needed to loosen the underwriting guideline. As underwriting guidelines were loosened more buyers entered the real estate market adding to the momentum of appreciation.
It was all coming up roses! Values continued to increase, buyers continued to enter the market and builders were ramping up production.
UNTIL….The bottom fell out. As rates began to climb and adjustable loans began to reset borrowers that had homes began to struggle to make payments and because financing was becoming more expensive less buyers entered the market and those that did could not afford to purchase as much house as they once could. At this point the trend began to reverse. The borrowers that were struggling to make payments found themselves unable to sell or refinance due to declining values leaving foreclosure as the only exit strategy. Buyers were now having a more difficult time securing more expensive financing and sometimes decides to wait for prices to come down or exited the market all together. This caused inventories to build which accelerated the decline.
So while many people overstated income or otherwise committed fraud to secure financing in my opinion it is the executives and security brokers that drove the housing market into oblivion. Ultimately, causing investors to loose money, home owners to loose their homes and the American public to loose confidence in the financial system and the economy at large. The whole process was driven by GREED; pure unadulterated greed.
Yeah well if the scumball gave me the 150 pages of the agreement to read before the closing maybe I would not have this problem. You had your chance I did’nt, and I even tried to rescind on the closing day because I found out about Radon in the home and forged paper work after I signed and after the pressure to go to closing on a sunday without a lawyer, maybe I would not even try to get rid of this scam. There are millions of people who got the shaft from all the greedy investers and mortgage companys and banks who gave these mortgages counting on the government bailouts and collecting three times the value of the loan and then trying to take the home away from people and acting like the poor lenders are the victim.
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My parents contract with an attorney in large scale, large money transactions such as home purchases. They do not use the victim mentality to try and squirm their way out of contracts. Everyone is not a victim of someone. There are very few TRUE victims. I’m very sorry but the bottom line is if you cannot understand the terms of your contract you do 1 of 2 things – hire an attorney (or other person with a fiduciary responsibility to you such as accountant etc) to interpret for you or you DO NOT PROCEED WITH THE TRANSACTION.
About one thing you are correct, my parents would not get help from me as a victim of a scam – they know better than to get into that trouble in the first place. It is YOUR OWN FAULT if you believed the sales pitch that some used house salesman with no fiduciary responsibility to you told you about a transaction. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN LIFE AND QUIT LOOKING TO BLAME OTHERS FOR YOUR PROBLEMS!
A lawsuit may be what the couple needs, but a class action suit is just the lawyer trying to make big bucks.
Terrie B,
Thank you for your eloquent explanation.
Most of the people who were hurt were working people, like ourselves. I know of a couple who lost their home and the mortgage company put them in the street with their 3 small children. Now, their credit is so poor, they can’t even rent an apartment. Right now, they are living with different relatives just to try to make it.
Everyone wants their small piece of the “American Dream”. It is just unfortunate that some companies took advantage of this and left some truly honest people homeless, with extremely poor credit and with no easy, short term way out.
I am an escrow officer in Florida and witnessed closing after closing of very un professional mortgage professionals explain to their clients, not to worry about the terms they would be refinancing in a year. That year of course is long gone and I am sure the majority of these folks are losing their homes. These are everyday workers that trust in the “professionals” giving them advice. I applaud caveat for reading his documents I wonder if that wasn’t the 6 hour closing I had a few years ago. It actually is not neccessary, as lenders are suppose to have the documents available to you 24 hours in advance. That is the regulation, but again how many folks know that? I guess not many.That is why the title companies are usually given the fault, when it si actually the lender that decides when documents are given. I can only say ask questions, call around and if in doubt ask the title company, or attorney, they can usually give you where to turn to, but always ask before you sign.
Clinton signs banking overhaul measure
November 12, 1999
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The biggest change in the nation’s banking system since the Great Depression became law Friday, when President Bill Clinton signed a measure overhauling federal rules governing the way financial institutions operate.
“This legislation is truly historic and it indicates what can happen when Republicans and Democrats work together in a spirit of genuine cooperation,” Clinton said at a White House signing ceremony. The event brought together the president and several Republican members of Congress who have been among Clinton’s sternest critics — a sign of the bipartisan support that eventually developed for the package.
Congress passed the bipartisan measure November 5, opening the way for a blossoming of financial “supermarkets” selling loans, investments and insurance. Proponents had pushed the legislation in Congress for two decades, and Wall Street and the banking and insurance industries had poured millions of dollars into lobbying for it in the past few years.
I have a fixed rate 6.25% mortgage and a few years ago I received an offer from Countrywide in the mail and called them on it. They were going to lower my rate to 6.15 and I only had to pay roughly 5,000 in fees for this great deal! There needs to be some sort of standardization in the mortgage industry so that you can compare loans. There are so many different ways to structure the loans and fees that its next to impossible to tell what you’re really getting.
Everyone had a hand in this mess…EVERYONE! Executives and “Professional investors” dreamed up these risky loan programs so that they could beef up their bottom line and satisfy the insatiable appetite of hedge fund/pension managers, securities brokers, and let’s not forget the greedy individual investor. The logic went that “property values will ALWAYS increase! After all God isn’t making any more land.” And while the “supply/demand” angel is rooted in logic but cheep financing threw a monkey wrench into the equation.
With cheep financing more people than ever before could afford to buy a house. As those buyers flowed into the market the supply of properties became scares, pushing up values. Furth more, cheep financing made it possible for people to buy more house than they otherwise could have. As a result loan amounts got bigger. But there were some people shut out of the market because they could not get financing due to a troubled credit history, lack of employment or otherwise. To keep the market rising and satisfy the demand of these “risky” borrowers a “subprime” market was created. And if you were an executive or securities investor this “subprime” market was great because the perceived risk of these borrowers translated into higher interest rates, which would ultimately lead to higher returns. The risk involved in the “higher returns” was diminished by rating agencies that gave these risky securities an “AAA” rating. This made the sale of these securities easy and further pushed up demand. As the demand increased loan underwriters were under pressure to produce more loans. In order to produce more loans they needed to loosen the underwriting guideline. As underwriting guidelines were loosened more buyers entered the real estate market adding to the momentum of appreciation.
It was all coming up roses! Values continued to increase, buyers continued to enter the market and builders were ramping up production.
UNTIL….The bottom fell out. As rates began to climb and adjustable loans began to reset borrowers that had homes began to struggle to make payments and because financing was becoming more expensive less buyers entered the market and those that did could not afford to purchase as much house as they once could. At this point the trend began to reverse. The borrowers that were struggling to make payments found themselves unable to sell or refinance due to declining values leaving foreclosure as the only exit strategy. Buyers were now having a more difficult time securing more expensive financing and sometimes decides to wait for prices to come down or exited the market all together. This caused inventories to build which accelerated the decline.
So while many people overstated income or otherwise committed fraud to secure financing in my opinion it is the executives and security brokers that drove the housing market into oblivion. Ultimately, causing investors to loose money, home owners to loose their homes and the American public to loose confidence in the financial system and the economy at large. The whole process was driven by GREED; pure unadulterated greed.
Yeah well if the scumball gave me the 150 pages of the agreement to read before the closing maybe I would not have this problem. You had your chance I did’nt, and I even tried to rescind on the closing day because I found out about Radon in the home and forged paper work after I signed and after the pressure to go to closing on a sunday without a lawyer, maybe I would not even try to get rid of this scam. There are millions of people who got the shaft from all the greedy investers and mortgage companys and banks who gave these mortgages counting on the government bailouts and collecting three times the value of the loan and then trying to take the home away from people and acting like the poor lenders are the victim.