You know, it can be argued both ways… Victim/Non Victim. Bottom line is A LOT of people got hurt here, and A LOT of people were duped and A LOT of people just did what they had to do to secure a piece of land with their name on it and hoped the home would still appreciate so they could refinance into something better when the time came.
Some people DID lie about their income (some people grossly lied, some people just padded it a little). What matters is that the EXPERTS (CEO’s) should have seen this coming. It was CEO’s who created these lousy loan programs and touted them to the hilt, and did all they could to suck people in. The Brokers may have had some liability, however, if they hadnt done what the banks encouraged them to do, they would have gone out of business because the next broker down the road would be getting all the business.
Consumers ALL AROUND got screwed and tempted and it was by the Leader of the Mortgage industry (Countrywide to name one). It was one big mess, domino effect. Now Americans have lost their investments and their credit ratings.
I am personally one who bought honestly and didnt have any money down, but bought in a hurry before the prices went up any further. I had to choose between short selling my house and starting from scratch again- and just bending over and taking it up the tail pipe that I GOT duped out of my investment. My best friend put down $200K… and because of the Lenders reckless lending habits, she has lost it ALL.
Its a pretty rotten feeling, no matter whose fault it is by the time the courts figure it all out. We all got screwed if you ask me, even those that lied- most of them did it under duress and out of desperation. There are some downright non victims but not in most cases.
If they want to refinance they can refinance. This is just people who made bad decisions looking for someone to bail them out. I say let them take their lumps and the people who saved and planned and can actually afford a house can step in and finally buy one.
These aren’t people who had no jobs and bought a McMansion. These are people who tried to lower payments on existing loans. I could have papered the entire state of Texas, Ca, and Florida with all the ‘offers’ I received in the mail. Plus all the phone calls?
There are a lot of elderly people who refinanced what little they had left in their mortgage to a ‘lower payment’ that ballooned up in a year. PLUS an early payment penalty that made it impossible for them to refinance.
People who qualified for standared loans were bascially pushed into these subprime because it paid the brokers better. The brokers told these buyers that these loans were all that was available to them.
These people were convinced by an expert (who should be held accountable) that this was the best move for them.
You’re an expert. If you talked a homeowner into cancelling an HO policy to move them to a more expensive policy that paid less benefits because your commission was higher, who’s E&O insurance would be paying out?
Not everyone caught in an ARM is an $8 an hour worker trying to buy a $500K home.
No, but everyone caught in a toxic mortgage is someone who didn’t read their closing documents. It’s all right there, whether lenders and brokers disguised it as something else or not (and if they did, I am NOT excusing their legal liability in doing so but that does NOT NOT NOT excuse the borrower from making payments). I read every page of my 150 pages of closing documents. Took 6 hours for me to close but I knew EVERY term of the loan that was made to me – EVERY SINGLE TERM. No reason why anyone else can’t do the same and no pity from me if they didn’t.
I’ll assume you’re not a senior citizen. We deal with a large number of them in our personal lines department. They believe that reading/explaining is what we get paid for. A lot of them are actually incapable of reading the contracts and understanding them. And I know that if we fail to do our job properly, WE are going to be the ones to ‘make it right’. Why should mortgage brokers be any different?
I hope your parents never become the victim of a scam. They won’t get any help from you.
And even when you read the ‘fine print’ the translation can be ‘slanted’ to misrepresent what it really says.
I have no sympathy or desire to help someone making minimum wage that took on a $500K home. I do, however, feel that brokers have some responsiblity for the average person trying to do the right thing that got scammed by them.
I agree with Dawn – not all the homeowners who now find themselves in this mess are paupers trying to live in mansions. The loan underwriters brought this on themselves. Not everyone is able to understand the legal-babble in these documents, especially if a greedy broker is jamming it down their throats. And guess who is AGAIN going to have to pay to BAIL OUT the LENDERS? You are! I am! Just like the S&L mess !
The people who have been true victims are the ones that are going to lose.
The ones that knew what they were doing are going to find a way to get the Gov’t to pay their mortgage, or go back to where they were with the idea that ‘it was great while it lasted’.
The people who brought this mess to us are going to point at the people THEY put on the streets and complain that the road to their mansion neighborhood is declining in value.
And, of course, the multi-million bonus guys are probably out of the country already.
We have updated our privacy policy to be more clear and meet the new requirements of the GDPR. By continuing to use our site, you accept our revised Privacy Policy.
You know, it can be argued both ways… Victim/Non Victim. Bottom line is A LOT of people got hurt here, and A LOT of people were duped and A LOT of people just did what they had to do to secure a piece of land with their name on it and hoped the home would still appreciate so they could refinance into something better when the time came.
Some people DID lie about their income (some people grossly lied, some people just padded it a little). What matters is that the EXPERTS (CEO’s) should have seen this coming. It was CEO’s who created these lousy loan programs and touted them to the hilt, and did all they could to suck people in. The Brokers may have had some liability, however, if they hadnt done what the banks encouraged them to do, they would have gone out of business because the next broker down the road would be getting all the business.
Consumers ALL AROUND got screwed and tempted and it was by the Leader of the Mortgage industry (Countrywide to name one). It was one big mess, domino effect. Now Americans have lost their investments and their credit ratings.
I am personally one who bought honestly and didnt have any money down, but bought in a hurry before the prices went up any further. I had to choose between short selling my house and starting from scratch again- and just bending over and taking it up the tail pipe that I GOT duped out of my investment. My best friend put down $200K… and because of the Lenders reckless lending habits, she has lost it ALL.
Its a pretty rotten feeling, no matter whose fault it is by the time the courts figure it all out. We all got screwed if you ask me, even those that lied- most of them did it under duress and out of desperation. There are some downright non victims but not in most cases.
If they want to refinance they can refinance. This is just people who made bad decisions looking for someone to bail them out. I say let them take their lumps and the people who saved and planned and can actually afford a house can step in and finally buy one.
So basically this Wisconsin couple did not read the fine print of their mortgage deal.
But if their loan WAS a 5 -year fixed-rate deal, then surely they have every right to sue? And Chevy Chase doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
I have never driven a “high-interest investment vehicle.” I wonder if they come with diesel engines?
These aren’t people who had no jobs and bought a McMansion. These are people who tried to lower payments on existing loans. I could have papered the entire state of Texas, Ca, and Florida with all the ‘offers’ I received in the mail. Plus all the phone calls?
There are a lot of elderly people who refinanced what little they had left in their mortgage to a ‘lower payment’ that ballooned up in a year. PLUS an early payment penalty that made it impossible for them to refinance.
People who qualified for standared loans were bascially pushed into these subprime because it paid the brokers better. The brokers told these buyers that these loans were all that was available to them.
These people were convinced by an expert (who should be held accountable) that this was the best move for them.
You’re an expert. If you talked a homeowner into cancelling an HO policy to move them to a more expensive policy that paid less benefits because your commission was higher, who’s E&O insurance would be paying out?
Not everyone caught in an ARM is an $8 an hour worker trying to buy a $500K home.
No, but everyone caught in a toxic mortgage is someone who didn’t read their closing documents. It’s all right there, whether lenders and brokers disguised it as something else or not (and if they did, I am NOT excusing their legal liability in doing so but that does NOT NOT NOT excuse the borrower from making payments). I read every page of my 150 pages of closing documents. Took 6 hours for me to close but I knew EVERY term of the loan that was made to me – EVERY SINGLE TERM. No reason why anyone else can’t do the same and no pity from me if they didn’t.
I’ll assume you’re not a senior citizen. We deal with a large number of them in our personal lines department. They believe that reading/explaining is what we get paid for. A lot of them are actually incapable of reading the contracts and understanding them. And I know that if we fail to do our job properly, WE are going to be the ones to ‘make it right’. Why should mortgage brokers be any different?
I hope your parents never become the victim of a scam. They won’t get any help from you.
And even when you read the ‘fine print’ the translation can be ‘slanted’ to misrepresent what it really says.
I have no sympathy or desire to help someone making minimum wage that took on a $500K home. I do, however, feel that brokers have some responsiblity for the average person trying to do the right thing that got scammed by them.
I agree with Dawn – not all the homeowners who now find themselves in this mess are paupers trying to live in mansions. The loan underwriters brought this on themselves. Not everyone is able to understand the legal-babble in these documents, especially if a greedy broker is jamming it down their throats. And guess who is AGAIN going to have to pay to BAIL OUT the LENDERS? You are! I am! Just like the S&L mess !
The people who have been true victims are the ones that are going to lose.
The ones that knew what they were doing are going to find a way to get the Gov’t to pay their mortgage, or go back to where they were with the idea that ‘it was great while it lasted’.
The people who brought this mess to us are going to point at the people THEY put on the streets and complain that the road to their mansion neighborhood is declining in value.
And, of course, the multi-million bonus guys are probably out of the country already.
Okay, so if the borrowers rescind the loan, what happens? They get out from under the terms, and the bank gets its money back?
The borrowers don’t just get to keep the loaned funds!