orionstarr

I don't think it became a question of "whether or not someone could afford the mortgage" until the monthly payments/interest rates "reset" on them. Then it became a greater boulder to push up the hill. Besides I blame the shit the flies were sampling off of as much as I blame the cow for dumping it. - Terence Washington

A lot of people got into mortgages such as "interest only" or ARMs just so they could buy houses they couldn't afford and didn't follow through with re-financing within a couple of years. - Lindsey

Why would you get a mortgage you could afford only at low interest rates? Did they not think they might go back up? Agreed, though, that there is blame to be shared all around. - Craig

A lot happens when you go to buy a house. There is a lot of pressure when choosing a house. Many people cave for status reasons and don't see the bottom line until its too embarrassing to back out. - Lindsey

Yup - I heard BofA was re-working a bunch of its loans to reduce monthly payments for strapped borrowers.Some housing advocate was interviewed, and he criticized the program for maintaining market interest rates, which mean the mortgages won't amortize. And I thought..."hell, I'd like my interest rate lowered too!" - Hutch Carpenter

Maverick-Backed Securities (vs. amending the Bankruptcy Code)... http://www.concurringopinions.... ...but either way, those of us who were responsible and lived within our means pay for the externalities imposed on us by the greedy and the stupid. - Logical Extremes

Yeah, when I heard McCain offer up this plan to buy up bad mortgages, my first thought was, "How is accruing more government debt going to help the failed economy??" And just how is that going to help the people who are still paying their mortgages like they're supposed to? I honestly want to know if there is any sort of sound economic theory behind this idea. - Cheryl Jones