Confessions of a Subprime Lender

Posted By: Rudedog @ 05/06/2008 6:47:29 PM

Comment: Yep' once upon a time in this country we had Standards of Practice, We enjoyed a Code of Conduct, we had certain Ethical guidelines, and most had a Moral compass. (do unto others) But in the last decade of the last century much of the populace decided all of that was a silly notion, Live and Let Live, if it Feels good do it. To be responsible or accountable was not being very progressive or too judgemental. When those that are in power, or in position of influence, either in the breaucracy or in the private systerm are allowed to hi-jack the system you can expect chaos and disorder. It is not just the real estate industry, mortgage lenders, appraisers, etc. alone that have exclusive rights to the plunder of the populace. Just look at the medical profession, drug manufactures, insurance industry, the education system in this country, etc. etc. And need I mention the MEDIA. So many people are concerned with physical health that no one ever mentions the degradation of our mental health. Americans spend hours and hours every week viewing CRAP on the TV. Most actually believe what they read in newspapers, magazines and what they see on the TV news channels. It is any wonder that so many people make such poor decisions. They seem to bee concerned about themselves or their neighbors eating french fries or oreo cookies but are oblivious to to the garbage that they are putting into their gray-matter. If you have never been screwed-over by someone in the real estate industry, or someone in the medical profession, a lawyer, a contractor, an insurance salesman, car salesman, or any salesman for the matter, I would have to imagine that you must ber under 25 or you have never left your home. Call me old fashioned, but I did like "the good ol days" when things could be get done with a handshake. When a persons word was their bond. When we had standards, a code of conduct, ethics, a compass, moral or otherwise. But now we live our lives like some stupid TV show. No long term thinking, get rich quick, screw the other guy.... Sigh

Posted By: lolas son @ 04/06/2008 6:30:23 PM

Comment: can somebody turn the foreclosed homes into a rental homes? so we don't have to move out and give our money to a rental appartments. why don't we help each other to lessen the foreclosure. make the foreclosed house into rental house to get something than nothing and loose a lot.. i hope this is not a stupid idea or use this as a guide.
thank you.

Posted By: lolas son @ 04/06/2008 6:22:25 PM

Comment: -can sombody turn the foreclosed house into a rental homes? so we don't have to move out and pay a rental appartments or another rental house.

Posted By: jljackson @ 03/19/2008 1:12:56 PM

Comment: A HUGE part of the sub-prime mess is that the brokers and mortgage companies were so very, very greedy, charging inflated interest rates based on LIBOR plus points - who the heck knows what LIBOR is??? Musband and I thought our loan would be tied to the CPI, which would have kept our loan very affordable for us. Instead, we find that we are now paying 10% interest on our mortgage, which increased our payment by $395 a month. Although not a huge amount, it was a shock to realize that we are paying 10% interest while most people are paying 6-8% interest. We are in the process of refinancing to get out of this ridiculous contract. It is the industry's own GREED that caused this whole mess. There should be a cap on the interest rate that can be charged for any mortgage.

Posted By: madameozzie @ 03/19/2008 11:39:53 AM

Comment: Ok, I see the thought process for placing allthe blame on lenders and appraisers....however, each borrower shuold have been able to realize how much mortgage they really could afford.....I dont feel sorry for the ones who knew they really couldnt afford the loan that they got into...live and learn....all this bailing out is ridiculous....you made your choices, deal wiht the consequences

Posted By: kswsbb @ 03/17/2008 12:50:25 PM

Comment: I think every individual mortgage broker, real estate agent, and appraiser to contributed to this fraud should be personnally billed for the commission they made off every home buyer who they lied to or misled. They should be billed for all commission and other benefits they "earned" from lying and cheating the home buyer and playing the system. It would be easy enough to get names of all those who were paid commission from selling these subprime mortgages. I personally know people who were lied to by a mortgage broker/real estate agent who was persuading them to buy. Nobody mentions solving the problem this way but I think its the right thing to do.

Posted By: Johndavidprince @ 03/17/2008 9:34:39 AM

Comment: Personal responsibility is often mentioned especially by the right wing of the Republican Party. The all to familiar phrases used are ???pull yourself up by the bootstraps??? or ???man up??? and various other lexicons. Why then should corporations ever be bailed out for their poor judgment or mismanagement of business? Why should government ever assist the ???free market??? with tax breaks, tax shelters, subsidies, and vast grant programs? Should the ???free market??? be allowed the freedom to suffer from their own mistakes? Every time we the tax payer jump in and bail the market out we are allowing business to skate from personal responsibility, the very antithesis of conservative ???free market??? dogma. The goose must not care about the gander, only the goose. We have been bailing out scandals, fraud and massive debt for a long time. Lately we have been bailing out debt with debt and we wonder why the market has collapsed like we have never seen since the Great Depression. The last straw that will break the back of the flailing market is unemployment and further erosion of the dollar. Can the neo-conservatives follow their own advice? I doubt it. The problem goes deeper than just economic hypocrisy. There is a systemic cancer within the modern capitalistic establishment. Corporations have since 1890 or so have been granted the equal application of the law under the 14th Amendment. Many have complained before me, so this should be nothing new. I feel that is the hart of the issue is a free market stampeding toward the cliff like buffalo hunted by the injustice of the abuse of the legal system of the US. The favoritism or unequal weight of law is leaning drastically toward market benefit. The legal argument of corporations is that they are equal to humans. Really? There is more law on the side of the protection of the Market and Corporations than there is for the individual living breathing citizen. It does not require legal council to come to that conclusion. The end result in my opinion is that we now have a separate and unequal class of citizen in the US by weight of law alone. If we also consider the true definition of a citizen as a human or person the corporate legal grounds for their argument fall on their face due to the merits of further in-depth thought.

Posted By: ervinst@hotmail.com @ 03/16/2008 4:52:13 PM

Comment: Some of these statements are interesting to be sure. However, here's something else to consider. The Fed in all its wisdom started raising interest rates when in their estimation inflation was starting to increase...which also started the mortgage rates to begin inching up.
Instead of giving each increase in the fed rate a chance to get into the system and see just what would happen next,,they kept increaseing the rates through the following years which caused the mortgage rates to also continue to rise.
The inflation rate that they in their wisdom were trying to control is now out of control because of their misreading again what is going on in this country. Because of their movements in the market now we have mortgages being lost, the dollar dropping agains other currency markets and of course, inflation now climbing...and then too with the elections coming up...the democrates wanting to spend more tax money on giveaway programs...which has to mean an increase in our taxes....We need to have our country get people in both houses in DC that are actually interested in doing what is right and not what they themselves favor or what will favor them.

Posted By: eddieEd @ 03/14/2008 11:29:52 PM

Comment: I guess i wasnt registered so i couldnt enter my first two comments .. now im tired ... so here is a water downed version for the masses! For all of you on the side of the lenders and who feel it is a matter of people trying to keep up with the jones's???? If i wasnt pro abortion in the past ... I am now!!! .... Do you not know that some homeowners losing their homes have owned their homes for decades??? and because the refied to start a business or to fix their leaky roofs with an adjustable loan ??? they too have and are losing their homes ????? ... not a matter of keeping up with the jones's in every case ... some cases are a matter of, let me keep the rain off my head this year ????? ... Most people signing those loans where told that if they paid their mortgages on time and never missed a payment during the fixed phase of the loan, that they would be able to refi at the end of the term into a fixed rate loan ..... who knew that the market would take a nose dive heading south ???? i'll tell you who knew!!! Its the haves vs the have nots .... the homeowners have no control of which way the market heads up or down .... its a vision game of Monopoly ... where the banker is invisible, and the poor dont get to pass go and collect their 200 bucks, but they do get to spend the weekend on the boardwalk ...... and pay the land LORD his blood money!!! Ignorant and arrogant people ... leave the single parents and one income families alone ... if they had a fixed rate they'd be fine ... i'd like to see your rates jump up 6 percent .... and see how you'd fair!!! thats as nice as i can put it....

Posted By: 42student @ 03/14/2008 11:18:15 PM

Comment: Shame on this guy...he tells us how much money he has made off of subprime mortgages and then writes a book and wants us to buy it and put more money in his pocket after he tells us he was earning six figures and has taken the year off from work. All that and there are some people struggling just to stay in their homes from getting into a mortgage from a swindler like this type! don't support his book!

Posted By: butterflygirl @ 03/13/2008 10:48:16 PM

Comment: I just finished a 10 hour day listening to homeowner after homeowner say they had no idea they ARM loans. I spend my day trying to modify subprime loans for homeowners who were cluless about the loan process.We can blame loan officers, brokers and large lenders.What about the homeowners??? We must take a test to drive in this country, why not a loan.What happen to the day when you saved 20% down. INow the goverment is going to have to step in when all people need to do was spend a few hours on line to see what they were getting into.

Posted By: ChristopherCruise @ 03/13/2008 10:16:04 PM

Comment: Actually, liar loans are not no-documentation loans, since on these no-doc loans you generally didn't state your income or assets, so there was no lying involved.

Posted By: Onpoint @ 03/13/2008 8:17:30 PM

Comment: The Buck stops with the mortgage banker/lender! Blaming mortgage brokers shows that Mr. Bitner does not seem to take any responsibility in the mortgage mess. He and his collegues as mortgage bankers/lenders were charged with the responsibility to evaluate the risk of all loan files and either approve or disapprove of the loan. If there was any hint of fraud or the loan request did not make sense, then his company should have asked hard questions or request additional documentation that would support the loan request. Instead Mr. Bitner uses the poor excuse that his company followed standard guidelines outlined by the big bankers/lenders. Its unfortuate his moral compass of right and wrong did not come into play in the year 2000. I guess the lure to make BIG bucks kept him from doing what was right. With the Feds going after fraudsters on all levels in the mortgage game, Mr. Bitner perhaps thinks by writing this book is an act of contrition. Sounds like an opportunist hoping to make a ton of money from the sale of his book. Beware Richard, the Feds may have you and your pals in their sites. Oh! I do agree with Mr. Bitner, that there should be national registration of mortgage brokers, but why stop there. Mortgage Bankers/lenders and their loan officers should also be included as well. As it now stands, mortgage bankers/lenders and their loan officers are flying under the radar. With everyone having to register, Mr. Bitner should he ever be indicted by the feds and found guilty of loan fraud could never originate or underwrite another loan anywhere in the United States.

Posted By: isaidit @ 03/13/2008 3:12:58 PM

Comment: If you make fifty or sixty grand year and you're single, you can't own a home in most of America's desirable locales, and that's it. If the mortgage payment exceeds a third of your gross income, you can't afford it! Why do Americans think they have are entitled to own a home or have children just because they're American? Live in a small studio or one bedroom apartment if you're middle income and single in one of these areas and just deal with it. Home ownership is for the wealthy and dual-income families, just like having children is for the wealthy and those on public assistance.

Posted By: harleymantx @ 03/13/2008 2:18:23 PM

Comment: The issue is not the government failing to regulate the industry. The issue is the the Government regulating the wrong areas of the industry. Take a look at any State website that lists audit findings for brokers: Disclosures not dated, log of pending loan files not up-to-date, loan officer did not sign and date application, etc. Ridiculous! Ponder this: What if you, as a broker, believed that the potential borrower would have difficulties in the future repaying the loan, but, the borrowers qualified for the program? You as the broker turn the loan down, guess what happens? You get in BIG trouble with the regulators for turning down a loan without a valid reason. Potential mortgage customers DO NOT need more worthless disclosures to sign brought about by the Government that most never read or understand. It is simple, if a loan officer, borrower, or appraser commits fraud, they should be punished by the law.

Posted By: newsweekbluesweek @ 03/13/2008 2:08:49 PM

Comment: Takecharge, i agree with some of your points but you cannot blame the consumer for this. Banks are the one's that make the final decision to lend money. Credit Cards now give credit to anyone with hopes they will bury themselves in debt. If you let the masses rule then society will fail. You need rules, laws and regulations to protect banks and consumers who are not savvy. We are ALL going to be paying for this for a long time.

Posted By: TrustLee @ 03/13/2008 1:37:46 PM

Comment: DO NOT BUY HIS BOOK - SOUNDS LIKE HE HAS MADE ENOUGH MONEY ON THE POOR - I myself have been in the Broker industry for several years and only ONCE sold a negative amortizing arm and always pushed my clients into a fixed rate if possible - I also always made them aware that if they did an ARM that the payment WOULD almost always go up. Lets put the blame on the people that came up with the LIAR loans - where someone could get a NO DOC loan with a credit score of only 660, or the negative ARM where people thought their interest rate was only 1%, or when the lenders were loaning people 125% of their value. HELLO is anybody out there - When I came across advertising fraud Which I saw a lot of in the last 5 years), I faxed the liars ad to the banking commission - do you think anything was ever done about it ? Heck NO they were still advertisng it a few months ago. As for FIXING the problem - these same lenders that made huge amounts selling their loans should have to eat a little CROW and modify the terms to what they originally approved the borrower at and if then the people can't pay then they can foreclose.

Posted By: movie43142 @ 03/13/2008 1:36:50 PM

Comment: I hope people WON'T buy this lying, cheating thief's book! He made enough money to take time to write a book about his serial stealing and expects US to buy it--------JESUS!! This guy is truly the scum of the earth and, sadly, he has plenty of freinds

Posted By: Bob Mtg @ 03/13/2008 1:07:39 PM

Comment: One thing I did forget to mention in regards to sub prime lending. Its a short term fix. A subprime loan is generally a 2 or 3 yr ARM or in the biz..2/28 or 3/27 ARM. Its a fixed rate, so you know what your payment is and you have two or three years to FIX your credit. Why didn't they?.....spend spend spend....stop spending and start fixing the financial picture, please.

Posted By: ploughman @ 03/13/2008 1:07:29 PM

Comment: There's a very strong bent with some people to blame the individual - and only the individual - in things like this. It's as if businesses can be excused for almost anything because of the marketplace, but individuals are expected to have the highest standards. This is a double-standard. I think it'll become clear with this mortgage debacle that lending standards slipped and sales tactics were used to pooh-pooh the risk ("You can always refinance before the payments reset") or get buyers to gloss over the fine print of what were deliberately very complex products. It's also easier to relate to the income-challenged buyer because they wanted to believe they could get into a house and were seeing house values go up to where they thought that owning a home would be permanently unaffordable if they didn't jump in (another high-pressure tactic, BTW). Easier to relate to that than to the flippers, speculators or predatory lenders. The system broke down in this case, and it's a great example of what happens with laissez-faire and gotcha capitalism. Many who will suffer in the nasty recession will be people who didn't have any part in the purchases gone bad and didn't get any benefit from the illusory good times.

Posted By: Bob Mtg @ 03/13/2008 12:52:42 PM

Comment: As a former mortgage person there is one aspect that never gets mentioned. That is, a person gets a subprime loan because they have bad/poorer credit. They have bad credit because they don't pay their bills. Maybe they should take a financial class a grow up. In other words dont spend money on things you don't need first but pay your bills first then with whats left you can do as you see fit. That's called being RESPONSIBLE.

For the lenders that took advantage of people who didnt know better....Yes, lock 'em up. Then again WHY didn't they know better??

Posted By: Bob Mtg @ 03/13/2008 12:50:07 PM

Comment: As a former mortgage person there is one aspect that never gets mentioned. That is, a person gets a subprime loan because they have bad/poorer credit. They have bad credit because they don't pay their bills. Maybe they should take a financial class a grow up. In other words dont spend money on things you don't need first but pay your bills first then with whats left you can do as you see fit. That's called being RESPONSIBLE.

For the lenders that took advantage of people who didnt know better....Yes, lock 'em up. Then again WHY didn't they know better??

Posted By: timlockard @ 03/13/2008 12:48:53 PM

Comment: Mr. Bitner says his company "did it's best, but deferred to the standards set by the industry behemoths". Please. Just one more person cashing in and failing to acknowledge any accountability. That's a pathetic attempt to justify the high six figure income that he made "deferring" to the judgment of the industry which he readily admitted was poor. Go ahead and buy his book. Let's make sure he can cash in on that too. I'd hate to see him have to earn an honest dollar in his life.
Don't get me wrong, though. This isn't solely a problem of the greedy subprime lender or the evil mortgage broker. John Q. Public who signed the mortgage is equally to blame. We, as Americans, have become regrettably poor decision makers who lack basic accountability and increasingly rely on the government to legislate common sense to us.

Posted By: trink @ 03/13/2008 12:42:37 PM

Comment: Yeah, well it's easy to issue commentary from "on high"...but keep in mind that this country touts that this is the land of the free and that every american has the right to own their own home. So those holding the money and supposedly making the rules that say who gets to qualify for one of those homes turn out to be nothing more than frauds and criminals. Tell me when was the last time someone wanting to buy a home asked their neighbor or pharmacist if they qualified for a home loan.....right...it's the bankers and mortgage specialists that set those standards for lending. We thought that meant that the standards and guidelines they were using to make these life altering decisions were based on accurate information, sound financial advice and God forbid, a modicom of integrity.....but NO....it's all about GREED...and at the expense of so many. Not to mention the domino effect that this crisis is having on so many more industries and individuals. What's really interesting though is how all the experts and those in a position to do something knew what was going on and just sat back on road the wave. Their hands weren't "dirty" so who could fault them for not standing up and doing something. Well, here's the thing........that's all we can do in life that matters is STAND UP.

Posted By: melimel @ 03/13/2008 12:34:16 PM

Comment: I agree that people should be educated about mortgages and other lines of credit. Educated so that they dont get scammed into loans that it is obvious they can not afford to pay back. But isnt that is what these Mortgage brokers are supposed to do. Advise us on what we can afford? It is apparent that they dont in order to convieniently fatten their pockets. Being educated about these "scams" are not the only factors for why people are losing there homes. Its rising prices all around us! ITS THE DOUBLING, TRIPLING COSTS OF GAS, OIL, ELECTRICITY, and not to mention the other neccesities such as food, cloths, day care, etc. This is probably one of the major reasons why home owners are losing their houses and unfortunately there is no "classes" that would prepare society for this. So its not a question whether people are taking responsibilities for their loans, its a question of priority, pay the house or cloth and feed your family?

Posted By: melimel @ 03/13/2008 12:32:38 PM

Comment: I agree that people should be educated about mortgages and other lines of credit. Educated so that they dont get scammed into loans that it is obvious that they can not afford to pay back. But isnt that is what these Mortgage brokers are supposed to do. Advise us on what we can afford? It is apparent that they dont to convieniently fatten their pockets. Being educated about these "scams" are not the only factors for why people are losing there homes. Its rising prices all around us! ITS THE DOUBLING, TRIPLING COSTS OF GAS, OIL, ELECTRICITY, and not to mention the other neccesitys such as food, cloths, day care, etc. This is probably one of the major reasons why home owners are losing their houses. And unfortunately there is no "classes" that would prepare society for this. So its not a question whether people are not taking responsibilities for their loans, its a question of priority, pay the house or cloth and feed your family?

Posted By: mcgrawmike @ 03/13/2008 12:23:52 PM

Comment: Although I agree with comments about the finger pointing and consumers taking control of there own finances, I also believe that we have let our financial institutions turn into legitamate fraud houses that prey on the weak. Whether they are enticing a college freahman with a high interest rate credit card, or writing a loan that they know full well can't be paid; they are worse than doing business with the mob.

They should be closed down and people sent to jail for the fraud they are committing on behalf of their shareholders. They have all turned into something even worse than a common thug.

Posted By: isaidit @ 03/13/2008 12:20:36 PM

Comment: Lets face it-home ownership is no lnoger in the cards for Americans who are not independently wealthy and choose to be single and live in America's coastal states. This guy just helped us delude ourselves and avoid reality, because we prefer to hope and dream, and hear nice things, as oppopsed to facing the facts. Here's another newsflash: having children is unaffordable for those who fit this profile as well. If you do, the outcome for that child will be miserable, despite your best intentions.

Posted By: LostAngels @ 03/13/2008 12:14:31 PM

Comment: DO NOT BUY this jokers book. If you really want to understand how we got here and where we are going, purchase "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by G. Edward Griffin. You will receive a priceless education in inflation, The Federal Reserve, American History, the US Constitution, and the Banksters who control this country of our. It will be the best $20 you ever spent.

Posted By: mcgrawmike @ 03/13/2008 12:07:11 PM

Comment: I agree on both points of finger pointing and that consumers need to take resposibility for their financial situations. But I must state that it is a shame and a sham that we have let our financial institutions turn into these fraud houses that prey on the weak. From enticing a freshman in college with a high rate credit card to the writing of these incredibly stupid loans, these institutions are as bad as doing business with the mob.

I believe that they have perpetrated a huge fraud on consumers and its about time some of them get shut down and thrown in jail because they are no different that a common thug.

Posted By: TakeCharge @ 03/13/2008 11:49:17 AM

Comment: I am so tired of the finger pointing. Consumers need to wake up and take charge of their own finances. It doesn't take a math wizard to look at your paycheck and look at your motgage payment and figure out if you can afford it. It wasn't so long ago that people used credit sparingly (there was a stigma toward borrowing money) and a borrower actually knew how and when they would repay the money. Now, Americans are charging their value meals to Visa with little thought about actually paying for it. High schools should have mandatory classes covering household finances, budgeting, balancing the checkbook and avoiding the use of credit. Our sense of entitlement (which also leads to frivilous lawsuits) and the "everybody's a winner" mentality is going to kill us as a nation. If we as a people need big brother to tell us whether we can pay for something we want to buy, we are a bunch of sheep and vulnerable to being taken over by an enemy. Americans need to wake up and take responsibility for their own actions, be accountable and have some principles. The time to get back on the path that made this nation great is NOW. Pointing the finger at someone else for your troubles is not one of the qualities that made this the most powerful nations in the world. Our presidents are not what made this one of the most powerful nations in the world. It was the ingenuity, work ethic and values of the people.

Posted By: YouCannotTrickMe @ 03/13/2008 11:42:34 AM

Comment: Only in America. Some one can rip you off , then brag about it and then make you pay again with your taxes.

Posted By: TakeCharge @ 03/13/2008 11:38:28 AM

Comment: In my opinion, a major part of this problem comes from consumer ignorance and our materialistic society that teaches that you can have it all - even if you haven't earned it. It wasn't so long ago that people used credit only when critically necessary - and they had a plan on how and when they would repay the loan. Now, Americans charge their value meals to Visa with little or no thought of actually paying for it. There should be mandatory high school classes that cover household budgeting, using credit wisely, income vs. expenses, and avoiding debt. People with basic math skills can look at their paycheck and look at their mortgage payment and figure out whether they can afford it. Wake up, America! If we as a people are actually too stupid to figure out our own personal finances, we are in big trouble as a nation and are very vulnerable to being taken over. We used to be accountable and principaled and now look for big brother to protect us from ourselves or look for an opportunity to sue someone over something frivilous to make a buck. The sense of entitlement and "everyone's a winner" is going to kill us as a nation.

Posted By: newsweekbluesweek @ 03/13/2008 11:20:28 AM

Comment: Only 8 years after the dot com bubble we are in the same boat again. Nothing has changed. All the stock brokers left Wall St and went into the mortgage business. Why? Because of the fees. Do you know how much money 1 loan makes with fees, commissions and secondary sale? Very lucrative. More lucrative than stocks. "Mortgage Lenders Need More Oversight: Paulson" . <----fire him.

Posted By: newsweekbluesweek @ 03/13/2008 11:16:45 AM

Comment: What is this in the news today? $15,000 rebate check? Where is this money going to come from now? Fannie Mae reports that home values have another 2/3's to slide before recovering. Do you know how many people are going to be stuck paying a mortgage that is much higher than the value of their house? Our government is so out of touch with Americans it is scary. People have the power for change.

Posted By: Holly Garfield @ 03/13/2008 10:36:52 AM

Comment: There is a saying that sewage doesn't flow uphill. The problems here started at the top. The topmost entity is the government failing to regulate the industry as a whole. This is changing as this article is being written and read. The next step is the corporate boardroom and corner office. We have seen the downfall of several major CEOs. Unfortunately, the problems will persist long after the solutions are executed. The policies and environments in this article only existed because the company management created and encouraged them. I won't put too much blame on the brokers who were trying to make a living. Some blame belongs there, but the bulk lies in the top management who were knowlingly violating long term financial principles to make short term profits before they got out and the whole system collapsed. Alan Greenspan tried to deregulate a critical industry, allowing corporate greed to overcome sound fiscal policy. This allowed the CEOs who made bundles of money before the collapse to get in control of the industry. Congress needs to limit the power of the Fed chairman position so that one man cannot make the policy changes which caused this problem unilaterally. Then we need the government to get back control of the financial industry to the point where the abuses that caused today's problems can't happen again. Even after all this happens we will need to work through the damage until it can be written off the books, and that will take a while.

Posted By: jco110 @ 03/13/2008 10:20:03 AM

Comment: Many states have gone to requiring orignators to go through a back ground check, take compliance classes, and continuing education to be able to originate loans in that state. This is good for those of us still in the industry because the "shady" brokers won't be able to continue to do business. The problem is that these regulations at this point only apply to brokers, not direct lenders and banks. If they want to regulate the industry, I am all for it, just make everyone play by the same rules.

Posted By: tripp529 @ 03/13/2008 9:04:28 AM

Comment: The over appraisal of real estate has hit the economy very hard and has put home ownership out of the reach of most people who do not already own homes. Real estate is massively overvalued and the fed is trying valiantly to prop up these massively overvalued properties, to what end ? The inevitiable outcome will be an extended recession possibly a depression if the value of these properties are not allowed to seek a natural equilibrium. Anybody with a tenth grade education knows that real estate values cannot continue to double and triple every 10 years without spurring a tremendous jolt of inflation to the economy. There are only two paths to take here and they are either the cost of real estate must come down or wages and prices of all other goods must increase, there are no other solutions to this problem.

Posted By: newsweekbluesweek @ 03/13/2008 8:29:47 AM

Comment: Ben Shalom should be fired. The fed should be abolished. The currency should be tied back to gold. The mortgage market should be bank regulated and fees should be standardized. Mortgage approval and declination should no longer allow modifications and everyone in the mortgage industry should be licensed, background checked and subject to continued education and ethics training. Get the riff raff out!

Posted By: newsweekbluesweek @ 03/13/2008 8:20:11 AM

Comment: You think the mortgage mess is bad now? Through FHA loans, which is the only thing keeping most mortgage companies alive right now, our government is going to become the largest landlord in history. It is a further scapegoat for a broken system. Fannie Mae is going to go bust and inflation is going to explode. Everyone should stop paying their mortgage. The government is going to have to bail everyone out.

Posted By: newsweekbluesweek @ 03/13/2008 8:15:28 AM

Comment: Comps on appraisals are totally subjective. How many times have mortgage bankers told the appraiser they need a certain value to get business? How is a busted borrower charged 2 pts in the grill and 2pts on the back in commissions when they can barely make the new mortgage payments? This system is broken, period. Read the blogs and horror stories. Let the banks fail and let everyone learn a painful lesson.

Posted By: newsweekbluesweek @ 03/13/2008 8:11:07 AM

Comment: Why are stock brokers required to finger printed and pass an exam when mortgage brokers and bankers are not? How do convicted felons remain in mortgage companies? How are loan officers allowed to cut and paste client signatures on disclosures? How do underwriters forge w-2's and other income related documents? Tough questions that need to be addressed.

Posted By: newsweekbluesweek @ 03/13/2008 8:07:15 AM

Comment: While we throw billions of dollars into the credit market we still have not fixed the mortgage process. Lenders basically allowed all people to get loans, regardless of experience to pay or credit history. Stated Loans, Liar Loans, No doc loans it is all the same. This boils down to greed and lack of oversight by federal and state regulators. All of us inside the industry knew this was going to happen...it was just a question of when.
Wh

Posted By: MsCjay @ 03/12/2008 11:45:38 PM

Comment: I've been in the mortgage lending business for 10 years, the past 5 as a Compliance auditor. I found myself angry and disgusted by the so called "stated" income loans that clearly were fraudulent loans. I took a Fraud class and it scared me as it should have many others. How many Loan Officers actually read and explain the Declarations on the loan application? Does anyone explain to the appliant that by providing false information and signing the application is perjury? Of course not, why risk making 3 points on the backend? After 10 years I've decided to leave the business and do something that doesn't make me feel so grimey at the end of the day.

Posted By: appraiser1 @ 03/12/2008 8:14:28 PM

Comment: I have been in the industry as an appraiser for 14 years. I started with doing subprime loan appraisals in the mid to late 90's and was lucky to get out of that sector with better clients in '98. Mr. Bitner who should be placed near the top of the guilty list is right in one aspect. Appraisal industry reform! It breaks down like this. FOR THE MOST PART, an appraiser has a client being the Mortgage Co. The Mortgage Co has a client being the realtor. The buyer goes to a realtor in a new town wanting to buy a house. That realtor is compensated at a percentage of the overall sales price. Do you really think this realtor wants this buyer to get the best deal possible? No he/she wants their buyer to pay the most so they can make the most in the end. The realtor takes their client to the Mortgage Co because the buyer is new to town not knowing anyone and is relying on the realtor to lead them down the road. This mortgage Co. loves the realtors repeat business and will do anything to keep them happy. SUCH AS NOT USING CERTAIN APPRAISERS OR FALSIFYING INFORMATION. (I personally have had Mtg brokers, to my face, tell me they can no longer use me because their client the realtor said I was to conservative.) Anyway, you have a mortgage broker twisting the arm of the appraiser because they have the realtor twisting their arm. Remember no one gets paid if the appraisal "breaks" the deal. The Mortgage Broker could care less what happens in the end because they are selling the note to an investor. The buyer could care less because they just love this house and there is no other house they could love as much. There have been times when I tell a perspective buyer they are overpaying and they argue with me. I have saved people thousands of dollars with an appraised value below the contract price and not a one of them ever called and said thanks.

The fix is to hold the appraiser more accountable! When an underwriter gets an inflated appraisal they should black listed them and turn them in to the state. I hate to say this because it would change the way I have supported my family for 14 years but the appraisal order should NOT come from the mortgage broker!

In my opinion EVERYONE is to blame from the realtor all the way down to the ignorant buyer. I tell all my friends buying a home to go to each and every inspection. Ask questions, review the appraisal for themselves, hire your own home inspector and pay them yourself. Tell your realtor you want the best deal and it is their job to look out for their best interest.

Posted By: appraiser1 @ 03/12/2008 8:13:31 PM

Comment: I have been in the industry as an appraiser for 14 years. I started with doing subprime loan appraisals in the mid to late 90's and was lucky to get out of that sector with better clients in '98. Mr. Bitner who should be placed near the top of the guilty list is right in one aspect. Appraisal industry reform! It breaks down like this. FOR THE MOST PART, an appraiser has a client being the Mortgage Co. The Mortgage Co has a client being the realtor. The buyer goes to a realtor in a new town wanting to buy a house. That realtor is compensated at a percentage of the overall sales price. Do you really think this realtor wants this buyer to get the best deal possible? No he/she wants their buyer to pay the most so they can make the most in the end. The realtor takes their client to the Mortgage Co because the buyer is new to town not knowing anyone and is relying on the realtor to lead them down the road. This mortgage Co. loves the realtors repeat business and will do anything to keep them happy. SUCH AS NOT USING CERTAIN APPRAISERS OR FALSIFYING INFORMATION. (I personally have had Mtg brokers, to my face, tell me they can no longer use me because their client the realtor said I was to conservative.) Anyway, you have a mortgage broker twisting the arm of the appraiser because they have the realtor twisting their arm. Remember no one gets paid if the appraisal "breaks" the deal. The Mortgage Broker could care less what happens in the end because they are selling the note to an investor. The buyer could care less because they just love this house and there is no other house they could love as much. There have been times when I tell a perspective buyer they are overpaying and they argue with me. I have saved people thousands of dollars with an appraised value below the contract price and not a one of them ever called and said thanks.

The fix is to hold the appraiser more accountable! When an underwriter gets an inflated appraisal they should black listed them and turn them in to the state. I hate to say this because it would change the way I have supported my family for 14 years but the appraisal order should NOT come from the mortgage broker!

In my opinion EVERYONE is to blame from the realtor all the way down to the ignorant buyer. I tell all my friends buying a home to go to each and every inspection. Ask questions, review the appraisal for themselves, hire your own home inspector and pay them yourself. Tell your realtor you want the best deal and it is their job to look out for their best interest.

Posted By: tas525 @ 03/12/2008 7:57:12 PM

Comment: Trust me the borrowers are at fault too. I know alot of people who were told do not take those loans or that if they did and the rate changed they would not be able to afford the house which means you can't afford this house go find one you can. Well instead of doing that they went to another lender or another bank who would just give them the loan. Now they are crying people need to stop living higher than they earn. This is crazy. Next the credit cards are going to have trouble because alot of people have over spent on those thinking their home vaule is a backup in case I have trouble. Well guess what were in a slum again and the extra value is gone for awhile so now what. Blame the credit card companies? They buy the stuff they can't afford and blame everyone else. I know some people have issues they can't control but lets get real most of these people are just guilty of overspending and greed . I have seen many people get their credit fixed in order to buy thier so called dream home and then two weeks before it closes they go out and buy a brand new car with a big new payment with their shiny new credit and then act like they don't know why the leander won't give them a loan after all you fixed my credit it took me a year of paying on time and everything so what if my car and house payment are now more than I earn can't you get me a loan my credit is good now? It's a joke most people are just living way above their means help them out of this no lesson learned they will just rack up debt somewher else. Do not fall for this hype some are victims but sorry most where just guilty of overspending as usual and thats their own fault. Seriously who's fault is it if you buy something that costs as much as a house and then doen't bother to find out what will be happening with it a year or two form now? Trust me they asked the questions about payments to the brokers and would just look right through them when told about the rate changes cause they had to have that house right then and there and of course my neighbor said everything keeps going up so I can always sell at a higher price and make money or refi and lower later or what ever excuse they came up with to avoid the truth that they were buying something they could not afford. Most of them who would get pre qualified would then go out and look at homes above the prequalification. Ask them why and they would say I just dont like anything in my price range or its not in the right neighborhood blah blah blah. No one is happy with just a home they want what they consider their dream home. Well a dream home would't be a dream if you could afford it it now would it . So then if you still had the client you would have to send them back out to find something they could afford. I guess thats why so many people just didn't even bother to sit down with a broker first theywould come in saying I just found my dream home now get me loan fix my credit do do do I just have to have that home.

Posted By: MortgageLender in MI @ 03/12/2008 7:54:00 PM

Comment: Hey Richard, take some of your 6 figure income and help the people you lied to. I am a legitimate MORTGAGE BANKER whose reputation you have damaged. I did not participate in the sub prime business. I hope your book fails miserably. To everyone else, BOYCOTT THIS BOOK!

Posted By: Dealmaker44 @ 03/12/2008 7:34:34 PM

Comment: If the mortgage broker doesn't lie or mislead, the fault IS with the buyer, problem is the regulations are to leniant and it is too easy for mortgage brokers and mortgage agents to lie and mislead! The commissions are larger than the consequence!

Posted By: Dealmaker44 @ 03/12/2008 7:28:38 PM

Comment: The first point of contact is with a Mortgage broker. The last contact is with a mortgage broker. What happens in between. The broker lies, cheats, tells stories, falsifies documents, then tells there customer (you) that the loan program they are selling you is good. HELPING HAND, If the mortgage broker doesn't get the loan funded, the realtor, and the investor who sells the loan DONT MAKE ANY MONEY. Putting it on the broker is where the responsibility lies. Just like what mortgage brokers do ----- Lie!
Oh yeah, your comment that prepayment penalties is what locked the buyer in to the loan is another broker lie...The only thing a prepayment penalty does is protect the mortgage brokers commission. If you have one on your loan, its so you dont refinance the "Large Commission" the broker sold the buyer. Because if you did the broker is "charged back" a large percentage of there commish!!!

Posted By: HelpingHand @ 03/12/2008 7:23:38 PM

Comment: I have been a Loan Officer and Broker about 20 years. The "tricks " were taught to us by the own employees. Don't do it like this, do it like that. If a Lender beliveved tha a department manager at K Mart made $ 100,000 a year, they need to look in the mirror. I have been putting people with some problem credit into FHA loans for years. You know, a 30 year " true " fixed rate around 6 %, no credit score needed, but need to show what you earn. Up to 100 %. They have been around since 1962. Does Mr Lender offer any explanation about prepayment penalties that locked their " customers " into higher rates or pay big money to get out ? He' s just full of crap. Follow the money: The Realtor got 3 - 5 % of the loan amount. Mr Lender made 2 - 3 % when he sold it to Wall Street. Me, I made about 1% for doing the work on the deal. My Appraiser: $ 300. The " Bigshots " should take some of the money they " cashed out " and help the people they took it from. I usually like to get kissed first, then... We should be glad he's just writing books now, instead of making people lose their homes.

Posted By: tas525 @ 03/12/2008 7:23:37 PM

Comment: Trust me buyers are at fault also. I know many people who were told not to do that type of loan. Doing so would get them into trouble by many brokers. They were told the rates would change and they would not be able to afford the home they wanted. They would just go somewhere else and get the loan. Part of the problem is no one wants to be told they can't afford it anymore they lease a car they can't afford to buy they buy goods they can't afford on a credit card and then they started using the same type of system to buy a home. They all wanted better instead of being happy with what they had and now we will all pay the price. Nothing will change until people wake up and accept what they have is what they can afford unless they make more money and stop living on credit. It's not the lenders fault you all want what you can not afford and are willing to risk everything for it. Trust me credit card companys are the next to fall there is not a place to get the extra money for the millions of people who have lived above their means anymore now that they sucked it out of the realestate market and it they will be screaming at the banks again over the failed credit card industry must be their fault must be the presidents fault must be the banks fault everyone but theirs. Hey but I got a really cool new phone wanna see it. What a joke.

Posted By: bigjack75 @ 03/12/2008 7:13:28 PM

Comment: why aren't more people with the power to help to homeowners that are in foreclosure or coming out of the 2/28s & 3/27s, keep in mind that California, Texas & Florida have the most homeowners that are going to loose their AMERICAN DREAM of homeownership. Last December I contacted Congressman Gary Miller, Senators Boxer and Feinsiein, I also sent amessage to several important people in the business who I presented my idea and not one of these would give me any comments that I was crazy or my plan couldnot work. At that time my state of California had more then 240,000 homeowners in the above categories and would start the new year with approximately 30,000 homeowners each month falling into the above categorys, My proposal was for the Governor of California to enact a Cease and Desist Order to all lenders and servicers and stop all foreclosures and help the homeowners that would be having an increase of their Interest Rate of approximately 5% on an average. I had mentioned to all of the people that I sent my idea of forming a TASK FORCE using members of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers and Bankers, the California Mortgage Association this numbers approximately 15,000 people in the lending industry, also I would like to mention that California's Governor has come out with a program to retrain approximately 15,000 people from the lending industry, I am 74 and have been in the industry since 1969, what can I be retrained for. Getting back to my forming a TASK FORCE to help the taxpayers that are in the above category and at the same time we can establish which loan officers were responsible for these particular loans and start our program for all Loan Officers in the State of California to pass a knowledge test and background check so that all of the bad apples are thrown out of the big basket and at the same time it can be determined which borrowers are coming out of the 2/28s and 3/27s and help them to have a better loan. We now have some help with FHA on their new lending guidelines. I would like to mention that I started Underwriting Loans for FHLMC in 1975 and that i am Approved by FHA as a Underwriter also approved as a Processor/Underwriter by the Department of Veteran Affairs and on the good guy list for CAL-VET> my email is contactjackcard@juno.com, my fax is (949)859-1596, or call me at (949)859-1515.

Posted By: HelpingHand @ 03/12/2008 7:12:39 PM

Comment: I have been a mortgage broker for 20 years. The " tricks " he claims were taught to Loan Officers by their own reresentatives. Don't do it like this, do it like this. What about pre-payment penalties ? These are what locked the borrowers into these bad loans ? I was able to take most of my borrowers and put them in a loan from FHA. Remember Them ? No credit score requirement, but you need to prove your income. If a Lender believes that a Department Manager at K Mart makes $ 100,000, then they need to look in the mirror. As the Loan Officer, I usually made 1 % on the deal. The Realtor made 3 - 5 % and when the Lender resold the loan to Wall Street, they also made 2 - 3 % of the loan amount. My Appraiser made $ 300. Putting it the Brokers and Appraisers is just weak. Why doesn't he take the money he made when he cashed out and help some of the people he made it from ? I wonder how these people sleep at night ?

Posted By: Dealmaker44 @ 03/12/2008 7:09:02 PM

Comment: He is the epitomy of greasy lying salesman....it seems all mortgage brokers are though...they are worse than used car salesman!!!

Posted By: kika @ 03/12/2008 7:05:45 PM

Comment: What a complete joke. The title of his book should be called "I am a greedy jerk and a snitch." Stop acting like you're a good guy when you are really not!

Posted By: kika @ 03/12/2008 7:01:15 PM

Comment: What a complete joke. What is the purpose of his book anyway? His title should be called"I am a greedy jerk and a snitch and trying to make more money because now, I don't know what to do with my life." Don't try be a good guy when you're really not!

Posted By: DAD LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT! @ 03/12/2008 6:58:13 PM

Comment: I HAVE NO IDEA IF THIS GUY IS TELLING THE TRUTH OR NOT. I DO KNOW THAT IN NOV OF 2007 MY HOME WAS APPRAISED BY GMAC MORTGAGE FOR 195,000.00- BUT IN FEB OF 2008 GMAC APPRAISED MY HOME FOR 76,000.00- I HAVE ALL THE PAPER WORK FROM BOTH APPRAISALS. THEY BASICALLY SCREWED ME AND MY WIFE AND KIDS OVER. WE WERE IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING TO A NEW TOWN THAT WE WORK AT, NOW BECAUSE OF GMAC MORTGAGE WE HAVE HAD TO GO INTO A DEBT REDUCTION PLAN. THEY HAVE SCREWED OUR CREDIT UP. OUR MORTGAGE IS NOT A ARM RATE MORTGAGE, IT IS A FIXED RATE. I PERSONALLY HOPE THAT BEFORE ALL OF THIS IS SAID AND DONE THAT GMAC HAS TO CLOSE THEIR DOORS. I HAVE THIS THOUGHT EVERYTIME I LOOK INTO MY KIDS FACES.

Posted By: rybechea @ 03/12/2008 6:53:14 PM

Comment: I worked in this industry for 22 years as a mortgage underwriter. I was one of those who had to decide which loan would repay and which one's wouldn't. Let me tell you...everyone wanted to make these loans. The broker, originator, lender and investor were all pushing for "yes". If the underwriter wouldn't sign, their manager would. It can't be pinned on any one person, but this much is very true....follow the money, it will lead you to the answers. The people profiting from these transactions, ALL Sales personnel should be licensed and accountable. The floating salesperson has been around long before this hit the fan. They stay until they get found out and they move on to the next company.

Posted By: si11ybear02 @ 03/12/2008 6:52:39 PM

Comment: I have worked for a lender through the mortgage boom and current crisis and agree with much of what he's saying, but what undermines the whole thing is that he seems to point the finger at everyone but himself. If he was so insistant on following the letter of the law on mortgage underwriting, then his company would not have gone belly-up. I know people in his position who try to avoid doing anything overtly illegal themselves but will turn their head when someone else in the transaction does. It's the lack of scruples that leads a purchase down the road of foreclosure. A solid company who does not break the rules and has integrity will make it through the current market. As a lender, he is just as guilty as the rest and perhaps even more so than brokers. We lenders know who the "shady" ones are and still keep them in business. We see the things that will tell us whether the borrower is actually qualified to maintain their loan but if it meets the minimum guidelines then it's money in the bank.
This guy is like every other lender, broker, agent, appraiser, etc in this game: out to make a quick buck. Now real estate isn't an option, why not write a book claiming to "expose" the sinister underbelly of the subprime mortgage crisis....but fail to take responsibility at the same time. I see his motives and can read between the lines.

Posted By: Dealmaker44 @ 03/12/2008 6:52:10 PM

Comment: If you look at the foreclosures, most of them tend to be from ARMS and Interest only arms on the subprime side. But don't forget about the "A" credit buyer or FTB who also was sold an ARM or interest only loan. The blame lies in two places: the entire mortgage industry (Banks and Financial Institutions) for allowing such horrible mortgages. Then: Greedy mortgage brokers who were paid huge rebates for these CRAZY loans. They sold them to these people with a "car-salesman-like" silver tongue. Shame on the brokers...they need to be regulated more and finally held accountable for there swindling tactics to improve there paychecks...By the way..Most of those greasy lying mortgage brokers that made there living off these crack mortgages have now ascended to the position of "Car Salesman" at there local dealership since they can't make anymore money lying to good hardworking homebuyers anymore!!!

Posted By: loraineclabaugh @ 03/12/2008 6:49:46 PM

Comment: After going through our "vetted" paperwork we realized that the house was appraised as 15 blocks over in a nice area, classified as a townhome instead of a upstairs unit, square footage was over actual and our income was wrong. Our loans were supposed to have been vetted by the city in which we bought as a first time buyer program. Fat lot of good that did us! We just believed what they were telling us and hoped that we might be able to get into something before everything was gone and too costly. Everyone wants to hang the people who took out more than they could afford, but what about the people who told them they could and misrepresented just about everything in the process? My foreclosure is imminent and my loan broker is in the tropical islands. I will now be in debt for a house that I don't own and WILL NEVER be able to own. Welcome to the world of life lived good off the backs of the poor.

Posted By: loriclabaugh @ 03/12/2008 6:49:01 PM

Comment: After going through our "vetted" paperwork we realized that the house was appraised as 15 blocks over in a nice area, classified as a townhome instead of a upstairs unit, square footage was over actual and our income was wrong. Our loans were supposed to have been vetted by the city in which we bought as a first time buyer program. Fat lot of good that did us! We just believed what they were telling us and hoped that we might be able to get into something before everything was gone and too costly. Everyone wants to hang the people who took out more than they could afford, but what about the people who told them they could and misrepresented just about everything in the process? My foreclosure is imminent and my loan broker is in the tropical islands. I will now be in debt for a house that I don't own and WILL NEVER be able to own. Welcome to the world of life lived good off the backs of the poor.

Posted By: HotInAZ @ 03/12/2008 6:34:42 PM

Comment: This is a classic "tell-all"story to manipulate the media to sell his book. This guy apparently was smart enough to "cash-out" of the subprime business in 2005 when the industry was at its peak. And now he's trying to "cash-in" as an apparent industry insider to earn more money. The bigger point is that the bulk of today's sub prime loan defaults were originated in 2005 or earlier when he was apparently at the helm of his sub prime company. It sounds to me that he was all to happy to book these highly profitable loans for sale on Wall Street when the money was flowing. All the while knowing that a good portion of the loans he his company were funding & selling were bogus. He knew exactly when it was right to get out before the @%*^ hit the fan. I call that getting away with murder.

Posted By: Goldwing00 @ 03/12/2008 6:32:50 PM

Comment: Two of the first three posters want to hang the author. why? As he clearly stated, when he was in the business, he used the most basic lending criteria there is: ability to repay. As a retired lender, I saw the boom-bust of the mobile home finance industry, the boom-bust of the S & L's, and the boom-bust of farm lending. What all of these, and now the sub-prime lending situation, have in common is that too many lenders ignored the basic rules.

Let's all hope that the liberal folks in Washington don't just cave in and let the government "help" with my tax dollars again.

Posted By: tmulvihill @ 03/12/2008 6:25:52 PM

Comment: It is so easy to blast the mortgage brokers and their tactics. But as subprime lenders were concerned we had to meet every condition required by the bank. He talks of the appraisers being at fault and does not mention that the appraisal must pass an appraisal review with the lender. Countrywide, Wamu, Wells Fargo and the list goed on and on. These programs put out by the banks and lenders made it incredible easy for someone to get a mortgage at 100% financing. Look at the A paper market. These banks offer a loan called an option arm which to me should be illegal if not than make the consumer go to a couple of classes before they take this loan. This loan offers 4 methods of payment every month. 15 and 30 yr fixed, interest only and finally 1.25%. Can you imagine this. It is a negative amortorization loan, meaning you are not paying any principle, and not even close to the interst due on the loan. So someone who takes this loan of $250,000 after 1 year now owes $263,000.00 at the end of the year. They owe more than they startrd out with and all these federally chartered banks put a 3 year prepayment penalty. There is no doubt there are many brokers who want to cash in but there are many of us who want to do the right thing. Finally, when the house was voting on the bill in November I beleive, one congressman actually spoke about this option arm loan and indicated what a beautiful thing it was, frightening. Tell that to the kids who put 20% down on their $700,000.00 in California with help from family.. To put into prosective with a 30 year fixed rate at 6.5% is $3,160.00 2nd option just pay the 1.25% and that comes to $1,666.00. Imagine. Thats $18,000.00 over 12 months. You just hope and pray they pay atleast the interest only amount. Total up the forclosures on this loan, you will be shocked

Posted By: dead @ 03/12/2008 6:19:30 PM

Comment: the funny thing about all this i think my loan was sold to 4 different companys, i had good credit, what i didnt see comming was raising property tax 65% in a year a double increase in insurence, the house was worth about 400.000 but the crooks in the citys and states raise your taxes so high and your insurence, my payment increased double in texas ,a month, look at the north padre island homes around corpus christi texas, they stole our home from us this way, they said the values had increased because other people with homes like ours same square fottoge sold for double what paid for our home so our taxes got raised because other people we paying insane price for middle class homes, now everone is loosing there homes like me, a disabled vet who saved his whole life for a nice home when he retired, and its all gone, i was sick from service related injuries, fell behind and they would not work with me at all, instead they raised my taxes and took my home, so i say all the crooks are getting whats comming to them, the city loosing people because they raised the taxes so high, the insurence companys loosing, because people loosing their homes, the banks like bank of america for beeing greedy, giving risky loans, thanks to all of you i am now poor and lost the american dream, which i served proudly in the us navy for 25 years . only to return from years serving on deployments missing childerns birthdays, to be put out in the cold , i hope you all get the rewards you have comming to you, all the crooks involved in this mess.

Posted By: hprejean @ 03/12/2008 6:11:53 PM

Comment: This sounds like an admission of guilt, maybe the FBI should just slap the cuffs on this guy and take him away! Hey, in 1997 I purchased my home using a Subprime mortgage. I was my own greedy subprime broker at the time and I gave myself the most outragiously low rate of 16.9%. Actually, this was the highest rate that I have every given out since. "A" paper rates were about 7.5% at the time. But you know something, I wanted my first home so bad that I would have taken a rate of 29.9%. I did not care because I knew that I could make the payments. Well, after 12 months were up along with the prepayment penalty that I gave myself, I refinanced into one of these bad neg-am loans at 3.95%. Lets move forward to 2008, I still own the same home and over 3 million in Real Estate equity. People lose their homes for a lot of reasons but I really doubt that it was all of their brokers fault. I just thought that I would share my subprime success story...

Posted By: crazydavy @ 03/12/2008 6:10:33 PM

Comment: This is nothing new. In the mid 90's I sold mobile homes and personally saw fellow employees use these same tricks, fake W2, dead relative SS#, grandmother that is on her death bed finances it for her grandkids. Before that it was the used car dealers. The finance companys in both of these industries almost went belly up before they started having more strenuent follow up policies, to make sure they were not being lied to. 3 years ago it was easier for me to finance my house then to finance my truck, thats why I bought when I did. Untill the ones who personally falsefied the paperwork and the buyers who know their paperwork was falsefied are held accountable the problem will persist, wether it is mobile homes, cars or new homes.

Posted By: home4rent @ 03/12/2008 6:10:27 PM

Comment: Geeze, this guy is STILL trying to bilk the public out of every dollar he can! He's not pushing his book because he suddenly grew a conscience! He's doing it to make MORE money. This guy is a big sleeze and anyone who buys his book should have their head examined! He had plenty of time to "help" solve this crisis, but instead he rode it out as long as he could and until he found a new angle. If he's trying to now "help", let him take some of those 6 figures he earned and bail out some of these home mortgagees.

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