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‘Why I can’t get a mortgage’: One man’s tale of woe in the abused middle class
Washington Times ^ | 08/24/2015 | Stephen Moore, Heritage Institute

Posted on 08/24/2015 6:04:06 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Last month I bought a house in Potomac, Md., a trade up on my current home, and was shocked to learn in the ensuing weeks that I couldn’t get a mortgage loan. First, I went to PNC bank. Then Wells Fargo. Then another. Denied. Denied. Denied.

No, I don’t feel entitled to a loan, and the banks have every right not to lend me money. But my tale of woe tells a broader tale of what is going on in the lending industry these days.

All the bankers told me the same thing: “Steve, if you’d walked in our bank eight years ago with this mortgage application, we would have rubber stamped it in five minutes and you would have walked out with a bag of money.” But those were the go-go days of the real estate frenzy when people who worked at McDonald’s could walk into a Countrywide and get a $600,000 mortgage. Back then underwriting standards were tossed out the window.

Now, thanks in part to new federal regulations like Dodd Frank with its anti-predatory lending rules, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme and underwriting standards (for those without federal insurance) are absurdly tight. Here we are with the lowest interest rates in 50 years, but many businesses and aspiring homeowners can’t qualify. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.

My situation was doubly frustrating because I’m making a 25 percent down payment on the house. Researchers have examined huge samples of the portfolio of defaulted loans during the 2007-09 housing crisis. Virtually all of the defaulted loans had a low down payment with many less than 5 percent down thanks to government “affordable housing” mandates.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banks; housing; middleclass; mortgage
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To: Chickensoup

He is probably “legal” but his landscaping crew is probably all illegal. He is more than likely just a common criminal.


41 posted on 08/24/2015 6:26:20 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: MrB

“because you forgot to check one of the “minority” boxes on the application, dummass!”

Bingo.


42 posted on 08/24/2015 6:28:16 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (2016 - Jews for Cruz)
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To: GreyFriar; SeekAndFind; 2ndDivisionVet

LMAO! They can’t WAIT to screw us over - when they’re not trying to kill us off at the VA “hospitals”, they’re trying to either kick us all out onto the streets, or deny us any chance of getting off someone else’s dole.

The yutes are going to see it, and scream even louder - not becuase they’ve earned the benefit by military service, but because they’ve been taught THEY’RE ENTITLED.


43 posted on 08/24/2015 6:28:22 AM PDT by Old Sarge (I prep because DHS and FEMA told me it was a good idea...)
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To: SeekAndFind

” Even more ridiculous, I, Steve Moore, have $300 of unpaid parking tickets. “

If you can afford a 25% down payment you can afford to pay your damn parking tickets. Is this guy 15 years old?


44 posted on 08/24/2015 6:29:11 AM PDT by Junk Silver
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To: SeekAndFind
The irony is that this is Stephen Moore, economist, founder of Club For Growth, a Fellow at the Heritage Institute and the Cato Institute, editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, and contributor at Fox News.

What are the chances that he's been black-listed by the Obama administration, and the banks are using any excuse in his credit past to make life in DC hard for him?

-PJ

45 posted on 08/24/2015 6:29:48 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: Chickensoup

“My guess is that he is working off the books..”
Absolutely and the Miss Utility job is getting him benefits and insurance. He impressed me as a go-getter and I am sure he knew how to work the systems for maximum benefit. What he can’t figure out or get around, no doubt there is a government agency to smooth the way for him.


46 posted on 08/24/2015 6:32:16 AM PDT by ArtDodger
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To: SeekAndFind

The Washington Times needs to cut down on the ads they spam they screen with. It practically kills my browser’s memory every time I go there.

Mr. Moore should’ve been monitoring his credit score long before he was ready to ask for a loan and worked out any issues years before. I hope it was worth saving the $300 on his unpaid parking tickets to miss out on this loan.


47 posted on 08/24/2015 6:33:48 AM PDT by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: Junk Silver

Only the little people pay their parking tickets.


48 posted on 08/24/2015 6:34:30 AM PDT by Tax-chick ("All the time live the truth with love in your heart." ~Fr. Ho Lung)
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To: Political Junkie Too

Why should a guy with that resume have a below average credit score?

Those who can’t do, teach?


49 posted on 08/24/2015 6:35:25 AM PDT by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: SamAdams76

Its irresponsible is to tie the hands of banks and individuals. Let them make their choices

Not to mention using tax dollars to bail out bankers who make poor choices.


50 posted on 08/24/2015 6:36:21 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Wolfie

A 25% downpayment doesn’t sound rubber stamped to me.


51 posted on 08/24/2015 6:37:12 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Ghost of SVR4

Well if you read more of the article he has a low credit score because he has “missed payments”.

I have credit cards and I have no debt with the exception of a home loan. I pay my credit cards off every month.

The banks can forgive low credit scores if there are extenuating circumstances. You are a low risk as you pay your bills and don’t live above your means. Credit scores are based on a few things and don’t take in account people who do not have credit cards.


52 posted on 08/24/2015 6:37:36 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: SeekAndFind

Things have swung to a ridiculous level in the opposite direction. In that he is correct.

Three years ago we applied for a home loan and were told that because we owned our own business we would be subjected to a forensic accounting. It was a grueling and horrible process. The things they asked for were downright silly and consumed a huge amount of time and I was drained.

Ultimately we were approved for the loan but did not accept it. The interest was low and we probably should have used their money, but emotionally I was done. The obnoxiousness of the loan officer was a contributing factor also. Our realtor likes working with him but admitted he had no “bedside manner.”

We bought a less expensive home and paid cash.


53 posted on 08/24/2015 6:41:04 AM PDT by Calpublican (The Republican Party is corrupt!!!!!)
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To: Ghost of SVR4

The credit score system is a measure of the banks ability to make money off you, not your likelihood to pay it back.

Do you know why banks cover fraudulent charges on credit cards? Because then you don’t have standing to sue the banks when someone steals your identity. No loss = no standing.


54 posted on 08/24/2015 6:42:06 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: SeekAndFind

OK so the financial institutions have a nuclear meltdown over bad loans in the past and now this guy is mad because of steps taken to prevent it from happening in the future? Here’s a hint; pay your bills on time and your credit score won’t get dinged.


55 posted on 08/24/2015 6:46:18 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: Ghost of SVR4
I have a low credit score and the reason being is because I don't have any credit cards... The "credit score" thing is a scam.

I've got no cards either, no score at all, and I was too young to vote in 2008. But I have bought several homes and never had to resort to a mortgage.

In my clan, the 11th commandment runs: Don't lend, you can't risk it; and don't borrow, you can't afford it.

If I were to announce at the family table that I was about to apply for a mortgage, they'd react just the same as if I said, "I'm flying to Malmo to wed my penpal Mohammed." They'd wrap me up and ship me to Bellevue.

56 posted on 08/24/2015 6:46:52 AM PDT by Buttons12
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To: Steely Tom

We bought a modest home in 1994, and it will be paid off next year when I retire.

My wife is a homemaker and I make six figures. We live comfortably, which is what it’s all about.


57 posted on 08/24/2015 6:48:27 AM PDT by ought-six (Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)
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To: Mears

bfl


58 posted on 08/24/2015 6:48:50 AM PDT by Mears
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To: GreyFriar
I wonder what affect this has on VA loans for veterans? Not us old guys, but the new crop of vets from Afghanistan and Iraq.

This old guy carried a VA card for 50 years; however, when I went for healthcare, they responded by mail writing, "Only if you served in Iraq or Afghanistan—or if you'd been raped".

≡≡8-O

59 posted on 08/24/2015 6:49:46 AM PDT by Does so (SCOTUS Newbies Will Imperil America...)
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To: GreyFriar

I bought my home with a VA guarantee, and my home will be paid off next year when I retire. We were realistic, and bought a modest home that was affordable. It is the only home we’ve ever owned, and we are quite happy in the town we live in. We are comfortable, which is all that ever mattered to us.


60 posted on 08/24/2015 6:54:17 AM PDT by ought-six (Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)
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