Gee how terrible of us to expect people to actually pay their bills. How utterly predatory of us.
While I agree, I certainly condemn the granting of mortgages to individuals with no real chance of ever being able to pay off their mortgages! Lenders (with guv'mint blessings) have financed homes at 125% of value with "Teaser Rates" for the first year or so! This sort of scheme only works for the duration of the value bubble then..., the "homeowner" walks away leaving the TAXPAYERS to ultimately "pick up the tab"!
I see numerous "bargains" in housing on the horizon at some point! I've been in these cycles before (unfortunately trying to relocate after a "burst bubble"). It ain't pretty but someone always wins by picking up the pieces! Unfortunately, it was never me.........
All these people who borrowed to the gills a couple of years ago and then took out ARM loans or those interest only loans so they could buy more house than they could actually afford are having to start paying the piper.
The loans were predatory, but George Bush didn't tell people to take out loans like that. No reputable financial person out there that I saw encouraged people to take out loans like that...but folks sure enough did.
I feel for those folks, but you could see it coming a mile away. When I was getting my house, I knew people my age taking out those arm loans because they were assuming they'd only live in their house 5 years. They didn't take into account that the low interest rates would drive the housing prices up and sooner or later the interest rates would go, making it harder to upgrade if you were just able to squeeze into your house in the first place.