House of Cards: How the Subprime Mess Hit Poor Immigrant Groups

[reaganaut1]

Are these some of the people that Bush and Paulson want to bail out (admittedly under Democratic pressure)? Many of the "homeowners" we are supposed to feel sorry for are liars and speculators "He told us that a house easily would appreciate $100,000 in a year".

[Tax-chick]

It appears they were snookered. Oh, well. Learn something, y’all.

[darkwing104]

Damn, how in God's name did they secure such loans?

There is so much more to this story.

[Steely Tom]

I wonder what percentage of these “subprime loans” (isn’t that a far nicer-sounding term than “high-risk loans”) went to illegal immigrants?

[Leisler]

Yeah, right. These people will drive 50 miles to save a buck on a bag of rice, but they thought they could buy the half a mil house.

[MHT]

I heard that the bailout is going to be very selective. You have to have a perfect mortgage payment record and proof that you cannot pay the higher rates. Proof of employment and income is going to be necessary. It’s a government thing so you know that the paperwork is going to be endless. If they start having to justify extensions, etc., they aren’t going to be able to show the right documentation (in spite of their earlier success in duping lenders). They are going to have to show government workers their social security cards, etc.

[Anonymous Rex]

The bailout should specifically not apply to illegals. Having them lose everything they own would be a good way to get them to go home.

[milwguy]

A large number of these ‘homeowners’ were actually part of fraud rings. With no doc morgages being passed out like candy, house flipping was easy money. All you need is a mortgage broker, a clueless menial wage worker, and a sham owner. The sham owner buys the house and with the mortgage broker and cooked appraiser working together, they find the new dummy to offer way more than the sham onwer bought the house or condo for. Of course prices were going up $100k a year, but only as long as the Ponzi scheme could convince dummies to take out mortgages they could not afford, and as long as banks would lend money at low rates with no credit standards. When rates went up and the market slowed, the backlash was sudden and swift. The only difference between the crooks on Wall St who packaged the CDO’s and the ‘minister’ who arranged the mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them is the Wall St types made the most moeny and the ‘minister’ probably is not setting up mortgages anymore. Both are crooks in my book.

[NeoCaveman]

Maybe I’m a really bad person for saying it, but here it goes:

This reminds me of the Albanian pyramid scheme. People wondered how so many people could be fooled but in fact no one was fooled. They were all in on the scam, figuring they’d profit under the “greater fool” theory.

[Tax-chick]

Weak credit and low wages weren't barriers, Ms. Costa recalls.

The information that they already had a poor credit history suggests that they missed the connection between borrowing money and paying it back.

Just philosophizing here ... I wonder if this attitude has anything to do with the outrageous inflation and other economic stupidity typical of South American countries. I also wonder whether their church is the "prosperity gospel" sort, leading them to believe that church members were immune to financial losses.

[Gay State Conservative]

Ms. Costa, the housekeeper, secured a $713,000 sub-prime mortgage. In another instance, a Brazilian baby sitter borrowed $495,000.

Geeze...although I've never applied for one I'm not at all certain that I could qualify for a $700K mortgage.And I'm no housekeeper,either.

[o_zarkman44]

Probably learning English would be a good start to understanding what is beneficial and what is a rip off.

[arderkrag]

I heard that the bailout is going to be very selective.

There should be no bail out.

[Wagonboy]

The markets can and should correct this mess swiftly and efficiently if left unmolested by meddling socialists in D.C. If the Nanny State assumes too much more control of the housing and finance markets it will be all but impossible for entry level home buyers to step in to the game. And the market will rot from the bottom up. -Wb

[cinives]

Oh, haven’t you heard ? It’s entirely voluntary by the lender - as long as you pretend not to see the government gun pointed at your back.

[Justa]

The article is not sourced. You should at least list the author, publisher and a link to the article.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

“Weak credit and low wages weren’t barriers”....Oh really?...apparently brains weren’t barriers either!

[lewislynn]

Are these some of the people that Bush and Paulson want to bail out (admittedly under Democratic pressure)?

Don't let them fool you, bailouts are for the lenders, not the borrowers.

[jjones9853]

My wife and I make real good money, even if we did qualify for a $700K mortgage there is no way we could make those payments!

[Condor51]

Ms. Costa, the housekeeper, secured a $713,000 sub-prime mortgage.

$713,000?!?

This isn't just criminal - its criminally STOO-PID^™ on the Housekeeper's part.

This is what happens when we're invaded by people with a 3rd grade, 3rd World education and think money grows on trees in the USA.

And I don't give a rat's ___ if she was scammed on the $100K/yr appreciation bs. Borrowing $713K, unfreaking believable, how do you even make the 1st payment????