Mortgage Fraud: Who is at Fault?

The American Homeowner signed the loan documents with the terms spelled out completely at the closing table. Homeowners willingly gave up their right to read all the terms while they sat at the closing table and did not review the loans terms. Homeowners also have the right to resend the terms of the loan within three days of having signed the documents. Seldom actually resend and few if any read the materials about the loan and choose not to. Why because be blindly believed what the mortgage professionals told us was in the papers we signed.  We wanted the instant gratification of getting out of your problem debt or getting into that new home before the baby is born.

The President and Congress are looking for someone to blame. Wall Street investors are looking for someone to blame and the fact of the matter is; we have someone to blame. Everyone involved.

• We can blame Congress during the Bush Administration for relaxing the rules.
• We can blame Mortgage Lenders for using loan products that were predatory in nature.
• We can blame Wall Street Investors for investing in mortgage pools that were risky.
• We can blame the Realtor and The Real Estate Companies who sold the properties.
• We can blame Loan Officers that sought out unknowledgeable homeowners.
• We can blame Brokers that did not manage their staff.
• We can blame Appraisers for valuing property incorrectly.
• We can blame Closers and Title Companies who didn’t inform the borrowers of what they were signing.
• We can blame everyone involved in the mortgage transaction; however we need to blame the homeowner as well. No one is more qualified to understand your financial situation more than you. It was the homeowners’ responsibility to read and understand the documents presented.

So in the end; who is to blame for this mortgage crisis? American Greed.