When you come through a financial meltdown, one of the pitfalls is to blame yourself. If your thoughts continually turn to, “If only I had…” you are playing a losing game. Truth be told, there is plenty of blame to spread around.
Thirty years ago I applied for a mortgage and heard phrases such as,”The underwriters will never go for that” or “If you can make a downpayment of $X and show last year’s income tax statement, the underwriters will approve it.” About 3 years ago, I bought a house and heard things like, “If you aren’t sure, just estimate your income and we’ll see what they say.” No income statement, just tell us what you make and get a “stated Loan”. HUH? This meant that you could no longer rely on the experts in your bank to assess your financial situation and refuse to lend the money if you couldn’t repay it. Does that make any kind of sense to you? Would you lend anyone $100,000 and not ask to see their income tax statement?
If this is the first that you have heard about this, it’s because those involved are doing everything they can to shift the blame. At the center of this change in lending is the Community Reinvestment Act. I think if you will read this post on IBDeditorials.com (written by Investor’s Business Daily) you will find it highly informative.
Then, put the ‘blame game’ to bed and get on with your life. We don’t have time for energy wasting exploits. We have strategies to develop.
Tags: Add new tag, blame, CRA, mortgage crisis
