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>Due diligence is impossible when being lied to, isn't it? I don't think you know what Predatory lending really means. Nothing in your article says anything ab
by clarky07 13y ago
>Due diligence is impossible when being lied to, isn't it? I don't think you know what Predatory lending really means.
Nothing in your article says anything about lying. The main idea is - "imposing unfair and abusive loan terms on borrowers."
The main practices included adjustable rate mortgages that relied on housing prices to continue going up. People took out loans that they could just barely afford at the low intro rate hoping to either sell or refinance after the prices went up.
Other practices included simply offering bigger mortgages than people could afford.
Basically the banks and the borrowers were both greedy and wrongly assumed that house prices would continue to go up. When they didn't, both parties got screwed. The borrowers got foreclosed, and the banks lost a lot of money on the houses they got back.
Lots of people lost a lot of money in the housing crisis (me included sadly), but that doesn't mean they were victims, and it doesn't mean they had to be foreclosed on. If you lost your job and couldn't find another one, that's one thing. If you simply couldn't afford the loan you took out, that's on you. I know the loan docs include lots of pages, but when you are borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars reading them is probably a good idea. I'm pretty sure even the predatory lending docs still included the % interest, amount borrowed, monthly payments, etc.