We didn't give them "squatters rights", but we did give countless thousands of Americans a new home to live in for 2 or 3 years, and even paid their closing costs, with some even receiving money at the close of escrow.
I agree owning a home is not a moral question, but teasing someone with one for a few years (knowing they will eventually lose it) borders on cruelty. The CEO got his millions. The lender got his cut, as did the loan officer, appraiser, real estate agent, title insurance company, and escrow company. Do you think any of these parties stopped for a minute to tell the buyers that they probably could not afford the house they were buying? No, they got their easy commission, so why should they worry. Did the buyer think he could really make those rapidly accelerating payments, or was the caught up in a false illusion of the American Dream that was placed like bait in front of him by unethical and greedy corporate America? Did everyone really believe that real estate prices were going to go up for ever? Was it really different this time? Even the credit rating companies got their cut for giving a phony rating to the nearly worthless paper that was sold around the world in the form of CDOs to unsuspecting banks, hedge funds and pension funds. Some of this paper is now worth only 50 cents on the dollar or less. Are you trying to tell me that no one should take responsibility for these crimes? Do you think it's an accident that 1% of American households are now in foreclosure? I stand by my assertion that greed trumps morality in modern American society.
Crimes is a strong word. Let me understand this, in your view ANYONE with sub-prime credit that got a home they couldn't afford is a "victim", basically someone took advantage of them?
I don't know about you, but folks try to take advantage of me every day, spammers, solicitors, etc. Funny I don't fall for it. Is it because I'm so smart? No, it's because when I apply COMMON SENSE, it works........
On the one hand, you have people that quite honestly were not good credit risks getting homes for two reasons:
1)Soaring values of homes with "no end in sight", and
2)Creative lenders that used ambiguous lending tactics to get folks into the homes.
A recipe for disaster? Turns out yes........
So, let me make sure I get this correctly. You are saying that ALL the parties in this mess need to PAY for their crimes, right? And, the "homeowner" was coerced and/or made to sign a document that was fake?
You have a bigger imagination than me. Sounds like the one of the two biggest human emotions, in this case GREED, came to light for the BUYER of the home in the equation.
But, fear not, Mr.Government steps in and bails them out. Now someone with a FICO of 750+ who makes $175,000 a year (one of my clients) has trouble getting the bank to agree to a 100% finance, because of "tightened lending policies" when another guy with a FICO of 550 is sitting in a 125% LTV, got a check at closing to spend on goodies, and gets a free ride...........how nice is that??