Road to Ruin: Burned by Brokers
By American News Project | Related entries in NewsEconomists, politicians, and pundits refer to “toxic assets” as if they are some unspeakable stew bubbling in a barrel behind an old warehouse. But “toxic assets” are actually mortgages and, by extension, houses and the people who live in them. Sandra Berrios is one of millions facing the prospect of ballooning loan payments forcing her and her family from their home. The bank that lent her the money is getting hundreds of millions in TARP money, but the federal dollars flowing to the bank show no sign of trickling down to Sandra’s level.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Unscrupulous brokers are an utter disgrace. When possible, they should be prosecuted.
At the same time, I can make no judgement as to whether this woman actually deserves my sympathy unless I know how much she owes and what her monthly income is. Was she in a sustainable situation prior to transitioning into this nee loan?
Did she even try to read what she signed?
Everyone who buys a home needs to understand the math so they can figure out what they can afford. Doing the math just isn’t optional.
No one deserves to get screwed by unscrupulous loan people. No one. But if you don’t develop a grasp of the math underlying loans, and if you don’t review the papers you sign, then you are letting yourself get screwed. You are helping it to happen.
Folks this is a teaching moment. Look at all the people all across the country who have gotten screwed because they couldn’t hang in their and learn the math behind mortgages and the mechanics of operating with paperwork as an adult. In what fantasy world would anyone claim that such understanding could be optional or unnecessary. Be math-literate, or be a sucker.