The "Transaction"

Here's a CBS report that really gave me chills through the spine:

House Of Cards: The Mortgage Mess
"60 Minutes" Reports On How The Subprime Loan Crisis Is Shaking Markets Worldwide
Jan. 27, 2008

Comments from the readers:

This is a symbol of irresponsibility in our country of people who have a sense of entitlement, which is "I have to have a house". You people need to grow up and learn to read the fine print of a loan, or get better credit before taking a loan out. Stop buying stuff you can't afford! As for "ruining your credit", if you bought a house with an adjustable rate mortage and no down payment, you probably didn't have good credit to begin with. Now b/c of your selfishness and irresponsibility you are making it harder for people who actually do have good credit to get a loan. This slows down business development, the economic sector, and everybody who is trying to stay afloat in middle class.

Genesis 3:4-6 And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you: For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.

While watching your episode, I realized as an investor this mortgage crisis is ultimately going to cost me something. What surprised me was your constant questioning of people about their willingness to walk away without feeling responsible or obligated. Have you not been watching your own show? We live in a country where corporations routinely operate without obligation or responsibility to their investors. Why would that not eventually become a standard belief system?

Genesis 3:11-13 ...Have you taken of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take? And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it. And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.

feel a great sense of responsibility to pay bills which I've honestly contracted. However there are laws against usury for a reason and the mortgage brokers/banks/real estate agents/investment companies who participated in this incredible charade of selling people houses and mortgages at sub-prime rates and then jacking up the rates two or three years down the road deserve to lose their shirts. The more I've learned about lending practices in general (watch the movie "Maxed Out" if you want to understand how credit card companies operate) the more convinced I am that all lenders should be treated like vipers and kept as far away as humanly possible! Signing a contract without reading it is just plain stupid, but there are a lot of stupid people around and plenty of banks etc to take advantage of them. If you do take such advantage, you deserve to suffer. I don't think -any- of the people "walking away from their homes" envisioned that as an exit strategy when they bought. I can't say that the folks on the other side of the transaction had any scruples at all. They deserve what they get. (BTW, hubby and I are and will continue to pay all of our loans. We did not participate in this chicanery, so I am not writing with an axe to grind.)

Genesis 3:14 And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the field...

But I'm disappointed to see that the folks in foreclosure have been grouped as idiots and greedy. Many of us were intelligent and honest people that had full intention of owning our homes forever. Unfortunately, we didn't all have a crystal ball.

Many of us were in conservative loans yet lost our jobs due to the real estate crash and were unable to pay for our homes any longer. Have you stopped and thought about how many jobs have been affected with this? Even my hairstylist and auto mechanic is suffering.

Many of us did not educate ourselves and trusted our realtors and mortgage brokers. We were convinced that the smart way to go was an adjustable rate loan. After all, realtors and mortgage brokers make the big bucks because

Regardless of the reason, these are human beings that were uprooted from their homes. I know firsthand how devastating and humbling it is. I've been a hardworking, tax paying home owner since I was 20 years old. I am now renting for the first time in my life.

I am not greedy; naive perhaps. ...But then again, wasn't the entire United States naive in this situation?

Luke 12:16-21 And he said to them, in a story, The land of a certain man of great wealth was very fertile: And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit. And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy. But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together? So that is what comes to the man who gets wealth for himself, and has not wealth in the eyes of God.