That said, WaMu probably doesn't want to be in the property management business, so they'd be wise to keep these folks in their homes. Total moral hazard, of course, but it's in the bank's best interests.

The really lousy thing about this whole "credit crisis" is that it's dragging the whole economy down. I definitely agree that people like Julio need to be more informed and responsible borrowers whether you're talking about home loans or car loans or credit cards. And it would have been nice if every mortgage lender in America for the past 5 years had not knowingly lent money to people who wouldn't be able to pay it back if the market slowed down.

The banks and the sub-prime borrowers basically had it coming, so it's hard to have much sympathy for either faction, but everyone else is caught in the crossfire.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/FatCEOPayFedTheMortgageMess.aspx

Email the current chairman and CEO as follows: kerry.killinger@wamu.net

You're absolutely right about the reporting of The Stranger. Unfortunately, I don't expect things will change much with the compromised ECB as editor.

Here is the thing that people area hot at Wamu over. It is not people with bad credit making worse fiscal decisions. WAMU made bad loans, and lied to people about the loan they were getting. No one reads the loan paper work they are signing. I just refinanced my house, that is nearly 400 pages of legalese, and of course I didn't read it all. I have a broker that I trust, that I have worked with for years and I know he is getting me the best rate. People expected the same from their WAMU lenders.
The other crime that WAMU is guilty of is hiring appraisers that would lie and over value a home. SO when a house sold for 500K, it was really only worth 400k. Now if you have an agent and an appraiser telling you this house is worth the asking price, you are going to believe them. Then when you go to refinance, you learn the real value of your home, and are stuck.

And what the fuck is up with having no sympathy for people that got taken advantage of? If you grandmother gets screwed by a contractor, you would be the first ones calling for blood. So people getting fucked buying their first house are some how of less moral fiber than you. really, go fuck yourselves.

Go back to renting like you were before and start saving up money to try again if you want. You were probably renting before you got a loan you probably should not have qualified for on a house you could not afford.

At this point the worst thing to do would be to stay in a house you can't afford with an interest rate well above appreciation. Your just pissing good money after bad.

Now for the people who had a bunch of equity and refinanced it all away, that does suck. But absent fraud, you choose to take money out of your house for whatever. You too probably need to simply part with the house and go find a nice place to rent.

Don't buy a house with an ARM if you can't afford a market downturn.

Not only that but WaMu lowered its standards of who to extend credit to to keep up with BofA and Countrywide because they were getting creamed in sales and didn't want to be #3 so they pushed sales to anyone they could get to bite and the people doing the selling got that point and did whatever they needed to do.

I mean really, 90% of a home tied up in a line of credit with an adjustable rate based on a low credit score and STATED income. No need to verify, just tell'm what you make, that's good enough. The loans officers know/knew what to say and do to get them to go through the system and all this happening as they lay off underwriters in favor of a more automated system.

So yeah, buyer beware but one thing you can be sure of in all this mess is that Kerry Killinger WILL be getting his bonus this year even though he drove the company into the ground. The board of directors made sure of that.

Fuckers

Quoted For Truth.

bless your heart!

These people become HOMELESS - Get it? Like when it's raining and you get out your pretty little umbrella, these people have to carry their children on their back and find an underpass so their one suit of clothes aren't wet for two days.

Think about it. If this family were yours because you didn't read pg. 354 out of 400 pages... You might be thinking differently.

And for Christ's sake, are there actually people here or anywhere who want to put a young, struggling family on the STREET so they can buy a house on the cheap? Those people are selfish assholes. Period.

Naysayers: Take a good look around, because your ignorance and judgemental attitudes will lead YOU to be the victims of the next economic, social, and/or government downfall. So don't forget to read the fine print, on page 567456, out of 3498753948579387. Jerks.

Seriously, folks, a lender has a responsibility to those he lends to, those whose money he lends, and society in general to produce a fair and clean loan, written in clear and plain language.

Until that happens, one can't seriously expect people who only speak clear and plain language and who believe that an American professional will be honest and fair to understand that the lender is really a shark and the words on the paper are all lies and there's no such thing as the American Dream for anyone making under $50,000 per year or so...

And as for those who have no sympathy, well, they will have to answer for that in their lifetimes or maybe worse.

I, for one, will continue to assert that part of being an American is carrying on your business with a certain amount of moral decency, and that cheating is unacceptable, especially when it can hurt families with children who are vulnerable.

And as for the issue of whether or not people who do not understand confusing documents are somehow inferior and deserving of being cheated... well, again, I just want to know- what country are you from? I want to make sure I never go THERE!

Maryellen