Posted On: July 7, 2008, 9:28 pm CDT

Posted By: Terrie B

You know, it can be argued both ways... Victim/Non Victim. Bottom line is A LOT of people got hurt here, and A LOT of people were duped and A LOT of people just did what they had to do to secure a piece of land with their name on it and hoped the home would still appreciate so they could refinance into something better when the time came.

Some people DID lie about their income (some people grossly lied, some people just padded it a little). What matters is that the EXPERTS (CEO's) should have seen this coming. It was CEO's who created these lousy loan programs and touted them to the hilt, and did all they could to suck people in. The Brokers may have had some liability, however, if they hadnt done what the banks encouraged them to do, they would have gone out of business because the next broker down the road would be getting all the business.

Consumers ALL AROUND got screwed and tempted and it was by the Leader of the Mortgage industry (Countrywide to name one). It was one big mess, domino effect. Now Americans have lost their investments and their credit ratings.

I am personally one who bought honestly and didnt have any money down, but bought in a hurry before the prices went up any further. I had to choose between short selling my house and starting from scratch again- and just bending over and taking it up the tail pipe that I GOT duped out of my investment. My best friend put down $200K... and because of the Lenders reckless lending habits, she has lost it ALL.
Its a pretty rotten feeling, no matter whose fault it is by the time the courts figure it all out. We all got screwed if you ask me, even those that lied- most of them did it under duress and out of desperation. There are some downright non victims but not in most cases.