Not only aren’t they lending - they’ve laid off their loan officers and underwriters. So, while some banks still talk like they want to lend (but aren’t when the underwriting process takes over), others aren’t even pretending. They’ve gotten rid of the people that make the loans happen.
Now, whether the tighter lending standards are such a bad idea is a different question. You’d think that given what they now know (that the govt is going to bail them out) they wouldn’t be overly concerned about making only the very best loans.
Know a guy went to get a new jeep. Good job, nice downpayment, dealer offered him 12.3 percent. Chrysler got billions at zero, and are trying to get 13 percent.
He said no.