Posted on 04/21/2008 5:54:51 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
"What is mysterious, what is mysterious about the phrase 'variable rate'?" --George Will, This Week, March 30, 2008
Mystery is in the eyes of the borrower--and the MSM. The term "variable rate" in a mortgage might seem straightforward enough to George Will and our erudite NB readers, but to a college-educated homeowner--and ABC's Kate Snow--it's apparently a real brain twister.
Snow hosted a segment on this morning's GMA dedicated to determining how the various presidential candidates' proposals would address the problems of sub-prime borrowers. As is the MSM's wont, ABC focused on a single sympathetic case, that of the Cruz-Rivera family in Philly.
View video.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
ABC sub-prime tearjerker ping to Today show list.
DUPED: To have something go differently from the way you wanted it to go.
(c) 2008 Liberal Dictionary, inc.
;->
UNLESS - this is just one more speculator or flipper who thought they were going to be RICH in 6 months so it really didn't matter. And now they are stuck with the alligator...
LOL! Early-morning leader for comment ‘o the day!
I have to say that if the couple was not informed that their rate could nearly double, and likely would double, and what that rate would be, that the lender was not being forthcoming. Even with gasoline, we’re being told months ahead of time what the shocking gas price will be. With something as important as a mortgage, the borrower SHOULD BE FULLY INFORMED, and that is the lender’s job. I’ve been shaking my head for years at all the promotions for variable rate, low introductory rate, zero down payment mortgages. I don’t feel sympathy for lenders or politicians that mislead us about this. It was one thing when typical household incomes were stable or increased yearly. It is unconscionable now.
I is “owed” a nice place to live, ‘yunnerstand ?
There are few degrees less demanding than one in “Journalism”. In many places you can get one without ever having to take a science or math course. Journalists are scientific illiterates and would probably need a calculator to figure the correct change if you gave them $10 for a 2.50 purchase.
I’m sure they were fully informed, and signed anyway.
What we need is a much bigger nanny state to protect stupid people from the results of their stupidity. A much, much bigger nanny state.
>> With something as important as a mortgage, the borrower SHOULD BE FULLY INFORMED, and that is the lender’s job.
I have no doubt that the terms of the deal were fully and accurately documented in the contract that the borrower signed. The details may have been in the fine print. But I’m pretty sure there was something to this effect printed in BIG print:
THIS IS A BINDING CONTRACT. READ IT BEFORE YOU SIGN. CONSULT AN ATTORNEY IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION ABOUT SIGNING IT.
Are you saying that it is the lender’s job not only to write the contract, but also to read it for the borrower? What else is the lender’s responsibility? Must they draw pictures for the borrower?
We're working as fast as we can!
The trouble is, they're getting stupider faster than we're getting bigger.
Signed,
Your government
Don’t buy $hit ya can’t afford, ‘specially when that $hit costs more than $100K.
I disagree. I cannot make you informed.
I can make information available, I can make sure it's complete, I can avoid tricking you or lying to you, but I cannot make you informed.
Unless there's evidence that the lender somehow failed to disclose something here, then it's the buyer's fault if they are not informed.
It would be highly illegal for a lender to represent a contract as fixed rate, when it is not.
Unless they did that (and the "journalist" her didn't bother to ask that), then it's the borrower's fault that they thought it was fixed-rate.
On the other hand, it's just the "journalist"'s word that they thought this, the video doesn't show her saying it, it's just a voice-over. So how much do you trust THAT?
When I was in high school a guy in our neighborhood gave us the scoop on interest. It only goes up. His name was Angelo “Sonny” Mercurio.
“With something as important as a mortgage, the borrower SHOULD BE FULLY INFORMED, and that is the lender’s job.”
Every time I have ever bought a house or refinanced one there was always at least one sheet you have to sign that explains the rate, amount of payment, the conditions of the loan, and in the case of variable rates, the factors the rate is linked to and the max it can go up and how fast. EVERYTHING WAS DISCLOSED. I’ll bet in 99.99% of these cases the owner signed a similar document.
Exactly. Who *doesn't* know by now that variable rate loans reset at some time in the future?
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
she and her husband knew....and not only that, they signed a document at closing saying that they had been informed...lenders have you do that to cover their butts...and if she was too cheap to hire a lawyer at closing then I don’t feel sorry for her...I’ve bought seven houses over the years and don’t go to settlement without an attorney....
They have a regular segment on the Evening News called "The Kitchen Table" - more of the sob stories.
Last week they featured a couple with four jobs between the two of them, they also have two kids. They were whining about not being able to make ends meet. Oh, and guess what? She's pregnant again :-(
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.