"There have always been people who lived beyond their means,

[hedgehog]

but they never caused a crash before.."

Michael Moore discussing people who are being foreclosed on .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/06/michael-moore-and-sean-ha_n_311936.html

[HughBeaumont]

1. Are there still "victim blamers" out there?

Unfuckingbelievable.

Oh wait, it was Hannity who said this. Then that makes sense. I'd say Hannity needs to be sledgehammered to the face, but it looks like someone beat me to it.

[hedgehog]

2. There are victim blamers here on DU. "People should never have

bought a house they couldn't afford".

If we all had to pay cash, most of us would be living in a shack. If someone will write you a mortgage and you expect to be able to pay the monthly bill, does that mean you can afford the house? What if you only put down 15%, 10% or no money at all? What if the monthly payment will go up in 5 years, but you hope to /expect to be making a higher wage by then? What if you figure that if worse comes to worse, you'll at least be able to sell the house to cover the mortgage?

What does it mean when we say that someone can afford a house?

I have a modest mortgage, but I certainly couldn't pay it on my own. I depend on my husband's salary.

What if we had a sudden unforeseen hospital bill? We'd never be able to pay for that and the mortgage.

Should we be living here then?

[paulsby]

3. it's not an either/or

are there people out there who have nobody but themselves to blame, people who made imprudent, greedy, overleveraged house purchases?

fuck yea!

i know a few myself.

were they THE problem?

no.

it's not either/or. the banks and the "system" is the bulk of the problem, but many individual homeowners OFTEN were.

that's what the stats say. that's what common sense says. that's what experience says.

hannity's idiocy was to say its THEIR fault. it wasn't. they were not the majority contributor to the problem.

[closeupready]

4. Yes, you are exactly right. I'm also not sure why members here let the banks off the hook for faili

failing on their part of the bargain, which is to NOT trust consumers by doing due diligence, credit checks, etc. "No income, no assets? No problem!"

[caballero]

5. Buying a house or anything based on the -hope- of higher future income is beyond stupid.

Sorry.
(No, I'm not saying that about you, but not all people who get into financial trouble are victims)

[SoCalDem]

6. In times-past, BANKS/LENDERS were the "gatekeepers" who said

"sorry folks, you don't qualify...save some more money and come back in a few years".

THAT'S what's different now.. banks threw money at people and said "sign here...you're good-to-go"..

It amazed me to see 22 yr olds buying $350K houses, while they were still mooching money from Mom & Dad to help them with their car payments, or to see 60 yr olds taking out 30 year mortgages on fixed (minimal) incomes..but hey.. as long as banks were handing out loans, why not?