Tired of being the Bad Guy

This weekend I had an open house at a home I have for sale. A gentleman came in, looked around, and then started to criticize my asking price (which happens to be nearly $30,000 below the recommendations from realtors and agents with whom I have consulted) telling me that “with the housing bust I need to take whatever offer comes my way.” Obviously I disagreed with his suggestion, reminding him that while home purchases may have decreased last year, home values still increased by an average of 9% state wide.

Next the man started on a diatribe about how “all this economic mess is because of the crooks that lend money.” When I told him of my career his reply was simply: “then you ought to be more honest with people, and stop giving people loans that you know they cannot afford.”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

I am sick and tired of people accusing mortgage brokers and loan officers of ruining the economy and creating the current lending environment. Blaming me for the high rate of foreclosures in this country is like walking into a McDonalds and blaming the cashier for obesity in America.

Do loan officers have some responsibility? Yes. As I mentioned in my series last fall about Loan Fraud in Utah (http://utahloanexpert.blogspot.com/2007/10/utah-loan-fraud-part-1.html), brokers and loan officers who have participated in fraudulent activities should be identified and help accountable. But loan fraud is a small portion of the problem.

Yes, the Mortgage Lenders are paying the price of having too loose lending guidelines and requirements. Yes, it was too easy for someone with limited income to qualify for loans. Yes, too many home owners to given high-risk mortgages without proper education concerning those risks.

But we must not forget the homeowners themselves. Not reading the loan disclosures is not my fault. Choosing to state a higher than actual income level is not my responsibility. And, perhaps most significant to me, it is not my fault that home owners in recent years have proven themselves to be more than willing to “shop” for the loan officer that will give them exactly what they want.

CNN.com has and article this morning that blames “poor underwriting standards and abusive lending” for the current mortgage mess. Well, that may be true to some point, but when will some responsibility fall on the shoulders of the actual home owners who accepted loans they knew darn well they couldn’t pay. Last I checked, economic institutions in America are the result of the actions of individual people coupled with market demand. I can tell you right now, if thousands of homeowners weren’t willing to have bad loans, those loans would have never been written.

I guess, until this whole mess gets fixed I will have to continue being the scapegoat for everyone’s problems.