I'll Sue Ya, Subprime Mortgage Lending Companies

As a long time fan of Consumerist.com, I always enjoyed the “David vs. Goliath”-esque stories about how individual consumers can empower themselves to fight against the poor treatment from Corp-America. However, there are times where I tend to think the consumer themselves are to be blamed for what happened.


video

In recent news, subprime mortgages are the topics of choice. So many people are getting burned by lending companies going under due to lack of repayment funds. Many of people got their loans approved by inflating their net income with or without direct intervention from the loan officers.

I personally don’t feel bad for these people.

To get approved for renting an apartment, the total net household monthly income must be three times higher than the monthly rent. In other words, if an apartment’s rent is $950 per month, you should at least make $2,850 after tax each month. Some management companies would require higher monthly pay vs. rent ratios. If you don’t have enough income, you can’t afford it. That is simple math.

In the land of “pre-approved, no credit check, no down payment, interest free till X year”, it is very tempting to get that satisfaction of instant gratification. However, it is really the consumers’ responsibility to do some reality check themselves. Even a fifth grader would be able to tell you: if your income is lower than your spending, you will be broke very soon.

But, I am not worried about these borrowers that felt they have been “duped”, because there is another thing that America is great at – Law suits.