Monday, May 7, 2007

Clues to the Foreclosure and Housing Bubble Mess

Many of us have spent time scratching our heads about the housing bubble and the foreclosure issue. Mortgage lenders themselves were not the only ones involved in creating this mess. For example, if you got an overvalued loan from a predatory lender, how and more importantly why did the appraiser sign off on that loan?

If you live in an area where housing prices skyrocketed, how did the homes continue to get past an appraisers eye at so much over the 'last home sold' amount?

This article by David Cho in today's Washington Post does not surprise me, probably will not surprise you. But it does give some specific insight, due to comments from a mortgage appraiser with a company called New Century, who talked about the pressure she and other apppraisers were under to look the other way and sign off on appraisals for 'bad loans.' Peace Out - 3C