I feel terrible for this family, they didn't make the best decisions, but they didn't know any better. So sad.
This made me smile:
Kofi stayed in Takoma Park and noticed all the foreign cars — Toyotas, Volvos, Mercedes-Benzes, Nissans — and thought the area might be welcoming to a foreigner like him.
Otherwise, that was so very depressing. I don't understand how anyone--not just them, but anyone involved in this fiasco--thought they could even afford the initial $3662 mortgage on $113K a year. Forget everything else that happened, that alone was a recipe for disaster .
True. It seems like it was like the blind leading the blind. Everybody was getting in over their heads and telling him that they could afford more than they actually could. Plus people they trusted (REs and brokers) in their church targeting parishioners with scams. I guarantee they are not the only ones in their church in financial trouble.
I feel terrible for this family, they didn't make the best decisions, but they didn't know any better. So sad.
This made me smile:
Kofi stayed in Takoma Park and noticed all the foreign cars — Toyotas, Volvos, Mercedes-Benzes, Nissans — and thought the area might be welcoming to a foreigner like him.
Otherwise, that was so very depressing. I don't understand how anyone--not just them, but anyone involved in this fiasco--thought they could even afford the initial $3662 mortgage on $113K a year. Forget everything else that happened, that alone was a recipe for disaster .
So true, but the comments section will say they should have known better even though they are immigrants and had no debt before coming here...but the banks? Shouldn't they have known better? They are a business choosing to make loan after loan. There is no indication from this article that they falsified their assets or income yet bank after bank gave them a mortgage, a student loan, a personal loan and a business loan.
So true, but the comments section will say they should have known better even though they are immigrants and had no debt before coming here...but the banks? Shouldn't they have known better? They are a business choosing to make loan after loan. There is no indication from this article that they falsified their assets or income yet bank after bank gave them a mortgage, a student loan, a personal loan and a business loan.
When I first finished school at the height of all the insanity, I was making just slightly more than them combined. H had little to no credit back then and what he had wasn't great, so only my name was on the mortgage. I qualified for something like $350K. Not insane but definitely out of my little MM comfort zone lol. The crazy thing was I'd only been working 9 months and I was a contract employee when I was approved. I didn't falsify anything. Everything that was questionable, I was just instructed to "just write a letter." I wrote like 3 letters. Why I had an employment contract with an end date, why I didn't have two years of work experience, why why why. After the mortgage closed, all my credit limits started shooting up like crazy. I'm sure I could have borrowed anything I wanted. Ultimately, my contract wasn't even renewed the following year. I would have been dead in the water if I were on my own.
See, I feel like the real estate agents and mortgage brokers were idiots at the height of the housing market. I say that b/c they were optimistic and making a shit-ton of money and didn't really care if someone was going to get screwed. It was also a time when several people I knew, who were terrible at keeping jobs, became real estate brokers and mortgage guys just because - I mean what in an anthropology degree or just a high school diploma says you are ready to be approving people for mortgages for Wells Fargo?!
When I first finished school at the height of all the insanity, I was making just slightly more than them combined. H had little to no credit back then and what he had wasn't great, so only my name was on the mortgage. I qualified for something like $350K. Not insane but definitely out of my little MM comfort zone lol. The crazy thing was I'd only been working 9 months and I was a contract employee when I was approved. I didn't falsify anything. Everything that was questionable, I was just instructed to "just write a letter." I wrote like 3 letters. Why I had an employment contract with an end date, why I didn't have two years of work experience, why why why. After the mortgage closed, all my credit limits started shooting up like crazy. I'm sure I could have borrowed anything I wanted. Ultimately, my contract wasn't even renewed the following year. I would have been dead in the water if I were on my own.
See, I feel like the real estate agents and mortgage brokers were idiots at the height of the housing market. I say that b/c they were optimistic and making a shit-ton of money and didn't really care if someone was going to get screwed. It was also a time when several people I knew, who were terrible at keeping jobs, became real estate brokers and mortgage guys just because - I mean what in an anthropology degree or just a high school diploma says you are ready to be approving people for mortgages for Wells Fargo?!
Right and this is why I am constantly annoyed at the blame on individual homeowners. Someone whose business it is to sell houses all day said, hey you can afford this and then a lender whose job is to evaluate people for creditworthiness all day says, yep you can afford it and then we tell the person who has probably in done this once or twice in their life that nope you should have known better than to listen to professionals! This whole series is pissing me the fuck off.