ago was for 125% of the $650,000 purchase price, and a mortgage payment of only $3800, allowed her to walk away with $48,000 dollars while living rent free for the last 2.5 years.
So now that the interest rate went up and her mortgage went to $5000, she would rather mail the bank her keys (hence the term "jingle mail") and walk away. Stuff she and her family bought with that money ($114,000 that they didn't spend on rent + $48,000 in extra cash) they used to buy all of the home furnishings and cool electronics (mostly from China) plus the new Toyota SUV in the driveway.
They will find a smaller place to rent (there are plenty of rentals on the market) before their credit is ruined, and, so long as they make the rent, they won't suffer any ill effects at all.
And if you think this isn't happening...
http://homeguide123.com/articles/Top_5_Most_Ridiculous_Mortgage_Borrower_Stories_of_2007.htmhttp://homeguide123.com/articles/Reckless_Mortgage_Borrowers_Do_Not_Deserve_to_Be_Rescued.htmlOf course, there are many home owners who didn't do the things listed in the articles.
And many were talked into doing a low interest bigger loan (sub prime) by the realtor and lending institutions... because, ya know, housing will always go up in price! :sarcasm:
There is plenty of greed (people wanting to live in big suburban houses and live "large", even if all they could really afford was a row house or condo) to go around. Lenders that didn't even do the smallest income check just so they could be paid a commission on the loan, bankers that knew it didn't matter, they weren't going to hold the paper on these, they would be re-bundled, sliced and diced, mixed in with other securities and sold to investors.
Which brings me to the last practice... For just a whole lot of these loans, there isn't a mortgage holder (no one person or institution holds the mortgage)... so when the foreclosure notice comes (usually from a service bank... the people you make the payments too) they actually DON'T have the mortgage... and in many instances, can't point to anyone that does. Savvy homeowners are simply going to court over the foreclosure and telling the court "prove it". So far, a number of home owners have gotten away with simply not paying, no foreclosure, but no deed either, but they keep the home. It's a legal loophole, but the judges haven't been kind to the mortgage makers because they really SHOULD have documents and records on all of this.
The whole mortgage business is one giant ponzi cluster fuck. To bad it might take both the US and Europe, and maybe the whole world down the tube with it.
Sub prime mortgages started out in 1994... after some banking rules changes. However, they didn't become a significant percentage of the mortgage business until 2001.
Why wasn't there any oversight?
Banks loaning money to investors speculating on a bubble market is exactly what caused 1929. FDR instituted a number of banking reforms to prevent this from happening again. Since Reagan and Bush 1 and Clinton 1 and Bush 2, most of these reforms and restrictions have disappeared Probably because someone thought they were "quaint". Now where have I heard that before.