Here’s a letter I wish I had written:
Dear Editor:
As a Realtor, I am not in favor of bailing out lenders who issued subprime loans, 100 percent no-qualifying loans or loans with "teaser" adjustable-rate mortgages during the boom time. What happened to the billions of dollars they profited from by making such risky loans? I'll tell you what happened: They paid themselves insane amount of bonuses and raped any cushion the company could have kept for the time when their loans began falling into foreclosure. They had to know the risks, calculate the cost and charge up front for subprime loans. Then they went and spent their profits.
I run a business. When times are good I sock away profits knowing times will change and I will have to reach into savings or a "rainy day fund" to keep my business going. Uncle Sam, a.k.a. "We the People," does not bail me out when my business needs more money due to my poor management. We should in no way bail out the lenders and their investor portfolio managers for greed and poor management skills.
Nor should we bail out greedy home investors who swept into communities overbidding for homes and artificially ballooning prices. Many then took out equity lines of credit with their newfound equity to purchase more homes. Or worse still, became involved in loan fraud, inflating the prices of homes with cash back to "third parties" at close of escrow for "property improvements" that never happened. Let the chips fall where they may -- grownups buy houses, not children. We all learn valuable lessons when the consequences are painful. If they are not painful we, like children, will repeat the behavior again.
Susan Ramsey
Glendale, Ariz.
Dear Editor:
As a Realtor, I am not in favor of bailing out lenders who issued subprime loans, 100 percent no-qualifying loans or loans with "teaser" adjustable-rate mortgages during the boom time. What happened to the billions of dollars they profited from by making such risky loans? I'll tell you what happened: They paid themselves insane amount of bonuses and raped any cushion the company could have kept for the time when their loans began falling into foreclosure. They had to know the risks, calculate the cost and charge up front for subprime loans. Then they went and spent their profits.
I run a business. When times are good I sock away profits knowing times will change and I will have to reach into savings or a "rainy day fund" to keep my business going. Uncle Sam, a.k.a. "We the People," does not bail me out when my business needs more money due to my poor management. We should in no way bail out the lenders and their investor portfolio managers for greed and poor management skills.
Nor should we bail out greedy home investors who swept into communities overbidding for homes and artificially ballooning prices. Many then took out equity lines of credit with their newfound equity to purchase more homes. Or worse still, became involved in loan fraud, inflating the prices of homes with cash back to "third parties" at close of escrow for "property improvements" that never happened. Let the chips fall where they may -- grownups buy houses, not children. We all learn valuable lessons when the consequences are painful. If they are not painful we, like children, will repeat the behavior again.
Susan Ramsey
Glendale, Ariz.
