[bradbatt]

"Banks didn’t verify borrowers’ occupations or incomes. They qualified people for bigger loans than they could afford. They offered loans with monthly payments so low that borrowers owed more after they made a payment, rather than less."

This is part of the problem though. Banks and other lenders should be held responsible for handing out these loans. The onus cannot just be on the homeowners. For every person that simply wanted nicer stuff there are plenty who were fooled into thinking they could afford something that they couldn't.

[gedy]

Yes, but my point is the majority of people I knew weren't "fooled" or "uneducated", they took it because it was what they wanted in spite of the danger and warnings. Banks certainly have a ton of responsibility for this, but I'm also not swayed but the slow-fade sob stories that people were "taken advantage of" by the banks either.