SCC Housing Market Blog

I’ve been saying for YEARS that the business of Real Estate is ran by criminals. From the Appraisers to the big lenders, they all played a roll in the demise of the housing market and most of the U.S. economy. The article entitled Catching Criminals Is Good, Economic Justice Is Better explains how millions of Americans were dooped into taking mortgages that they could not handle or exotic mortgages that would re-set or change without their full knowledge or understanding. This topic has sparked some heated debates from all walks of life. It has been debated from the perspective of class, political affiliations, and even a racial perspective. But the truth is that this is simply a morale issue of simple rights and wrongs regardless of where you are from, where you live, how much you earn, your religion, race, creed or culture. So lets look at this article and address a few of the claims made within.

Take note that the first thing that the article does is lay down a case that any laws that apply to “online predators” should apply to “mortgage predators”…… and I agree to some degree. To lure a hard working American into a tricky mortgage, an over-appraised home, or to “up-sell” them should be criminal. Plain and simple. However… should the home buyers be held to some degree of self responsibility? Of course. But part of the problem with the housing market as with most major businesses in America is there is no real transparency. Sure, you could Google the information pertinent to learning how the players in the business of Real Estate get paid, although it has been my position from the beginning that you should never trust anyone that earns a commission based on the dollar amount of the deal that he/she closes. That is just a basic “conflict of interest” in its purest form. This should be a common understanding of all people. But where the people lack the true understanding of how a thing works or the nature of a thing, they often fall prey to this “thing” because they fail to protect themselves. The title of “predator” fits not just the big players in the business of Real Estate, but it fits all subsequent players as well.

Historian Carolyn Baker who follows the economic crisis for her Truth to Power site believes:

“History will prove that the number of people busted for this is only a drop in the bucket compared to the number involved in nationwide blatant fraud and theft which created the largest mortgage meltdown in the history of the world. A few bad apples? Get a clue! The scam was rampant and epidemic.”

This is 100% true! All the players in this game mislead and lied to home buyers everyday - with a smile - hoping to earn as large a commission possible off the deal. The next guy quoted in the article mentions “plausible deniability”, one of the most important phrases of any corrupt politician or businessman. And this goes back to my mention of “transparency”. With true transparency its kind of hard claim to be unaware of what the next man is doing especially when all of the players work towards one common goal - TO GET YOU TO BUY THAT HOME BY WAY OF A MORTGAGE! Until our government either properly regulate the activities of businesses or eliminate the double standard that gives corporate entities all the rights and privileges of a human-being without none of the responsibilities (morale or legal) of a human-being this type of corporate criminal activity will be simply BUSINESS AS USUAL!

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