In the popular imagination, the American foreclosure crisis is a
morality play in which comeuppance has landed on greedy people who had
it coming. Homeowners gorged on the wealth they took out of their
properties like gluttons at a Vegas buffet, using exotic mortgages to
fill living rooms with home theaters and garages with new cars.
Such judgments form the crux of the argument against using taxpayer money to help homeowners who can no longer make their mortgage payments: People chose to live in brazen disregard of their limited means. Why should responsible neighbors be forced to bail them out?
This view has always been hard to square with the facts, given that millions of Americans used home equity loans to start businesses, pay for health care and send children to college. Now, a new study adds a powerful insight into the reality that scarce incomes and rising costs for middle class life played a decisive role in putting homeowners in deep financial trouble. Read More
Such judgments form the crux of the argument against using taxpayer money to help homeowners who can no longer make their mortgage payments: People chose to live in brazen disregard of their limited means. Why should responsible neighbors be forced to bail them out?
This view has always been hard to square with the facts, given that millions of Americans used home equity loans to start businesses, pay for health care and send children to college. Now, a new study adds a powerful insight into the reality that scarce incomes and rising costs for middle class life played a decisive role in putting homeowners in deep financial trouble. Read More
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