I couldn’t read this column by the inimitable Mark Steyn without thinking of the multiple bailouts that Durham as given the Rolling Hills project. As I said earlier, it ain’t gonna work unless it’s market driven. Steyn says the same about the ill-advised bailout of mortgagees who find themselves facing rising ARMs. Well, too bad. The government didn’t hold a gun to their heads and say, “Sign, dammit!”
So now the government has stepped in and said that, if you fall into a particular category of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARMs, in the biz) and you’re worried that it’s getting way too adjustable, don’t worry: The Nanny State is about to readjust it well inside your comfort zone. By fiat of the Treasury secretary, your adjustable-rate mortgage is henceforth an unadjustable adjustable-rate mortgage.
And why are these people in trouble? Because of the push for lending institutions to make politically correct loans, i.e., loans to groups and individuals who historically were considered bad risks. Pushed by the PC screamers, many banks and mortgage companies succumbed, fearing the media expose that might show that they were turning down more minorities than majorities.
Now the chickens have come home to roost. People who were unlikely to be able to make payments for the long haul are, surprise, not being able to make payments, and it’s us who have been asked to keep them in their homes via our tax money. Blame the self-helpers, Habitat for Humanity and others for the notion that owning a home is a right, not a privilege to be earned.
