[StBernard] Is it Dems or GOPs?

[Westley Annis]

Wendy:
 
I believe that your response may have been directed to me, as I provided
comments about the Community Reinvestment Act.  I do, however, agree with
and appreciate the response by John Scurich.  I also must point out that I
did not, in any way, indicate that I blamed the CRA.  I hope that I made it
clear that I blamed junior lenders for their interpretation of the CRA.
Also, in no way did I mention adjustable rates, much less blame them for
screwing the financial market, nor did I state that the CRA was passed by
democrats. (In fact, it was passed by Congress and the Senate which, at the
time, were controlled by Republicans).  As far as the "one article" I cited,
please remember that I stated that the article was a Pulitzer Prize winning
article and the catalyst for what later emeged as the CRA.  As far as the
numerous stories on CNN, may I suggest that you instead look at Fox News, as
CNN (in my opinion) still reflects the liberal views of its original owner,
Ted Turner.
 
You also mentioned that the CRA was exploited by Wall Street.  The CRA is a
law that applies to lenders, and while many lenders are, in fact, owned by
stockholders, if one can claim that it "was exploited", the claim would more
appropriately be aimed at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as purchasers of
mortgage loans.  You have probably seen writings in "da parish.com" that
clearly prove that attempts to rein in the actions of Freddie Mac and Fannie
Mae, as proposed by Republicans, including John McCain, were denied by the
likes of Obama and Dodd, along with the Democrat controlled Congress.
 
I thoroughly agree with John's comments and I too have never made an auto
loan or mortgage loan without reading through the entire document prior to
signing it.  Throughout my lending career, I never once short-cutted the
disclosure process, even when it pissed the borrower off that I was taking
too long for the loan closing.  I always pointed out that their signature
was evidence that they read and UNDERSTOOD the documents they were signing.

 
Finally, I agree with John S's. comments regarding the length of automobile
loans.  While many lenders today offer 84 month car loans, I have a real
problem with that, especially considering that the quality of automobiles
usually means a trade-in somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 months.  As far
as ARM's, I believe that they had their place when fixed mortgage rates were
in the double digets, but even then, I believed that an ARM would only be
appropriate if it reverted to a fixed term at the 5 year mark.  At least
then, if rates had dropped, the borrower could choose the going rate, but
would have some protection if fixed mortgage rates had risen.
 
I hope that my response does not come across offensively. I appreciate your
comments and those of everyone that shares their views.
 
John R.

	-----Original Message-----
	John,
	
	  Here is where I disagree, atleast with the attitude it's not my
fault
	attitude. Thanks to Katrian I had to buy 2 houses in 5 years. I had
realtors
	try and sell me houses that were just outside my price range. Showed
me how
	if I had an adjustable mortgage, I could buy more house, etc. While
I
	managed in the house in St. Bernard,I struggled hard. The secod time
I
	learned. WHen I looked for a house, I was the strong arm. I insisted
on a
	house where I could make payments if I lost a couple of weeks of
work due to
	sickness, which allowed me to save some money. I took something
smaller, but
	more affordable. Are you telling me you never had a client or ealtor
kind of
	hint that they needed the value a little higher so they could make
numbers
	work?
	  I also don't think that not so great credit necesserily means
people
	won't pay their bills. I tend to believe that home ownership is
better than
	the altenative, which is apartment living. It goes to the broken
window
	syndrome. If you have nothing invested then you have no loss when
something
	goes horribly wrong and their is no care to something that isn't
yours. You
	do have that ONE article, however, on CNN there have been numerous
stories
	of people who were not given all of the facts during there closings.
I know
	when we were signing our papers, the realtors tried to "summarize"
each page
	as I tried to read each one because it would take too much time to
read all
	of this "stuff". Being allows you to stand in a place of knowledge,
others
	may not have understood.
	  The adjustable rates have screwed the entire financial market, and
while
	you blame the CRA, blame the greed and creative thinking of Wall
Street. The
	CRA may have been passed by dems, but it was exploited by Wall
Street.
	
	Wendy