I doubt that it is the uneducated people that matter in this case, for it is more a matter of responsibility and superfluous luxury than education about mortgage. I would say it is a 50/50 split between lenders and irresponsible home owners.

Why blame just one party? I blame the banks and the people that purchased homes they could not afford.

I blame both.

Who's to blame - the con man or the mark who thought he could out wit him? or the rules of the game that allowed the situation to arise? Since the lobbyists had a big say in shaping the rules, you an blame the finance industry that bought the laws it wanted and you can blame the government which truly seems to be the best government money can buy - as long as you have deep enough pockets and a "nation of consumers" (and there's nothing wrong with that (according to Discover)) prepared to believe anything as long as it's another dollar in their pocket There is an easy way (for the powers that be) to double the price of housing. Double the supply of funds to buy it. Example: At one time in England - a mortgage was not allowed to be over 3 times 1 person's annual income. But it was hard to buy a house they were so expensive... So they changed the rules: allow 2 incomes to be considered. Result? house prices almost doubled.. And don't ask me about 1984. You don't want to get me started. Then you ALSO have to consider the finance industry for bundling up mortgages into investments and promising amazing returns.. bringing in lots more money to finance more loans... The 'uneducated' were the suckers at one of the biggest poker games in years - and they didn't even know the rules

I blame the lenders MORE and this is a fiasco!

I blame them both. I also blame the conservative Congress and Republican president for removing all the regulations and saying "Let them govern themselves." I blame realestate agnets that jacked up the price of housing to make a buck. I blame the home owners for buying houses they knew they couldn't afford. I blame lenders for lending money to people they knew couldn't pay, just so that their commisions would be bigger. I blame AMERICAN GREED!

my lender said it was okay. i figuired if he said it was okay, it must be okay. i could have been a better reader and read the loan contract. but if they now say it was illegal, then it shouldnt have been written in the loan contract. its their problem. they gave me bad advice.

The blame begins with CONGRESS for promoting the notion that loans for "affordable" housing to people with bad credit and spotty employment histories was, somehow, a goof idea. Congress REPEATEDLY lauded itself for these dubious achievements for decades. More recently, Congress covered up for the frauds being perpetrated by Fannie and Freddie, in spite of evidence to the contrary. Lenders than created loan programs to satisfy the bad legislation. Borrowers without any business sense bought houses that they could ill-afford with the tools that Congress crafted for them. Of course the borrowers should be blamed, many committed mortgage fraud in order to qualify for even more expensive houses than they could afford. Criminal borrowers abound!

I blame them both. I also blame congress, and more than one president.

Uneducated? Most of the people with these problems are college graduates who thought that with their new degree they could afford a quarter million dollar house! I blame the purchaser - why the heck does a newly married couple need a 4 bedroom 3 bath 8,000 square foot house with a 3 car garage? It makes no sense! If people would learn to live within their means, things like this would not happen. However, I also blame the lenders. Giving out sub-prime mortgages? Pleaaase, that's just retarded! It makes no good business sense. Consider this - the prime rate is the rate at which, if the bank invested the money with the government, that investment would grow. Why would I invest in a sketchy loan to someone I don't know for 3% interest when I could invest with the government for 5%? It's STUPID! But they did it. I'm sorry, the financial institutions brought it on themselves. So did the idiots who bought houses outside their means. So, when the banks go bankrupt and the homeowners get reposessed, I'm not really going to feel sorry for them! No, I don't blame the government - laws shouldn't take the place of common sense!

This was meant as a comment to another Answerer, who then changed their partisan answer. Nonetheless, I shall leave it to get people thinking. What about the Democrats that ran Fannie and Freddie into the ground? Or how about the Democrat Congress that praised their efforts even when their financial instability had been revealed? How DARE you play partisan politics with this, when Democrat fingerprints are all over this mess! What about the OCC, OTS, FDIC, SEC, and dozens of other regulatory agencies that REGULATE the mortgage industry to this very day? "Deregulation", my ass! Real estate agent do not make up prices out of thin air. They represent BUYERS and SELLERS who establish the market prices. Yes, BORROWERS who insisted on stripping the equity from their homes to finance their out-of-control buying habits! Don't forget the criminals who lied to obtain properties, especially income properties, so that they could collect rent for a year while in foreclosure. Then there were other criminal scams involving "straw buyers", etc., etc. Lastly, greed knows no national boundaries. Much of the "creative financing" that Congress encouraged, much of the "creative accounting practices" that were institutionalized by Congress and government regulatory agencies, had been encouraged by INTERNATIONAL bankers. Before you regurgitate the propaganda you so willingly absorb from the opinion-shapers in the news media, do a little investigation and critical analysis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZVw3no2A4 Here is the reason why.

The lenders. Those are predatorial practices and they knew it well. I also place a lot of blame on realtors who pushed the deals down the throat of ignorant people who couldn't afford a home

Both. Everyone wants to own a home, and lenders dangled it in front of them. When you think you can own a home it can override your common sense in a big way sometimes. The people (I don't think uneducated is the right word) that bit off more then they could chew should have been more careful with their personal finances. The lender can dangle that lovely home in front of them all day, but in the end it is the person who decides if they can afford it.

Ultimately its the fools who signed the contracts because they have no clue what they could afford. Just because someone will give you a loan doesn't mean you can afford it and buying a house with an inflated pricetag is also idiocy. A close second though is a greedy financil institution looking to bilk someone for profit.

Ultimately, we each are responsible for our mistakes and our greed. That includes both buyers and lenders.

I think you left out the tax system here, you know the part that says mortgage interest in tax deductible. Whenever you have that kind of tax incentive, you will get people over-using it, in this case to buy more house than they can afford, or refinancing to pay for something other than the house itself or upgrading it to increase its value.

The American dream and promises of "you too can own a home" & "why pay rent to someone else" makes it all look wonderful and possible. If you don't know what you need to know or what to ask, how do you ask the questions. Unfortunately, many trust the brokers, lenders and banks-foolishly. lets stop blaming the buyer solely -This is America-unfortunately many out to make a buck on someone elses back _Pay back is a bit__. So instead of blaming and criticizing and throwing bricks lets try and find a way to help these unfortunate people who are losing their homes- Afterall no one sets out to lose -a home or otherwise---No one sets out to fail. Lets find resolutions.

YES most certainly I do. I am a single woman living in NJ....with an overhead of 5000 a month. I work 2 jobs put myself through graduate school and was able to get a fixed 30 yr mortgage with only 5 percent down....it is all about the credit score. I don't care how pushy these banks were during the housing boom. These people who thought they could by a 500,000 house with a payment of 1000 for interest and never pay down principal are really barking up the wrong tree. Im not patting myself on the back...but really...its the people who are paying their mortgage on time...that eventually will be bailing out these people.

I blame white collar individuals such as, lawyer, loan officers, banks and title companies that allow fraudulent deals to go down at the closing table. It’s always someone turning a blind eye to make a buck off of an innocent family. Cheating homeowners out their hard earned equity and property. Arms loans should not have been suggested to uneducated consumers, who do not understand the mortgage industry and the criteria of getting out of an Arms loan before it mature. People loss their homes, because they did not refinance their property prior to the maturity of the loan. These were high risk loans made to uneducated consumers. In addition to maintaining a good credit score during the fixed period of the Arms loan deal in order to refinance to a fixed loan versus an adjustable loan. I can only speak for myself, but I believe white collar individuals were greedy with profits, using the profits for illegal activities and scheming innocent families out of their homes. In this case, it is horrendous practices, and the government needs to track down and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those individuals who are abusing the mortgage industry. The mortgage industry needs to be fair to all individuals of every race, creed, etc. And this has not been the case ever in America history. God is not mock; know that the old way of doings things are coming to past. People, who think they are smart, are being exposed for the scammers they are. These are people we are trusting to handle our loan documents, and our personal data, etc. Innocent people think they are getting a great deal, but in actuality it all about the money being made off the deal!

How uneducated do you have to be to not understand your own financial limitations? Every buisness is out there to make money and if that means possibly screwing you over than so be it. Americans need to start making wise decsions and quit blaming the government or buinsess to "look out" for them. We do not need the government to regulate how much we can spend, people need to be smart about what the can afford. Just because someone says you can afford something does not mean you can. People only hear what they want to hear. The same thing could go for the car industry as well. How many people do you know who drive a car they clearly can't afford? Bottom line: people hve to start being responsible for their poor decsion making. We as a country need to drop the "keeping up with the Jones" attitude.

the lenders because all they want is the money

I blame the government that forced the lenders to give out those loans, and those in government who did not take action when warned.

The purchaser must take some blame/ responsibility. However, the reality is that people take advice from the experts. That's just the way it works for most of us. "If the expert says so then it must be OK." So I blame the lenders and real estate agents the most.

no.

Not all who bought with bad loans were uneducated victims. Many were people who thought it was automatic that their home would double in value, many were investors, and then some were idiots. Ultimately it is the buyer's responsiblity in anything. If the snake oil salesman sees an idiot to sell to, it is the idiot's fault for buying. People like me COULD have bought with a crappy loan, but didn't. People are responsible for themselves, not evil salesman or corporations as the liberals like to put out there that everyone is a fucking victim all the time. People are victim to themselves through greed or idiocy.

I blame everybody! The people who took out the loans, the officers that made the loans, the bank managers who condoned it. Conspicuous consumption has always outpaced personal savings in the U.S. and this loan problem is a manifestation of that. As a percentage of disposable income, the mean savings rate for the US in 2004 was 4.7, for Spain it was 10.6, for Nederlands 13 and for 13.7. The Wealth that made this country what powerful happened when we had a much stronger savings rate-which has declined significantly since the 1960s. Owning an expensive house is part of the American dream and, unfortunately, too many US American buy into the hype. So the home buyers are to blame, so is our general culture of spending over saving, and every predatory financial officer in between.

Both. Ignorance is generally no defense.

i blame the buyers , how can they buy a home if they cant do simple math ?

I feel unfortunately that both parties are to blame. If people are that unaware of or irresponsible with financial responsibilities like leins, loans, mortgages or the purchases of big ticket items..well they probably shouldn't go and get themselves a 6 figure monkey on their back. But who can deny that banks made it easy, enticing and who can deny the majority of the "American Dream" is owning a home/land. Banks knew what they were doing by targeting lower income brackets and high risk borrowers.