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How about the borrower's educating themselves a little, taking some personal responsibility and showing some restraint?
Nah. That would mean we would have to rely on the intelligence, the responsibility and the good judgement of the general public. And God knows, THOSE qualities went the way of the dodo a long time ago.
I don't necessarily disagree. Certainly there is a role for "Caveat Emptor" here. And, certainly anyone old enough to be signing a mortgage SHOULD be smart enough to know that something that sounds too good to be true PROBABLY IS. And yet... do you hear people blaming Adam and/or Eve because the serpent TEMPTED them? Is it the fault of the common man that mortgage documents are damn nearly impossible to decipher? No - there's plenty of blame to go around - and the evidence of the culpability of the mortgage industry is: THEY ARE LOSING THEIR AS*ES NOW. In what should be a VERY careful industry, this is (to me) the very best evidence that THEY are largely at fault. Hoist by their own petard, if you will.
"Is it the fault of the common man that mortgage documents are damn nearly impossible to decipher?"
Yes, it is. There are books at the library that will help you step by step. There is the Internet that if full of all the information you need, as well as posts of people sharing their experiences. If you still can't understand the document, hire a professional who can, and who will advise you whether to take out the mortgage or not.
If you can't understand the mortgage system, and can't afford to hire someone to advise you on something that affects your life, your future and your finances, then you really need to question whether a mortgage is for you.
Got any other sad, lame excuses? Sorry, but people need to pull their heads out of "American Idol" and "Lost" and start educating themselves on real world issues for a change.
I'm not making sad, lame excuses. Why are YOU so absolutely INSISTENT on clearing the mortgage industry of any wrongdoing? You by any chance WORK for one of those weasels? And, if you have ever actually CLOSED on a home, you MIGHT possibly be aware that in MANY instances the mortgage company is apt to CHANGE some things right at the very last minute and present you with a set of documents - AT CLOSING - that you have never seen before, and don't really have an opportunity to study at leisure. Because they diddle you around until the payout on your existing is JUST about to expire and you CAN'T (reasonable) postpone the closing to consult the library, the internet, or an attorney. Not to mention possibly taking another day off work.
Even if there is an attorney SITTING AT YOUR TABLE, he won't have a proper chance to go through the papers. This has been done to me, personally, TWICE. After the second time, I have warned everyone involved that any changes in paperwork made at closing will result in a lawsuit. It SHOULDN'T be necessary to make threats like that, but sometimes it is.
Another example: Right here, in the Chicago area, there is a mortgage company running ads advising that they will do your mortgage "for free - NO closing costs. It won't cost you a nickel." This is a lie. What they do is, they don't charge closing costs OK, but they DO add a quarter or half point to your rate. They sort of forget to mention that in their ads. I personally complained to the States Attorney (we have laws against misleading advertising) and NOW their ads are a bit more honest. If mortgage companies didn't LIE, and weren't extraordinarily greedy, maybe they wouldn't have the big trouble they now have.
"there is a mortgage company running ads advising that they will do your mortgage "for free - NO closing costs. It won't cost you a nickel."
Come on, joeblowe.... Did you just fall off a turnip truck? Are you new to the American way of advertising? If you are, I'll let you in on a little secret: Advertising is used to SELL PRODUCTS. Advertising is designed to appeal to our BASE DESIRES. There is LITTLE TRUTH in advertising.
As such, it's again up to the buyers to beware. YOU have the power as a consumer to not only choose which mortgage company to do business with, but also to bring aboard anyone you wish to help you make a sound decision. Or to choose not to buy anything at all. YOU act as if we're all dummies, just standing around waiting for someone to take advantage of us. I don't care that they "diddle you around" to sign "at the very last minute". NEVER sign anything you don't understand.
"There is LITTLE TRUTH in advertising" - perhaps you haven't heard: there are laws in many states (Illinois is one) that make some effort to INSURE that there IS, in fact, truth in advertising. Why would you excuse ANYONE for flat out LYING to entice someone to sign up for something - to their eventual detriment? Who raised you, anyway?
wolfie..
We have had real estate attorneys review closing documents. It was done PRIOR to closing in all but one case. We simply told them to send every document to his office before closing. We took the documents he had "pre-approved" with us and compared them to the documents we were signing
The attorney was actually there at the very first closing we ever had. There is no time limit on closing. He reviewed every document BEFORE we signed
If you paid an attorney to review documents and he didn't, you certainly didn't get what you were paying for