The Problem Of The Foreclosure Crisis

This is a popular choice for first time homebuyers. The FHA loans enable you to acquire a home with a smaller downpayment. The program is designed to allow almost anybody to purchase his own home as it makes it easier for homebuyers to qualify

Subprime mortgage lending is the origination of residential mortgage loans to customers with impaired credit histories. Typically, these borrowers have lower credit scores and/or other credit deficiencies that prevent them from qualifying for prime mortgages. Subprime borrowers pay premium above the prime market rate in order to compensate the lender for bearing greater default risk. In addition, subprime borrowers pay higher origination and continuous costs, such as applications fees, appraisal fees, mortgage insurance payments, late fees and fines for delinquent payments.

Subprime lending became prevalent in the early 2000’s when property values were sky-rocketing and many Americans thought they would fulfill their home ownership dreams, by obtaining loans they may not otherwise qualify for. A subprime loan is a loan offered to an individual who does not qualify for a loan at the prime rate due to their credit history. Subprime loans have higher interest rates because of the risk that the lender is taking. During the early 2000’s the housing market was great for homebuyers, since interest rates where low and property values

     What is happening is that there are some unethical lending practices that are threatening the housing industry as a whole. The concern involves the practices of some sub-prime lenders. These practices are considered to be “predatory” on consumers. Sub-prime lenders offer home loans (Equity Loans & 1st Time Home Purchase Loans) to moderate to lower income families. These clients are considered to be high credit risk borrowers, also know as B-C-D credit clients. Interest rates and other loan terms generally cost more than those paid by clients served by prime lenders with better credit records (A credit clients). Sub-prime borrowers end up paying more simply because the risk of loan repayment is fundamentally higher than that of a prime market borrower.

The financial crisis emerged because of an excessive deregulation of business operation of financial institutions and of abusing the securitization mechanism in the absence of clearly defined rules to regulate this area in the American mortgage market (Krstić, Jemović, & Radojičić, 2013). Deregulation gives larger banks the opportunity to loosen underwriting lender guidelines and generate increase opportunity for homeownership (Kroszner & Strahan, 2013). After deregulation, banks utilized many versions of mortgage loans. Mortgage loans such as subprime and Alternative-A paper loans became available for borrowers challenged to find mortgage lenders before deregulation (Elbarouki, 2016; Palmer, 2015). The housing market has been severely affected by fluctuating interest rates and the requirement of large down payment (Follain, & Giertz, 2013). The subprime lending crisis has taken a toll on the nation’s economy since 2007. Individuals who lacked sufficient credit ratings or down payments resorted to subprime mortgages to finance their homes Defaults on subprime and other mortgages precipitated the foreclosure crisis, which contributed to the recent recession and national financial crisis (Odetunde, 2015). Subprime mortgages were appropriate for borrowers with substandard credit and Alternate-A paper loans were

Prior to the 2008 economic depression, obtaining a mortgage was relatively simple for home buyers. However, many of those mortgages had provisions that made it difficult for borrowers to repay their mortgages (“Dodd-Frank,” n.d.). As a result, many homeowners lost their homes when they were unable to repay their mortgages, which led to the real estate crisis. In 2010 the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, also known as the Dodd-Frank Act, was enacted to reform how mortgage servicers vetted borrowers and to eliminate the use of predatory loan practices (Cheeseman, 2013, p. 485). Under the Dodd-Frank Act, creditors must establish borrower’s credit history, income and expected income, debt-to-income ratio, and other factors before

potential homeowners to purchase their own homes. Loans that had at one point been impossible

The house market has started to rise again, and for so saying that, many boomerang buyers are heading back to the housing market. People who go through foreclosure can rebuild credit records and qualify for home loans again in three to seven years if they manage their finances well. With many home prices still at low prices and interest rates near record lows, today’s boomerang buyers might even find their next mortgage more affordable than the one before. Most of boomerang buyers are around areas such as California and Arizona where the house market took the hardest hit by foreclosures, and their return is contributing to rebounds in those markets. Going forward, many growing numbers of boomerang buyers could help the offset the expected slackening in demand from investors as home prices start to rise, says Stan Humphries, economist for real estate website Zillow.

It is not surprising that after having lost their homes either in foreclosure or short sale, “foreclosure victims” were hesitant to purchase new homes. Losing a home, a place of stability, safety, and family, is just as mentally taxing as economically. However, as the world economy is recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, so are the victims of the housing market crash are slowly opening up to taking up mortgages and becoming home-owners once again.

Brooklyn, NY – December 30, 2009 Foreclosures continue to rise drastically across the United States due to the recession, and have effected, and continue to affect thousands of families and individuals every day. One aspect we must take into consideration is that most people are not informed of what foreclosure means, or the process, even those who are homeowners. I believe that one step to preventing foreclosure is to educate first-time homebuyers. In addition, first-time homebuyer programs should not only assist potential buyers with financially preparing them to buy a home, but to keep the home once

As the foreclosure crisis in the United States continues to spiral, increasing attention is being given to novel and creative solutions for reducing the risk of mortgage default. The Obama administration has proposed several government-backed programs to help homeowners stay in their homes, and private lenders have tried various approaches to stabilize the economic situation. To date, none of the enacted efforts has substantially improved the crisis, and as such the number of homeowners filing for bankruptcy and entering foreclosure continues to mount.

During the great recession of ‘07-’09, the subprime mortgage crisis claimed the homes of 4.8 million individuals who lost their residence to foreclosure while an additional 2.2 million borrowers surrendered to short sale. These victims suffered substantial blows to their credit, with foreclosures and short sales costing them anywhere from 85-160 credit points, according to Jon Maddux, president of Drop Mortgage, Inc. It took years for people to rebuild their lives and finances, but real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and homebuilders are noticing some rather surprising trends. With the country’s economic recovery slowly yet steadily underway, many former victims of foreclosure—repelled by a rise in rental rates and enticed by affordable home prices—have found themselves back in the market. They have come to be known as “boomerang buyers.”

A Utilitarian would look at this situation and weigh the hedons and dolors to decide if sub-prime lending is considered an ethical practice. They would see that, initially, the lender is trying to help a person who normally would not be able to afford a home, have the opportunity to purchase one. In doing so, they were also doing themselves good because it helped them increase their sales, and businesses became more profitable. This also helped real estate companies and people selling their homes because it allowed more people

Subprime lenders are lenders who, for a price, are willing to assume a higher risk than conventional lenders to purchase or refinance homes (Setzer, 2004).

One of the first indications of the late 2000 financial crisis that led to downward spiral known as the “Recession” was the subprime mortgages; known as the “mortgage mess”. A few years earlier the substantial boom of the housing market led to the uprising of mortgage loans. Because interest rates were low, investors took advantage of the low rates to buy homes that they could in return ‘flip’ (reselling) and homeowners bought homes that they typically wouldn’t have been able to afford. High interest rates usually keep people from borrowing money because it limits the amount available to use for an investment. But the creation of the subprime mortgage