Obama administration pushes banks to make home loans to people with weaker credit

[Hassin Bin Sober]

51. Yep.

It's amazing that, even here on DU, we still have people who think poor minorities buying homes crashed the economy. I know one of the usual suspects in this thread thinks it was Barney Frank's fault - but that is her shtick.

Last time I looked, the traditionally underwritten low to moderate income loans like Fannie's "My Community" of Freddie's "Affordable Gold" were outperforming the rest of the market - most certainly outperforming the unusually high rate of foreclosures on $700k plus loans.

The programs I mention above were full doc loans with relatively conservative underwriting guidelines that allowed people with mediocre scores to qualify for loans.

They weren't loans peddled by Lehman's or Bear Sterns or HR Block - all investment houses that had their own mortgage lending arms. There were several more but I forget the players.

I'll never forget the time. right before the crash, when some rep. came around with flyers for a "no doc, no income, 580 FICO, non-owner occupy, no money down" loan. I thought "how the fuck?"

That wasn't a "government backed" or agency (fannie Freddie) loan. It was an investment house loan. A juice loan but folks who had extra money laying around and wanted to "put some money on the street" ... kind of like the guys on The Sopranos.