Did Your Mortgage Broker Lie to You?

The news is overwhelming us with revelations of crime from the highest echelons of bankers to the lowest climes of con artists, all seeking to make a buck - or a few million - on the surging real estate market of the past few years and the free and easy credit that followed. Every business has its scum bags, but the more money that's involved the more people are willing to risk to try to get some of it. Every sports-loving couch potato knows that!

Banking is heavily regulated. Criminal acts are illegal. So is using steroids before the playoffs. My point is that criminal minds justify bending, or breaking, the rules. When that behavior becomes commonplace, it is socially elevated from criminal to substandard. There's a reason pushy, sleazy used car salesmen are a stereotype, but social acceptance eliminated neither used car salesmen nor the greasy sleazy ones.

And this brings us back to something that has long plagued the lending industry. Lenders may build rapport and work hard and be genuinely supportive in helping you get a long. They may educate you about loan products options, and so forth. But their commitment to helping you navigate the murky waters of mysterious line charges on the loan doc stops short of explaining so that it sinks in fully just how indentured you will be for the next 15, 30 or even 40 years on your home loan.

This morning  revised the lead article to this website, "Are You Being Duped by Your Lender?" I also added this clever picture which can be taken two ways: 1) I hope I get the sale, or 2) I hope they don't see how much this is going to cost them in the long run and back out. Hmm. I guess those are both the same thing.

I'm not saying lenders are bad people. I'd guess most are genuine, sincere and honest. I really like the mortgage broker who helped us buy this house and then advised us on refinancing two years later when rates had fallen. I'm just alleging they stop short of their responsibilities by not making sure home buyers know what they're getting into besides the dream home.

As I said on that page:

Borrowing money itself is not what's wrong. What's amiss are the terms of the loan, terms few people understand. For the 97% that are the rest of us, we’re getting sold down the river under the guise of being helped to “live the American dream”—a dream of freedom no matter what country you live in.

You need to learn what the banker didn't tell you.

And you need to be on my mailing list to learn more things the lenders don't reveal–and how knowing them can save you big money.