I dare anyone to be able to afford their mortgage when the interest rate jumps 20%. You are seeing that number right, aren't you? From, say, 7% to 27%? In the UK, only store credit cards have that high a rate.

Yes, some people overstretch themselves, but the current financial crisis wasn't caused by those people. Most of the people losing their houses aren't those people.

They are people that took out a loan at 7%, which was pushed to 10%, then 15%, then 20% until they had to walk away. Hundreds of thousands of people. Have a heart, for the love of god.

But I don't live in the UK.......
I live in America.

That WAS America :O The whole world is in a credit crunch because of the American sub-prime fiasco and you don't seem to have heard of it.

Interesting and quite scary.

I can well believe that many people were verbally misled by unscrupulous mortgage brokers. But every mortgage note is legally required to have a complete explanation of its terms, including any future increases in interest rates. People who bought houses without understanding the full implications of the mortgage they are using are due little sympathy, imo, particularly as so many folks bought houses they realistically couldn't afford because "house prices always go up".

The US mortgage mess extends far beyond sub-prime mortgages. Lending standards were far too lax for all kinds of borrowers and once house prices stopped rising the inevitable deluge of foreclosures is happening.

and when they did, America just got Equity loans and lines of credit....

but I've not heard of the credit cruch.

It's not a credit crunch, it's a keeping up with the Jones's crunch.

Keeping up with the Jones' requires some form of credit card debt. Some just don't know how to live within their means. However we aren't the only country in that state of mind.

But they COULD afford the price at the interest rate they were given.


I'm a little horrified that you have NO PROBLEM with this. So, if I get mugged in the street, it's my fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?


It's usury and it's morally wrong and I can't believe that you think it's OK for banks to take advantage of people like this.



Up until this point, I had been wondering why there hadn't been some kind of moral outrage at this over there, and now I understand why. It's because too many people just don't give a shit as long as nothing bad happens to them.

Oh. My. God.





manc, you haven't heard of the credit crunch?

I know, it's just the only country I live in.

Oh man

Nope. Haven't you seen reports of the UK being up to their ears in credit card debt?

I think dear Manc is on wind up mode tonight, lol Or else he's just pissed off at the world.

yes dear.

I've also heard of paying cash and not getting myself into WAAY to much debt and wondering why my wallet is empty cos Gas is going up and the war isn't over and jobs are going to India.....

yet McCain might get in November.........

No, they could not afford it because they weren't "given" an interest rate that would remain fixed for the term of the loan. People bought because they could afford the initial rate and gave little thought to what would happen when that rate increased according to the terms of the loan and bet that ever increasing house prices would allow them to refinance their way out of trouble. Many have lost that bet.

A complete an utter non-sequiter.

No, it's because people are responsible for their own financial decisions.

If you sign a contract with the mugger allowing him what he may steal and having a clause in the contract waiving your rights to have him to come back and steal more when Alan Greenspan says he can........

then yes.