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It wasn't hard to take good notes from the contributions I received from YOU. What was hard was reading your messages. Your experiences with predatory mortgage lending, bankruptcy, foreclosures were ..... what's the word I'm looking for? Intense. From what I have read in your messages, this is what I think has happened. A few years back interest rates were insanely low. Mortgage refinancing and home equity lending dominated the internet, spam email and even print and television advertising. Everyone knew someone who was a 'mortgage broker'. It seemed a perfect way to re-finance, lower monthly house payments, pay off bills, add on a room, send kids to college, take a once in a life time vacation. I'll admit that some submissions seemed a bit greedy. Many more were in genuine need of financial relief. Does it seem to you all that those with the most hardship and need are most often the victims of unscrupulous predators? The world seems a bit upside down that way doncha think? With many of you, things were fine for a while. The kids stayed home on Saturday night to watch the new plasma tv or swim in the pool. Credit cards were easier to get and the slide to debt began all over again. Then the fine print kicked in. Sure, your mortgage lender may have emphasized that the rates will go DOWN with interest rates. Variable rate mortgages ALSO go UP with interest rates. Some folks reported that rising interest rates doubled, tripled and even quadrupled their monthly payment. Now wait a minute! I'm not all that great with arithmetic but even I can't figure out how a rise in interest rates from 3% to 7% could equal such a huge increase in payment. The even finer print!!! Writers to me reported that their interest rates went up beyond the increase in the fed rate. How can this be? Well here's the stinking part of the fine print of some predatory lending contracts. If you miss or are late with ONE payment, your variable rate can go up as high as the lender chooses. And get this.... somehow through the magic of database management, you can be late with a credit card payment and your mortgage interest rate can go up. As can your credit card interest rate. So what happens? <NEXT>
Your stories are welcome! We'll collect them, consolidate and publish. No real names or people are used so fear not. We'll protect your privacy and anonymity.
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