Comments on: Race and the Housing Crisis

By: louis vuitton

louis vuitton — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:50:36 +0000

It is easy to blame the poor. The don't usually live next door, and are somewhat invisible to the middle/upper class. But I think those same people who blame the poor and their lack of calculator skills, should be mad as anything about the predatory practices of the banking elite. They take enormous risks daily, lobby congress for lessening banking regulations, for expanded free trade- anything to enable the expansion of their risky behavior. They take advantage of all of us asking for a mortgage. Have you ever looked at the amount of interest paid for a 15-year or 30-year mortgage? Who is backing Fannie and Freddie? I think the answer is “us”.

By: janise90

janise90 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:58:07 +0000

The article was about minorities in the same financial situation as their white counterparts being more likely to be offered a sub prime loan and as a result end up either paying more for their home or having to foreclose. It had nothing to do with poor people getting sub prime loans.

By: janise90

janise90 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:58:07 +0000

By: jamesvsheets78

jamesvsheets78 — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 08:04:32 +0000

Race and the Housing Crisis, I love this issue verymuch Karls Mortgage Calculator . Thank you for sharing this information.

By: jamesvsheets78

jamesvsheets78 — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:04:32 +0000

Race and the Housing Crisis, I love this issue very much Karl’s Mortgage Calculators . Thank you for sharing this information.

By: DNice

DNice — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:44:43 +0000

That was then and this is now. Guess what we're still all in this together and a house divided against itself cannot and will not stand. One nation under God…… get real.

By: samson

samson — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:06:54 +0000

What seems to be missing here is the percentage of white mortgage applicants that recieved no mortgage at all. For this story to be complete, the data concerning regection rates of both groups needs to be disclosed.

By: jes008

jes008 — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:04:52 +0000

Race is too often misused. In the case of the home mortgage discussion, race is a surrogate for being poor. More (not all) black and brown folks are poor and those folks in worse economic conditions take out more subprime loans. Poverty does not prevent people from using a calculator, but it does convince people to take greater short term risks than those who are more financially secure. More poor people play the lottery. Nobody cares, because the cause of a lottery ticket is cheap. More poor people took out subprime loans. Everybody cares because of the housing crises. But the motivation to take the risk in both cases is the same- the expectation of living the American dream. Are poor people entitled to that dream, to take risks to obtain it?

It is easy to blame the poor. The don't usually live next door, and are somewhat invisible to the middle/upper class. But I think those same people who blame the poor and their lack of calculator skills, should be mad as anything about the predatory practices of the banking elite. They take enormous risks daily, lobby congress for lessening banking regulations, for expanded free trade- anything to enable the expansion of their risky behavior. They take advantage of all of us asking for a mortgage. Have you ever looked at the amount of interest paid for a 15-year or 30-year mortgage? Who is backing Fannie and Freddie? I think the answer is "us".

The mortgage crises is a shared blame and I think, if you don't know how to use a calculator, you couldn't have the privilege of running a bank either.

By: arachne646

arachne646 — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:36:39 +0000

The point is not that the “coloured folks” or whatever they are called in your neighborhood just made poor financial decisions and now are playing the race card, it's that we don't all get the same menu to choose from in the first place! Wake up and smell the coffee America! The rest of the world sees your segregated society but white people and Bill Cosby say there's no more racism standing in people's way.

I'm a white mom in Vancouver, Canada, and minorities here have it tough, but we try to work together to fight poverty and build a better country. Our poor neighbourhoods have few banks and lots of cheque cashing payday loan places, and I'm sure yours do too, so before the bank even gets a look at you, you have probably been drained financially and don't know it. And I just heard an ad for mortgage loans here promise “property value guaranteed to increase”. So how were you clever people the only ones in the economy to see the truth?

By: xerock

xerock — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:46:01 +0000

If you don't know how to use a calculator, then you shouldn't own a house anyhow.

I'm white and when I was asked if I would like an ARM or a normal mortgage, I went with the normal, old school yo, fixed rate!! Even after the broker (who was black) tried to pressure us into taking the ARM.

I can't stand that people try to tie race to this issue, because it's the subtle racism of lowered expectations, which in a way is worse than overt racism because it's invisible.

They all knew what they were getting into. They knew that the rate would go up, and that when that happened, they wouldn't be able to pay, so then it's time to sell. Oh well. Try thinking next time.