Quote:
Originally Posted by srmom
Those crazy lending schemes were a by-product, and it wasn't just Florida retirees and California yuppies that caused it.
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Did I say that it was
just inland California (believe me, not yuppie central) and southern Florida? No, but I do put the lion's share of the blame on conditions in those regions.
If you look at the twenty counties with the highest foreclosure rates or with the highest rates of defaulted subprime loans, usually 15 of them are in inland California or southern Florida. I've seen different lists with different results, but the only non-CA or south Florida counties tend to be in Michigan, sometimes Clark County Nevada or in the Phoenix metro area. I don't make this stuff up. Clearly subprime mortgages were everywhere--even here in NYC--but to not understand that these two areas were ground zero for the subprime crisis, and therefore the foreclosure mess, is myopic at best and ignorant at worst.
I blame the homebuyers--and these areas are clearly the easiest target--because no one puts a gun to your head and makes you buy a home. Like I said before, I got all sorts of credit card offers thrown at me during this whole time, but did I take advantage of them? No, I didn't. Neither did most people.