"Both obviously. A mortgage contract has two parties." Maybe yes, but there's more. During the past several years, there have been three, not two, parties to the mortgage. Only two are present at closing, but that third is really calling the shots. In days of yore, banks (or other financial institutions) lent their own money to finance individuals' purchases of homes - hence the strict credit checks and down payment requirements. As the practice of shifting risk to mortgage bundlers and outside investors grew, the initial mortgage lending institution, the one requiring title search, down payment, etc., became more a mortgage salesman, looking no longer for the long-term cash stream of the mortgage itself, but rather for the commission that comes from selling the mortgage (and passing on the risk) to the third party. More sales, more commissions, more moving off the books to make mortgages someone else's problem. Very simply put, the breakdown came when those investors failed to require the same assurances of credit, down payment, and the like of the home buyer that the banks used to demand and a lot of people found the situation just too tempting. So, I would suggest that all 3 acted irresponsibly. Now, how can we link this thread to computers? Dan
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