How come we "don't know" the extent of the "sub-prime" crisis?

[SoCalDem]

These loans are ON PAPER (well in a computer ..but y'know what I mean)

Why doesn't the government DEMAND an immediate audit of ALL the "players" and make them own up to it all at once?

I know that regulations are pretty lax these days, but what's happening here is FRAUD..

As long as these banks are allowed to low-ball their losses and play "hide the big fat pyramid scheme", people are expected to (and ARE) still pumping their hard earned dollars into 201-k's (not a typo), and hoping that the "smart guys" figure it all out.. there are the same "smart guys" who probably would lose their lunch money on a street corner 3-card monte game..

By dribbling it out, over a long time, the final result will still be the same, but the time it takes to air all the dirty laundry, gives CEO's time to abscond with even MORE money :grr:

[dysfunctional press]

1. they don't know how many people won't be able to make their payments...

when the variable rate mortgages reset...:shrug:

[SoCalDem]

2. Shouldn;t be too hard to figure out.. credit reports pretty well predict

who can afford what's coming.. Banks USED to run checks and do the math BEFORE they loaned 400K to a couple making $30K a year:rofl:

[dysfunctional press]

3. people's financial situations change...

they lose jobs, get jobs, have family move in...lots of people do whatever they can to scrape together that monthly payment. until the loans actually go into default, there's no way to get an actual accounting of which loans definitely will.

[InkAddict]

6. Why won't anyone look at the wholesale job losses

timed for greatest impact. It did not matter if one was adequately educated, didn't matter what credit score one had maintained in the past, didn't matter how the indiviudal contributed to their companies or communities. Why did lenders even bother to cut loans to IT workers, factory workers, retail personnel?

TPTB created a vast instability by disregarding the contributions of American workers in their communities, and made up for it untold number of times through greedy, fraudulent practices and fiscal irresponsibility.

They knew damned well, and long ago, that anyone in those occupations could never fulfill a 15-30-year committment of payments without significant down-time that claimed savings, credit scores, property stewardship, and self-esteem. Heck, they were financing the corporatists outsourcing, mergers, downsizing ventures, and deals to sweeten the pot of hiring H1Bs.

They, like everyone else, just ignored the BIGGEST elephant in the room...that good jobs and good continuous training for those jobs were going elsewhere.

[bullimiami]

4. accounting reform was supposed to make the executives of these companies criminally liable

for honest bookkeeping.

another law passed, another ignored to the benefit of the rich and powerful and the detriment of the rest.

[Virginia Dare]

5. Probably because they're not sure how many people were duped into lying

many unscrupulous lenders had their applicants lie in order to get approved for high-priced properties. Not to mention the unscrupulous appraisers who were purposely overvaluated properties.