With millions of homeowners falling into foreclosure, real estate agent and Web site creator Lisa LaShawn is taking aim at the mortgage industry with two Web sites that put a humorous spin on an otherwise serious problem.
LaShawn created IHateMortgageBrokers.com and AngryMobTshirts.com; both sites carry humorous T-shirts and other products that target the mortgage industry. The T-shirts at IhateMortgageBrokers.com have slogans on them that read," Mortgage Brokers Suck!" and " Beware of the Mortgage Broker." Visitors to the site can sign an online petition to demand stronger regulation of the mortgage industry.
"Victims of the foreclosure crisis are getting slammed on the TV and radio," LaShawn says. "If I had a dollar for every time Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck said 'It's not my fault they bought homes they couldn't afford,' I'd be a millionaire."
"People were steered toward 'risky' Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) with low teaser rates, because most brokers got higher commissions on these loans," said LaShawn. Brokers told them if they got ARM loans and made their payments on time, they could refinance later and get low "fixed rate" loans.
When home values started to fall refinancing became a problem. People were stuck with mortgages that significantly increased after the teaser period expired. "These loans are like financial quicksand," LaShawn says. "They should have never been sold to people in the first place."
LaShawn's goal is to collect 1 million signatures for the petition by December 31st and send it to the U.S. Congress.
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Comments
Mortgage Conditions and Reasons
The GREEDY MORTGAGE INDUSTRY and OUTSOURCING are the two main reason for the condition of the mortgage industry today. The problem of the Mortgage Companies is the greed to make Millions of Dollars every quarter of the year. The main problem is that more of the mortgage companies are interested in their profits and not interested in educating the applicants of the pros and cons of the mortgage products being presented. Also Outsourcing of jobs to countries for cheap labor and tax breaks have put numerous US workers out of jobs. Great job United State Government (Senators and Representatives). As always the rich get richer and the less fortunate get shafted.
I'm Glad I Read This Article
I for one don't think ur stupid. For the longest time I thought people buying an ARM were being sold a prosthetic limb. I couldn't figure out why, but then, who knows how many people may have paid an arm and a leg for their homes. This would've just been a sort of "you pay half, we'll pay the other half," sort of like taxes on your paycheck.
We all know that we're not responsible for anything, and if something bad happens, we can just sue somebody. And if we can't sue someone, at least we can buy a nice teddy bear with a good tee-shirt. I assume Lisa takes credit cards?
Guilty as charged... and then some!
Takes two to dance
First it's worth noting that from a target marketing standpoint , people who can't afford to pay for necessities like their house *shouldn't* be able to afford purchasing fluffy little insults. If they do, there's a serious question about it being someone else's fault they are in financial difficulty.
Nobody NEEDS 2500 - 5000 sq ft straight out of college. It really IS possible to live a nice life without a media room, granite, and a pool. It is a weak argument to blame someone else because you heard only what you wanted so you could impress your buddies by having more stuff than they have. Apparently nobody told the current crop of buyers "Pride goes before the fall".
Yes, there ARE lenders that tell people only what they want to hear, and there were loans made that lenders should be shot for making. It is a case of excess greed on both sides, and it is causing the expected result... a collapsing market in which the buyers are losing homes, lenders are losing companies.
RESULT
Now many others that didn't have anything whatsoever to do with it are being affected adversely by the stupidity of lenders who made ridiculous loans and buyers that bought more than they could reasonably expect to pay for.
Madam Knows Not
First of all Lisa you are marketing to a very few people. So all the teddy bears and tight girl t-shirts are only for a few people that I would call trash. Yes even though this is a great country we do have trashy people here. Its the nature of things. Just think if people would use their money to buy something that would create a positive cash flow, pay a bill, or leverage a piece of real estate then my guess is that all the money you spent on the merchandise is lost. I bet within the next six months you will foreclose on your house and be forced to try an get out of the variable rate that you now have. Talk to mortgage broker who could try and find a lender for you to sell whatever lousy note you got. Just for you I will negotiate your note for you. But my price for your insulting web sites is going to be 12%. Take all the teddy bears and t-shirts and give them to a needy child or give them to the salvation army. Maybe you will be able to claim a loss on your taxes.
You Sir are a DISASTER
If the public would do their due diligence and take the time to make sound financial choices then I think the mortgage business and the economy would be just fine.
Living beyond their means, we all have did it at one time or another. Such as credit . Someone with a 5, 000 dollar credit limit will take that card and buy a new HDTV but they would not try and leverage for something that could actually make them money such as a piece of real estate. Need I go on? If your that stupid then I guess not. Go get an education. I could really use a guy like you to laugh at in my office.
As for my thoughts about this article and your ignorant website. Like I said before YOur a Disaster.
The Reason
We Americans like to live outside our means, we need to step back and say " I am going to stay within my budget"
The loans the people fell into where loans they where not qualified to payback. A person earning $60,000 a year can not afford a million dollar home loan.
Cute domains though for a clever marketing idea
Mary
http://www.NationalShowTickets.com
Wrong Reason...
The reason that people were steered toward ARM's was for a lower interest rate and payment (initially). Borrowers shopping between brokers would look at these two factors and pick the ARM over a fixed rate.
Mortgage Brokers got lazy, instead of possibly loosing a client and a comission by forcing their clients to listen to the facts about ARM's, they took the easy way out.
There are classes for First Time Home Buyers, I honestly think there should be classes for people that are getting ARM loans so we know they understand what they are getting into. A little education on the buyers part could have helped a lot.
Your Stupid
Your an idiot for writting something like this. You are probably the first person that came into my office for a NO INTEREST LOAN and 6 Month No Payments, your also the first to file BK for mortgage protection and say you were ripped off. ALL in the same time, you refinanced 20,000 in credit debt, paid off your child support, AND took another 14,000 cash in hands to take you and your family in a caribe cruise..... ALL WAS A DREAM UNTIL YOU FOUND OUT THERE WAS AN EASY BANDWAGGIN FOR YOU TO CLIMB ON AND CRY CRY CRY STUPID STORIES. The Mortgage Brokers arent at fault, your the dumb ass for accepting a MORTGAGE CONTRACT with the TERMS.... YOU YOU YOU created this loan, not th broker. The Broker only processed the information that you provided to them.... I Hate idiots like you..... People like you are what made a small housing market crash, into the talespin it is today. I hope congress burns the websites you ahve created.
And you are somewhat of an
And you are somewhat of an idiot too, maybe even a little stupid too. Did you even read what you wrote? Even your headline is STUPID:
"Your Stupid" is incorrect
it should be:
"You're Stupid"
As in "You Are Stupid"
Have you forgotten your manners? Not to mention everything your grade school teachers taught you about correct word usage? How can any intelligent person respect what you have written when you cannot even differentiate between the words YOU and YOU'RE.
If you had made one YOU versis YOU'RE error in your post an intelligent person might look the other way, but repeatedly as you did is purely insulting to the reader.
Perhaps it is time for you to visit a basic grammar guide. That's smart.
Spelling Bee
Since you incorrectly spelled the word "versus," what does that make you???
Banks
Banks rather than Mortgage Brokers are the culprit.
Bank mortgage salespeople have no education, no regulation, and no ethics, as opposed to Mortgage Brokers who are educated, regulated, and who follow strict ethics.
Banks are the ones who underwrote the loans, and who decided what terms to offer.
When someone gets drunk on vacation and does something bad. Do you blame the airline who flew people to their vacation, or do you blame the bartender who served them the alcohol on vacation? Mortgage Brokers are the airline - Banks were the Bartender, and Wall St was the alcohol maker.
Banks and Wall St want to blame the Mortgage Brokers, and people are buying into it - stop and examine the facts.
Accountability for your own stupid purchases
There is NO WAY I'd ever sign my name to a loan for hundreds of thousands of dollars unless I absolutely knew I could afford it. How stupid are you to take the word of someone whose JOB IT IS to make money off you that you can "refinance later". Absurd.
People need to own their mistakes and deal with the consequences. There is too much coddliing of idiots in this country. The victims are the children of parents who are too stupid to make informed decisions.
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