Did Spammers Fuel the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis?
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The question begs to be asked. Did spammers fuel the sub-prime mortgage crisis? This is no common conspiracy theory, my friends. It’s common sense. Indulge me if you will and take a gander at the raft of unsolicited mortgage offers that fill your inbox. A huge percentage of these loan offers tout remarkably low teaser payments, based on highly volatile adjustable rates. Have you ever stopped to consider who might be responding to these poorly worded and misleading messages? Could the tactics and methods employed by the mortgage spammers be a contributing factor to our current economic meltdown?
I’ve been watching the Internet mortgage lead market for a number of years, as part of my research into the Internet economy. There is little question that there are unsavory characters at play in this sector, tarnishing the reputation of many upstanding companies.
It would seem that the tactics employed by the mortgage spammers are self-fulfilling. By bringing in an influx of unwitting and under-qualified borrowers, unscrupulous lead generation companies have plundered the lending institutions. The result is nothing less than economic terrorism.
These aren’t mere bank robbers. Jesse James only knocked over one bank at a time…
[tags]mortgage loans, sub-prime, spam[/tags]
4 Comments
Truemors :: Did Spam Contribute to the Sub-Prime Crisis?
August 27th, 2007
at 1:26pm
[...] Is there a connection between mortgage spam and the sub-prime crisis? Who falls for heinous mortgage spam? Are the gullible actually poor risks that the lenders should have avoided? [...]
LeadCritic
August 28th, 2007
at 7:09am
Your right. I think you can trace everything back to spammers. Those jerks!
Furball123
August 29th, 2007
at 7:28am
Could the tactics and methods employed by the mortgage spammers be a contributing factor to our current economic meltdown?
The only flaw in your theory is that the companies making the loans would have had to known this was happening. Nothing happens in a vaccum. There was more than plenty of greed to go around for all the players. Neither the spammers or the mortgage industry should be left off the hook. If there were some way to put everyone who caused this to happen into the same boat as those who were taken…you might see less of it in the future. On the other hand…people never learn.
George Tallabas
May 3rd, 2008
at 9:58am
What everyone seems to be overlooking is that president Bush went on a mission that started in 2002. In 2002 & 2004 he had two state of the unions where he mandated Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loosen the reigns on credit restrictions. He specifically mentioned lowering or eliminating down payments and easing credit restrictions. He basically opened the door and gave the green light for mortgage lenders to do what they had to do to make sure everyone of age could obtain a mortgage, even if they had no money down and poor credit. In many cases borrowers did not even have to prove their income. As long as they had a pulse they could obtain a home mortgage! President Bush did not mandate the fraud that occured but he clearerly opened the door for it. The result has been the biggest mortgage crisis this country has ever seen. Many qualified individuals believe we have not seen the worst of the short sale and foreclosure effect. God help us all if this mortage crisis lasts another 3-5 years like many experts are predicting.