But that is the deal they enter into.

I respectfully disagree. First I don't believe that banks actually want to get stuck with the property. But property they get stuck with is usually not worth what is owed so they end up losing money on those properties. If the house is worth more than is owed it usually sells and then the bank just gets what it was owed and the owner gets the rest.

A mortgage is ultimately a contract and the agreement is that if you do not pay the mortgage the bank gets the house. It takes two to play and I think you are playing into the hands of the statists.

Agree, don't understand don't sign until you do. My first build home was in NJ and when housing was souring so did my taxes, they started at $2,400.00 in 89 and when I left in the $6,000.00 range. I knew it was time to move on.

Glad they were caught and Jailed. I am sure there are many more who just disappeared.

I will agree they should have been told about all fees no doubt and anyone who lied should be jailed.
Maybe it's just me and I checked everything before I ever buy anything.

Taxes? Subdivision fees? Many people have been caught innocently by these and these made the house unaffordable or put them underwater. Not to mention health problems, or a business that went under.

Bottom line you are ignoring the role of the government in causing this problem. The government was the primary actor and cause. Some of the problems were directly related to the housing crisis, but other bad government decisions also contributed. Place the blame where it is deserved and it is not on greedy home buyers.

I know people who did jail time for appraisals that were too high and fudging numbers on paperwork to get the mortgages passed and the buyers really did not understand what was going on.
I also many people who, like you, were smart enough to handle your finances well.

Also our tax code pushing people into real estate to lower their current taxes and in the case of personal homes the advantage in capital gains. Just another regulation that contributed to the 2008 melt down.

I downsized in 2004 knowing the housing market had to bust, I am downsizing yet again now, No not everyone wants a bigger house then their neighbor.
How did the lenders mislead people,

If they lied about what the payment was then they should be punished accordingly.

I had two mortgages in my life and I was told at least 20 times what my payments were, how many, and when they were due by my attorney as well as the lender.
As I said if you didn't know what your payment was to be you didn't deserve a any loan.
Otherwise oh well.

I do agree wholeheartedly that the meltdown was not caused by deregulation.

My philosophy has always been to never count on what I don't have and that includes income. When I build my first home, I was shocked at how much the banks would loan. It was way out of my comfort zone to borrow as much as I could have. That was my first clue in 1996 we were headed for trouble. I did not realize how bad it was going to be until 2005 when I learned that people were getting interest only, no money down loans, at more than the face value of the property they were buying. Rolling boats & cars & credit card debt into them.
I have to stand on my statement that people signed the mortgage so it is more their responsibility than the lenders or the government. IMHO, this is only the governments problem if we expect them to take care of us.

Very true but, doesn't everyone want a bigger house in a better neighborhood? No one said these people were educated enough in the mortgage lingo as not to be convinced and tricked into signing their life away. They trusted crooked loan officers who were just increasing their commissions..

That is somewhat true, but you also have to remember that real median income did not increase during that decade. Most people buy a house assuming that their income with some ups and downs will increase. Even during the Great Depression real per capita median incomes increased.

This lack of growth in incomes was symptomatic of a number of bad economic decisions made the Bush II administration and our courts.

You are also ignoring that the government forced banks to increase these sort of loans by law.

Regardless, the financial meltdown was not caused by deregulation, which the mantra of the statists.

Agreed and unless someone put a gun to their head they were/are responsible.
Second if they didn't know they couldn't afford their mortgage payment they had no right to a mortgage in the first place..

I do agree this is one aspect of the meltdown. I would just point out that even though the government was more or less forcing banks to loan to people that could not afford to repay, these people still signed onto a mortgage that they could not afford. IMHO, ultimately it was the people themselves that caused this aspect of the meltdown.

Respectfully,