Monday, October 29, 2007

The Subprime Blame Game: Where Were the Realtors?

The National Association of Realtors is a big strong lobbyist
($6,360,000 in the first half of this year,
I didn't look at political contributions).

Wharton is a big strong Business School.

Dear NAR, I didn't write the headline, let my family live.


From Knowledge@Warton:

It is a scene millions of Americans have been in -- sitting next to a real estate agent at closing to sign the loan contract and other papers for a new home. Often, the buyer has spent months with the agent. And to hear agents tell it, they are indispensable guides through the hazardous home-buying terrain.

How is it, then, that millions of borrowers took on toxic subprime mortgages that could cost them their homes? Why did their agents not warn them off? While much criticism has been leveled at subprime lenders and mortgage brokers, real estate agents have yet to receive their fair share of the blame for the subprime mess, says Shanna Smith, president of the National Fair Housing Alliance. "I think the greed factor works with agents as well as loan originators," she recently noted....MORE