[lecia11]

I'm still amazed at how many people are putting this whole crisis squarely on the shoulders of the borrowers. I Googled the Mozilo article and have read just pages and pages of comments where people are saying that we got what we deserved because we signed the documents. That is complete and total crap. What layperson understands the legal language?

I depended on my broker to be upfront with me and explain the loan to me. What she did was gloss over it and say it was a great loan (I had an option ARM before I got a modification) that she even had (which I doubt!). She never pointed out in my documents the loan to value aspect, nor did she explain to me what negative amortization was. Sure, people can say that I should have asked, but I didn't even know I had that until I looked at my online statements with Countrywide. And that's wrong.

People who are saying that we should have understood what we were signing are completely missing the point. You expect the professional to point out the good and bad of any situation. When you're in a doctor's office and he's explaining your upcoming surgery, he can't say to you, "You'll be fine" and send you home. You expect him/her to tell you the benefits and risks of that surgery. If you don't get that information, then you can file a malpractice suit against the doctor. A mortgage broker or lender is supposed to be an expert in the field, and they should have to take some sort of hippocratic oath like doctors, stating they'll work ethically.

So how is this our fault? They knew to tell us just enough to get us to sign. Most of us heard the same lines: We can refinance or sell in a few years is probably the most common. What they did should be illegal.