I love the NY Times web site’s most emailed list. It was there that I clicked on a story called My Personal Credit Crisis. The story was actually a book excerpt from Times writer Edmund Andrew’s new book called “Busted: A reporter’s look inside the mortgage meltdown.”
The story goes into excruciating detail of how Mr. Andrews got series of “liar loan” to buy and then refinance a house, ran up $50,000.00 in credit card debt and used the $10 overdraft protection feature on his checking account almost daily. I would be embarrassed to admit doing some of this stuff, but he doesn’t seem terribly worried about it. Most of the comments by readers on this site are less than sympathetic.
The book provides a rear view mirror look at how easy it was to get “no doc” and “stated income” loans. My favorite part is when he tries to apply for a loan modification with Chase because he can’t make his payments no one from Chase will call him back. When he finally gets in touch with Chase, they can’t help him because he’s not 90 days in default on the loan. Now that’s real life for you.
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