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The federal government and states are girding themselves for the next foreclosure crisis in the country’s housing downturn: payment option adjustable rate mortgages that are beginning to reset.

Barclays’ estimates show that in 2009, nearly $270 billion of mortgages on apartment complexes, shopping malls, and office buildings would require refinancing. In its November 17 report, Fitch Ratings said that there is every reason for commercial loan defaults to accelerate because banks and insurance companies would try to manage their balance sheets by restricting lending, and the market for commercial mortgage-backed securities is expected to remain shut.

Part of the reason for singing the mortgage blues today is our track record of the years 2000 through 2006. As consumers refinanced mortgage coompanies started searching for those who would refinance again and again. Non-bank financial institutions and shady lenders looked for new customers, and subprime liar loans were born.

This is terrrible, ironic, and unfortunately it is still required. Years ago this proposal would have saved people from HSBC Finance, Citifinancial, and many others. Needless to say this decision is many years too late:

The United States has had as much of Phil Gramm as we can stand. While Americans expect almost everyone to be on somebody’s payroll, we are now at a point where we wonder about two main subjects: “Who was paying Phil Gramm for stupidity?”, and “Where am I going to be working next week?”

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