Colorado Foreclosures began to see more and more homes entering into Colorado Foreclosures status.  Homes were not maintaining the value needed to qualify for a new loan and interest rates were adjusting out of control.  Home owners were faced with a decision; continue making a payment they can’t afford or stop making payments all together.  If they choose to stop making payments the home owner was able to save the money needed to get into a rental property shortly before the official Colorado Foreclosures took place.  It is clear why so many people are electing to go into Colorado Foreclosures when the only repercussion was that they had to move.  I can’t blame just the homeowner in this situation.  Mortgage Brokers failed and Lenders failed by allowing such loose standards in underwriting the homes.  Ultimately these brokers and lenders were the primary contributors to the number of Colorado Foreclosures being put on the market today.  A lot of money was made by everyone involved.  These individuals choose income over doing what was right for the industry and the consumer. 

Realtors were simply pricing homes for what the market would allow so they probably could have seen what was happening, but ultimately are the least likely to blame for Colorado Foreclosures running as high as they are.  Brokers and Lenders top my list of who to blame for Colorado Foreclosures being where they are.  Lenders for allowing bad credit individuals to qualify with debt ratios so high that any increase of payment would send the consumer out of control.  They knew what these loans would do and should have seen that Colorado Foreclosures would be the result.  Brokers who used aggressive appraisals to qualify people on over inflated properties and failing to educate their consumers on the repercussions of the loan they were getting into.  Can you imagine a broker that would push an unethical appraiser to value a home 25% above the actual value and then put their client into a loan they could barely afford knowing it would go up by 2% every 6 months two years later?  On a $200,000 loan the payment went up over $250 a month and $500 a month in the 3rd year. These loans had no other outcome to be had but to have them enter into Colorado Foreclosures.  These brokers should be prosecuted and the Lenders fined to a point where their ability to do business goes away. 

The reason I feel so passionate about holding people accountable is that WE ALL PAY for these mistakes.  We pay in the sense that our homes are not appreciating the way they should.  We pay in the taxes that are given to these lenders in Federal Aid or Cheaper bailout money issued in Treasury bills.  We also pay in the losses suffered in portfolios that were tied to the perception that the paper sold in these portfolios were in a risk category not expected to default.  When Colorado Foreclosures spiked the people that bought these mortgage backed securities suffered greatly and even had some people loosing their entire portfolios.  The money in these portfolios were counted on for retirement, College funds, health care, and so on.