This is sad, and hopefully it makes some of the uncaring people here see what has happened to REAL people.

Was it this guy's fault, partially. He should have had a lawyer, sure. But it's assholes out there that take advantage of people like him. People put their trust in others, to believe that there are good people who would help them.

People say it's greed, and sure, there may be investors out there who bought more house than they could afford, but the more light that comes to this, we see more and more people like the McAlpins and it's just sad. It makes me angry and it's a shame that our tax dollars used to help in situations like this went else where, to someone's cushy office. It really shows what America has turned into.
I don't know how these people can sleep at night.

The McAlpins are certainly sympathetic victims; I have no problem with their efforts to get out from under a bad situation.

But the McAlpins are not representative of the vast bulk of idiot borrowers who let themselves accept something for nothing (and further, who are as responsible as the banks that made the loans for the destruction of our economy) and now expect people like me, who bought and borrowed within my means, to get them out of debt.

@IT-Chick:

They sleep on a bed of money, bathe in the tears of children and floss with the bone marrow of the elderly...

Now that we are done demonizing the demons can we try to fix the problem?

Okay this guy has a legitimate beef. Fraud was committed upon him. There are a lot of stories I don't think need the sob story treatment--after all, this isn't the first time in history that people have lost their houses because they lost their job or got sick. But this story is a case of someone who was screwed.

@sebadoh128:

Well, we tried and we're getting raped there too.

These little mortgage companies are not sleeping in a bed of money, I am talking the brokers, not the banks.

I think the thing that really bothers me is that fact that this is so wide spread. Most of the time, you hear about isolated cases of people running amok and doing bad things. But this whole mortgage thing seems to me that it was basically the industry norm to do this to people. My question is, what is wrong with humanity as a whole that you can find this many people willing to screw anybody and everybody? Is this really what the human race is all about? Whatever happened to being good people and trying to get along in life without hurting anyone else?

Possibly, I'm delusional....

Very typical media pattern - the NY Times does this all the time - writes a story around anecdotal experience, and throws a few facts in the middle. The anecdotes, usually extreme cases, are atypical. Most people knew exactly what they were signing. If the man was a vegetable in the mortgage broker's office, he sure doesn't have any problems talking to the media. So he is being exploited, or what?

So between both of them they didn't know what am ARM loan was eh? I call bs. If you're brain damaged and can't sign a contract, pay a lawyer $150 to look it over and explain it to you. I don't feel sorry for them. Stupidity is a major problem in this country, and these people acted stupidly. It is what it is. Banks have always been predatory lenders, this is nothing new.

@Flame: Being nice rarely makes you a rich man.

@Flame: it's not about "right" & "wrong" so much as "where's my commission check?"

welcome to capitalism. enjoy your stay.

@IT-Chick: Oh, they're sleeping on a Sleep Number bed. On a bed of money.

@Trencher93: If he has a head injury, and is legitimately considered disabled, the contract is not valid. There can be no mutual assent.

@Trencher93:
He didn't say he was a vegetable in the office, but that he didn't understand and was confused. He asked questions and received bad answers. He's not allowed to speak out, or you're saying he should be too mentally challenged to speak out. Perhaps he has children that pushed him to speak out.

@Trencher93: sure, it's anecdotal - the media loves that crap. but here's the truth about the industry: brokers were making more money approving borrowers for exotic loans than they were booking traditional loans. there were incentives built into these products to sell borrowers worse products than they qualified for. ARM instead of fixed rate = $$$. a half-point increase in the teaser rate = $$$. tacking on a pre-payment penalty = $$$. selling a portion of the loan as a HELOC = $$$. add on the opportunity to refi the loan in 2-3 years & rake in another round of commission & you have a recipe for deception.

when all your incentives are built around selling the consumer a worse deal, how can you honestly expect that the industry isn't going to be infested with cheats & cons?

@Trencher93: Where is your proof that most people knew what they were signing? You don't even have anecdotal evidence that most homeowners knew the risks. Also, the man never said he was a vegetable. He said he had a traumatic brain injury that has lowered his cognitive skills. Stop blaming the majority of Americans who took out loans they thought the could afford. The vast majority of people didn't see this coming.

The report should've included their mortgage broker's name and home address.

This man was taken advantage of and that's the major issue here, I have no sympathy for the broker and hope he gets hit with some sort of suit or penalty for this.
That said, there seems to be a breakdown in the buyer's support in this situation. If it was known that Mr. McAlpin had comprehension issues then why didn't his wife review the paperwork? Presumably even if she couldn't sign she could understand the payment schedule and advise her husband. And if the McAlpins took the time to get and provide a doctor's note then why didn't they also have the contract reviewed by a lawyer?
It seems like they prepared for the contract comprehension issue only halfway. What's the law in this situation? Does giving such a "mental deficiency" note to the broker require him to provide assistance or extra review? Again, I'm NOT siding with the broker here, but what was the broker's legal responsibility, i.e. what safeguards should be/are in place to prevent this sort of abuse (besides overhauling the whole mortgage system) in the future?

Here is another example of our flawed health care system. The only reason he had to take an ARM was medical bills that should have been paid for. No one should have to choose between a home and being alive. When will we see that one way or another we pay for our overpriced system. We need to show more of these stories so more people will wake up.

@thezone:

I thought he said they took the loan to fix up the house not medical bills.

Although I agree that medical bills are a problem, when I worked at Equifax most of the bankruptcies I saw also had unpaid medical bills on them.

@mac-phisto: Welcome to greed. Its human nature. You know why socialism will never work? Greed. You know why must violent crimes occur? Greed. Why did this guy get f'ed? Greed.

It is incorrect to blame capitalism for what happened to this guy. Its pure and total human greed. If you can cure humanity of that, well, then you've done something far better than cure cancer.

@IT-Chick: "he didn't understand and was confused. He asked questions and received bad answers."

If you don't know or understand what you are agreeing to, how about you don't agree to it? I might be tempted to use this very same tactic to get my fixed rate mortgage lowered then, saying that I was confused and didn't understand what fixed rate was and was told that the rate would lower each year that I stayed in the house. And all I would need to do is get some members here to agree that I was mentally incompetent (which wouldn't be a difficult task) and voila!

@Ingram81: Doesn't capitalism thrive on greed? Doesn't it also create a breeding ground for more greed?

How can you say this isn't the fault of capitalism?

@Ingram81: I think your tactic would only work if some of the members here were trained medical experts like this man's primary care physician. People with cognitive deficiencies don't always make good decisions. I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept for some people to understand. This isn't a person with less of an education. This is someone with a brain injury. Why are you so quick to blame him.

@Flame:

Well, think about it. Society is at a point where, for many, income is so terrible many can't afford to eat, clothe or shelter themselves. This has been ongoing for years, don't think it's right now.

When you give someone with a high school diploma whose best prospects in life are living in a craptastic apartment eating whatever is on sale, and buying clothes from the goodwill an opportunity to make a lot of money and the only thing that will lay on their conscience is that they will be taking money from people with enough of it they were actually able to get together a downpayment, what the hell do you think will happen?

These people are the same people that work as telemarketers, rent-to-own salesmen, etc. They have a choice between self-pride and working for $8 an hour at Walmart, or working for $16 an hour scamming the "rich". And, trust me, to someone on minimum wage, $1700+ a month looks like absolute pure GOLD rich.

We could start paying fairly for work, but that ain't gonna happen. Because people who make a decent amount of money are greedy and don't want to pay enough that people working at the bottom of the chain can afford the basics of living.

The greed isn't with the people at the bottom of the chain. It's with the people earning a decent wage that don't want to pay for anything.

I do feel bad for him and his wife, it's a real shame if they lose their house. They probably have a legal case if he's legitimately considered non-competent (although I somehow doubt if he truly is) If his wife was on the loan, I'd imagine they're probably jointly and severally responsible anyway - even if he personally isn't.

But a few things bother me - he *knew* he was getting an adjustable rate mortgage, because he said he insisted on a fixed rate one but told that it wasn't available to him. (Because of their credit? A lie by the broker? Who knows?) He obviously needed the money because of his doctor and other bills, as he had stated. So he was trying to tap the equity in his home, and it's unknown how much he did cash out and spend for bills. He obviously asked questions, and if he didn't like the answers and he did it anyway, where does the blame lie?

The greed goes both ways - homeowners trying to tap into equity while assuming unsustainable rates of return, as well as mortgage brokers that are selling you products that are most profitable to them. There are those brokers that perpetrate out and out fraud, but trying to convince you that you can afford something you can't doesn't necessarily cross that line. Morally ambiguous no doubt, but not illegal.

Ultimately, people should be responsible for the things they sign and agree to. The homeowner got something out of the deal - a good chunk of equity cashed out, probably, or some other financial relief. There is no such thing as a free lunch, and the only person that's going to look out for your own interests is yourself.

@thezone: If I knew where this was going Id never bought my house either. Ive lost something like 5% of the value since last year. Good god I musta had a brain toomer at the time I signed the documents...der der der.

Jesus Christ, yeah he got taken advantage of. Yeah it sucks and its an unfortunate situation he is in right now. If he was mentally incompetent then, is he not now, cause I mean that's one hell of a doctors excuse if I've ever heard of one. Presenting a letter saying he was mentally weak to ANYONE that makes a commission off a sale is like wearing a suit of fish heads into a shark tank. Or like walking onto a firing range with a bulls eye glued to your shirt. Or going to a used car lot with a sign saying really rich town idiot. If you know that you are medically mentally incompetent do you think you should be signing contracts all on your own? Are you so naive to think that an individual that makes his income based upon how bad of a mortgage you take out is going to have your best interest at heart? Please dear God don't tell me that we have gotten to a point in this country where we not only need to be protected from others, but protected from ourselves.

If you don't know what you're agreeing to (or who you happen to be nominating for a public office ) how about don't do it.

@jtheletter: That would require personal responsibility. And if you haven't checked, we are COMPLETELY bankrupt of that in this country.

@Ingram81: Word. This guy has some special circumstances that the vast majority of people who signed bad mortgages can't claim. Now, I'm not a lawyer, but couldn't he have signed a power of attorney to allow someone else he trusted to represent him in the purchase of the house? Would that have solved this problem from the start? I don't know...just a thought.

Although the scammy mortgage brokers are heavily culpable in this, I am not one to totally remove blame from every single person who signed a mortgage and didn't know what they were getting into. You can't control scammy brokers, but you sure as shit can control whether you educate yourself and whether you sign on the dotted line. You are signing a mortgage, folks. It's a contract. It's probably the largest financial obligation many of us will ever have. It spells out your obligation in very fine detail. If you don't know how to decipher what's going on, get yourself a real-estate lawyer, and let them help you. If you still don't know what you're doing, maybe you shouldn't be buying a house.

@jtheletter: I wish I had read your post before replying above. I was thinking the same thing! If he KNOWS he has a legitimate disability that prevents you from making a sound decision, couldn't a power of attorney been secured to allow someone else to represent him in this matter? I mean, really? Legal contracts are hard enough to decipher for people who aren't disabled. That might be why there's a whole branch of law that deals in real-estate matters. People specialize in this!! I'm not sticking up for the broker either. He had a moral obligation not to take advantage of the guy, but does the "doctor's note" obligate him to do anything else? I don't know about that.

You're absolutely right...the family had the sense to get this note secured and plan for that portion of it, so why did they not think that maybe consulting a lawyer or other trusted, knowledgeable party might be a good idea? I don't know about this...I feel plenty bad for the guy, but I just don't know what his note was supposed to provide for him.

You'd think Bill would be doing pretty good with all the copies of Left4Dead that sold....

@thisotherguy: Your statement just really made my head hurt.

If a bacteria exists, and then you add sugar water, and the bacteria grows, its the sugar water's fault the bacteria was there in the first place?

You sir have just completely opened my eyes to a whole new level of science and logic.

@Trencher93: I suspect it's because, in the cases that aren't so abjectly fraudulent, Freeper types would nitpick how it's all the borrower's fault and that corporations (and Barney Frank) are to blame.
Thanks tho: now we can add "it's anecdotal!" to the exculpatory list.

Not, of course, to suggest that some borrowers weren't scamming or stupid. But I'd think it's the industry's freaken JOB to reject these applicants.

@Trai_Dep: Err, "and that corporations aren't culpable (and..."

@ChibaCityCowboy:

ZING!

RE-LOADING!

@shepd: Because the people in the middle of the chain want to have a life like those at the top of the chain, and worked their ass off to get to the middle of the chain from the bottom of the chain.

I don't blame them for not wanting to give up all that they worked hard for just to make everyone else "equal".
Equal is fine with me as long as someone else is paying to pull me up to be equal with them.

@rugman11: I think there's enough blame to go around. If he can't understand the loan docs, why didn't he get some help? Can his wife make sense of them? And if he can't find anyone to help, why would he refi in the first place?

If he knows he can't make sense of the docs, he's basically gambling with his house by going it alone. That's not a very smart thing to do.

@thezone: No, he said they wanted to refi to do some work on their house. He said his credit was bad because of medical bills. I find that hard to believe because he said he was injured at work. The state has plenty of coverage for its workers and workplace injuries so his out of pocket medical bills ought to be pretty low.

And again: Who goes into a mortgage place knowing he can't understand the stuff he's going to sign? Why not get help? I mean, he KNOWS he can't make sense of the docs, so he's gambling his house.

I suspect there's more to this story than what's in that video. I'd be curious to see where they spent the money they pulled out of their home.

@thezone: No statement I made referred to his education at all. If it is as you say people with cognitive deficiencies don't always make good decisions then he shouldn't be making any decisions that are legal and binding without someone with power of attorney there.

Also hopefully then, he didn't drive himself to the closing. Because a cognitive deficiency would tend to cause people to make impaired judgments. And impaired judgment making while operating an automobile is a felony.

Or is it a case where he can cherry pick when he has his cognitive issues?

@NYGal81: "I don't know...just a thought." That's the crux of the problem here (I mean both in this sad, sordid tale, and nationally) that no one thinks.

Silly you, thinking again. That's just plain dangerous.

@Trai_Dep: If you come to me and place a document in front of you saying something crazy, like Ill own your soul and your first born, and every time you take a leak, you have to sing the theme song to Titanic, and while you may not understand what you are signing, sign it regardless, I shouldn't be allowed to hold you to that agreement? That is the whole functional reason of a contract. There are terms listed and that by signing the document you understand what those terms are and also agree to it. If I tell you that the terms are you get a fuzzy bunny on your birthday, and you don't read the contract, just take my verbal word on it (depending on the state), you are still on the hook to sing me some Celine Dion. You may not like it in hind sight, but then again, you should have read what you were legally agreeing to. If you are/were incapable of understanding the agreement, you should voice that reason at the closing, and REFUSE to sign the document until you have your own legal counsel available, so they could keep you from having to give me your soul. If you cant think about this before hand, then you shouldn't be going to a house closing, and you definitely shouldn't be putting my life in danger by driving to a closing.

@Trencher93: The thing that always gets me about cold hearted statements like this are how quickly they change once the scene involves someone you know or love. Let this man be your grandfather or spouses parents and I guarantee your tune would change.

Sometimes in situations involving large institutions people get screwed. Other times blame can be layed at the feet of the individual.

@Ingram81: So let me get this right. A person with a cognitive disability is supposed to have the judgment to know that they shouldn't be making judgments? If they had that ability then they would not be cognitively deficient. At least twice you have made a joke that maybe you should use this as a defense. It is not fair to compare a fully capable person's decisions with those of someone who has suffered a brain injury.

Second, do you have any proof that he drove himself anywhere? He also may not be so impaired that he cannot operate a motor vehicle. Implying he is "cherry" picking his cognitive issues without a shred of proof is wrong.

@IT-Chick: Jay Sherman: "How can you sleep at night?"
Rainier Wolfcastle: "On top of a pile of money with many beautiful women."

To all of you who don't have a close family member with a traumatic brain injury:

This story is ONE example of the kind of thing that TBI survivors and their family members have to deal with. A person's cognitive abilities are affected by several factors including IQ, attention, memory, reading comprehension, risk discernment, and impulsiveness. Often after a TBI, a person's IQ is intact, but they have serious problems in one or more other areas. They can seem fairly okay to outsiders, but they are truly impaired.

There are good reasons why TBI survivors are called "walking wounded," and why they often live in poverty. Our medical care system has figured out how to keep TBI patients alive, but not how to heal their injury. There are celebrities taking up the cause of many conditions and diseases, but not TBI. Maybe that will change with all the TBI survivors coming back from Iraq.

Pray it doesn't happen to you or someone you love.@IT-Chick:

@wee0x1B: My point is that his credit wouldn't have been bad if his medical bills had been paid. There are many Americans with the same problem. Their credit rating is poor due to medical bills not credit card bills. If he had not had bad credit then it is much less likely that he would have had to get an ARM. That was my main point. Sorry if I was not clear.

@thezone: It is not wrong. If you can make decisions that can result in people freaking dying (driving a vehicle, operating machinery, etc) then you have the capability to read a document. I mean last time I checked, you had to be able to read to be able to drive. Maybe that's changed, but you had to pass a test which involved words and comprehension to get a license last time I did it.

Yes if the Doctor says "Hey you have a brain injury which prevents you from making rational thought out decisions" and then you put yourself into a situation to have to make a decision, then yes its your fault what happens to you. Either this man should be a vegetable and have every aspect of his life decided for him, or he is capable of making decisions. Which is it? I mean hell if he cant make decisions on his own, then he needs to be supervised. Because the doctor gave him a note saying that he has cognitive issues doesn't mean that he can go out and start shooting people and get away with it?

@wee0x1B: "If he can't understand the loan docs, why didn't he get some help?"

Honestly? You have to be a certain amount of sophisticated to know when you need help. I used to teach some legal seminars to clergy, and the whole thrust of the seminar was not to teach them the law, but to teach them when they needed to call a lawyer.

People lacking the sophistication to understand the documents are also often lacking the sophistication to know then need help -- or somethings where to find that help.

@Ingram81:

1. Having the capability to read a document and having the ability to understand the document are two completely different things.

2. In most states you can drive a car below the age in which you can enter into a legal agreement. Therefore, it is safe to say that driving a car responsibly is not a good litmus test for having the ability to sign a legal document.

3. I didn't notice the scene where he is driving a car down the street. So he is not cherry picking what he is doing.

4. I go back to my original argument, which you fail to answer. If you have a cognitive disability how are you supposed to know that you are not able to make the decision. That is why you are disabled.

People with disabilities are not vegetables like you are stating. Not every aspect of their life should be decided for them. They need additional assistance (which is often difficult for them to receive) in order to make informed decisions. A power of attorney would be helpful for someone in his situation.

5. You keep bringing up arguments that have nothing to do with this man's situation. Who has been shot? I never implied that he can go out and shoot people. Shooting people has nothing to do with this conversation. Please try to stay on topic. Please don't bring up him flying a plane or running for public office or any other thing that he shouldn't possibly do depending on his level of cognition.

@kaycee: You are absolutely right, but sadly, that won't stop asshats from finding a reason to blame the victim and claim to know what they are or aren't capable of.