Clinton said mortgage lenders and brokers who lowered underwriting standards also deserved blame for the housing market mess, as were regulators who failed to provide adequate oversight. And she pinned some of the responsibility on ratings agencies for giving high marks to securities later deemed to be much riskier, and on speculators who bought multiple properties in the hope of profiting from a strong housing market.Unlike conventional adjustable rates loans, which rise and fall with market rates, the current round of default and foreclosures are coming on loans that automatically reset after the first two or three years, with payments that can jump as much as 30 percent. In many cases, the initial start rates are above market rates for prime loans issued to borrowers with good credit histories. Some borrowers who were sold “subprime” ARMs had credit scores that would have qualified them for better rates.
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