The Washington Post reports that the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is getting what it feels is a raw deal on a mortgage for its Washington headquarters. Boo hoo! The MBA is buying a building there for $100 million, but is paying a higher interest rate on its mortgage as its income declines and the leasing market is slow leaving it with no tenants for the building.
This couldn't have happened to a nicer association. After all, the MBA encouraged people to take out subprime mortgages -- many of which went bad. Despite the Fed's rate cuts from 5.25% to 2.25% mortgage interest rates are up thanks to bankers' fear of lending. And the resulting economic slowdown is making it harder for the MBA to find tenants for its building.
Let's survey the damage to the MBA. First, its membership has declined 17% in the last year and it predicts a 10% to 15% decline in revenue as a result. Bankers are making the MBA put up about 10% more of a down payment than it had planned and the lack of tenants has moved its lender to increase the financing costs slightly. Perhaps there's justice in the universe. If not, at least MBA's predicament is giving it a taste of its own medicine.
Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
4-08-2008 @ 9:50AM
obsa said...
The only comment here is that it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of S.O.Bs
4-08-2008 @ 9:56AM
Karen said...
What goes around comes around! I hope they end up in the street!
4-08-2008 @ 11:09AM
Gretchen said...
No one thought mortgage lenders were SOBs when they wanted to buy that home that they couldn't really afford but got the mortgage for anyway...Mortgage lenders were damned when they only lent to "qualified" buyers who had good credit, good jobs, and money to put down, so we changed it. Now we are being damned for lending to anyone who wanted a home regardless of qualifications. Home ownership is a PRIVILEDGE, not a RIGHT. It should have stayed that way. Public and governmental pressure changed it. Then greed kicked in. I personally never participated in subprime lending. Seemed like a bad idea, even in the height of it, but there is no need to vilify lenders for giving the people what THEY wanted.
4-08-2008 @ 10:14AM
angela said...
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha welcome to my world jacka**es!!
4-08-2008 @ 10:17AM
trvlwizard said...
I have not one shred of sympathy for the idiots who gave mortgages to those people that never should have gotten one in the first place. They are as bad as the boiler room scammers. Nor do I have sympathy for the suckers that didn't read the fine print nor bothered to learn about mortgages or ask questions before signing their names on the documents and now have to give up their homes. The sympathy DOES go out to the kids in families with no home to begin with OR their lives have been turned upside down due to being thrown out of their house cuz the parents didn't do their homework!
4-08-2008 @ 10:19AM
Angry as Hell! said...
These lenders are the lowest form of life on the planet behind used car salesmen and IRS agents. They have put the country in this mess and now they have audacity to sit here and cry about it? Are they kidding? We're suppose to feel a bit sorry for them? Give me a freaking break. This whole mess is because these banks lent money to people who had no means what-so-ever to pay it back and they are now complaining? My God, what's next? Oil companies asking us for pity because they only made $50 billion this quarter? They all should be drawn and quartered. I am so sick of all of this.
4-08-2008 @ 10:28AM
george said...
Whoever "invented" the name subprime, and formed the parameters allowing subprime should be put in jail. How in the world can you allow mortgages to be given to people with bad credit, or no credit, with no money down, hit them in the face with ARM increases, and not believe there would be consequences that would affect the "good mortgages," causing decreases in property values. The allowing of speculators and liars to take on these mortgages is a result of the top officials at lending institutions so far removed and not really caring about life situations they let the competition get out of hand. They should be held accountable.
4-08-2008 @ 10:23AM
Ricky whitten said...
BUSHIT!
4-08-2008 @ 10:24AM
Bradley said...
Ha, ha, ha! Poetic justice.
4-08-2008 @ 10:25AM
Lilly said...
How disappointing that all Mortgage Bankers are being blamed for the Housing crisis that we as an economy are experiencing. So what is this article trying to say - an "eye for an eye?" So we should say that all of these consumers that are facing foreclosure due to risky loans, job losses, life in general, are the fault of the Mortgage banker that helped them with the loan that the consumer requested???? Were these consumers forced into signing the loan papers, were they not able to read or request that documents be explained?
4-08-2008 @ 10:26AM
pclifton30739 said...
Well said Gretchen! People need to start taking responsiblity for their own actions. Yes, the sub prime mortgage fiasco should have never happened. If you can't afford the house, don't buy until you've saved up some more money. If you could afford a house, but got GREEDY in trying to keep up with everyone else, you should have bought a home that was in your price range. For those who used up their home's false sky rocketed equity to buy big SUV's or high dollar luxury vehicles to impress everyone, oh well. Now your home is worth less than what you owe on it. I guess you can live in luxury in that Hummer sitting in your drive way. Thank you to all the idiots who are now in foreclosure and are hurting the property values of people who live in their beautiful, modest homes and are tying to sell.
4-08-2008 @ 10:30AM
Michelle St Denis said...
I would have to agree with a couple of people on this in that, many of the people who were foreclosed upon in this NEVER should have gotten a mortgage in the first place. Good credit, good stable jobs, and hard work should be the basis for home ownership, not bankers looking to PLEASE as many people as possible. My new husband had the worst credit I have ever seen but got a mortgage for 105% of the cost of his house. Of course it was about 6% over prime....now we are refinancing and I have cleaned up his credit with paying off unpaid bills. From 14.75% to 8.32% in two years. He controlled his destiny, as does everyone else who takes out a loan on something they cannot afford. Oh yeah...I am Canadian and I would NEVER see someone in Canada getting a mortgage when they don't qualify!
4-08-2008 @ 10:30AM
Leo said...
Was it a sub-prime mortgage or a ARM?
4-08-2008 @ 10:30AM
diana said...
trvlwizard- Amen dude! I so agree! Mortgage companies are as slime as a bad car salesman! Also, those folks that don't do their homework before reading and researching almost deserve what is coming to them. Must admit though the kids are the ones who suffer-Shame on the parents!
4-08-2008 @ 10:34AM
walt montgomery said...
Love it. Hoisted by their own petard.
4-08-2008 @ 10:34AM
meleeme said...
It's hard to be a parent when the kids are trying to guilt you with the I WANT IT B.S.!!! I've told my 17 year old son to get a job and stay out of my pitance!!!! He has all kinds of plans for my little bit of $$ but no intention of paying for his wants! The country has started raising a s##tload of self centered,I want it punks and my kid wants to join the crowd. I don't think so!!!!! Get a job brat!!!!!
4-08-2008 @ 10:33AM
george said...
...but there is no need to vilify lenders for giving the people what THEY wanted.
---------------------------------------
That is rediculous, the people that harassed your email, sent you flyers, promoted no money down, lied about ARMs in order to fill their quotas are all to blame. People want lots of things, banks and morgage company make the rules. How about giving me what I want? Give me the house and YOU pay for it. Why not? Give em what they want.
4-08-2008 @ 10:33AM
Fred said...
TRVLWIZARD! You are so right! I have been arguing that point for a while! People can't expect to qualify for a home when its way over their means. It's spelled out yet they refuse to accept it. The children are the ones who we should feel sorry for.
4-08-2008 @ 10:55AM
lrb62163 said...
AWWWWWW..................now they have a taste of reality! HEHEHE. No tears here.
I am a long term care giver:
my web site:
http://www.heartfelthandsoncare.com
on Merchant Circle:
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Heartfelt.Hands.on.Care.
HAVE A GREAT DAY!
4-08-2008 @ 10:36AM
Objective Perspective said...
OK, everyone take a deep breath and use your heads. EVERYONE is to blame for the current mortgage crisis. The Government for allowing subprime loans to happen and then sold as a commodity. The lenders who gave out loans to ANYONE. The flippers who scammed the lenders when markets were on fire. The appraisers who bowed down to lender pressure and appraised homes for way more than they were ever worth. Finally the borrowers who borrowed money with 500 FICO scores, no income verification and no money down. This had disaster written all over it from the get-go! My personal experience with these Mortgage Brokers is they are all one small step above a used car salesman. During the boom they were all kids out of college who would say ANYTHING to anyone to get them to refinance their home. America got greedy with the housing boom, now we are paying the price. What people didn't realize was just how far reaching the housing market would be in all the other financial markets. Now we know and we will be paying for it for a long time.