By Bradley Inman, Monday, July 14, 2008. At the peak of the housing boom in 2005, my pal Mitch asked me, "Does someone truly own a house when they put nothing down?"
His question gets at the core problem with the U.S. housing market: a disregard for the rule of law. Fundamental rules of real estate have been dismissed, such as requirements around good credit, full disclosure, transparency, a meaningful down payment, rational fees, common-sense loans and personal responsibility. more...