Avoiding mortgage rip-offs

Q: I read in the newspaper that a particular bank had been targeting bad loans at members of my ethnic community. How do I know if my bank is swindling me, before I sign on the dotted line?

A: In the aftermath of the foreclosure, housing market, mortgage or whatever you want to call the real estate corner of the economic crisis, there have been lots of investigations and findings about various banks targeting ethnic minorities with subprime mortgages. While your right as an American is to vote with your dollars, I would encourage you to avoid jumping to conclusions about an entire institution or industry being good or evil on the basis of blame-era spin and hindsight applied to marketing strategies and campaigns that were, undoubtedly, thought of at the time as promoting and enabling homeownership amongst people who hadn't always been given a fair shot at the American Dream.

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