re: #240 Pawn of the Oppressor

My HELOC is there for an extra emergency cushion. I’ve used it short term, and it sure is better than credit cards. If I ever had to carry a balance, I’d rather use a HELOC than a credit card for the interest rate alone. Of course, the irresponsible use of HELOCs you describe—using them like credit cards—also describes a bad way to use credit cards.

What I don’t want to see is credit made unavailable because it is assumed people are too stupid to know how to responsibly use it. Sure, many people are too stupid to use credit responsibly. The problem we ran into in this bubble was twofold—people borrowed more than they could afford, and lenders invented mortgage backed securities that severed the relationship between the loan originator and the holder of the loan. We should have regulations require the loan originator to be on the hook for bad mortgages. That way they return to the responsible position of denying loans to people who cannot afford them or have no evidence of being responsible with their debt.