05-13-2008, 01:24 AM
Since better than half the population, and I have seen estimates as high as 80-90% do not have the financial literacy to understand all of the terms in a standard real estate contract, it is not a case of just being illiterate vs. stupid. Also given the trend in some states and markets to not have a lawyer represent you in a real estate transaction, just the lender and seller's agent, many contracts hide clauses that are not favorable to the buyer. Even then a lawyer may not be of much help in interpreting the financial terms. Some have even given my sister, a CPA, trouble. Add deception, an uneven playing field between lender/real estate agent and borrower, to outright falsehoods by those lenders and agents. Given all that, I have sympathy for many in this boat, but that might not extend to giving all of them a bail-out. And none for any who actively participated in fraud to get a loan.