
The Never-Ending Foreclosure - mooreds
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/12/the-neverending-foreclosure/547181/?single_page=true
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dsr_
Charmingly, it includes a quote from Moodys without mentioning that credit
rating agencies (including, specifically, Moodys) were complicit in creating
the sub-prime mortgage problem in the first place.

Journalism should give insight, and a necessary part of this story is that
major corporations were badly regulated and did what they will always tend to
do: increase their profits without regard of external costs.

~~~
candiodari
Of course, so do government departments.

Hell, you literally see this in management "automating" something. They go and
create some registration service, for, say, sending out packages between
offices. After that is created, now everyone OUTSIDE of the shipping
department has to fill out forms, instead of the shipping department itself
having to fill that out. Same thing, much smaller change.

Same for "self-service" account stuff for electricity.

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ggambetta
TLDR:

> In retrospect, refinancing their home was a bad idea.

> It was easy money, the Santillans were told. Borrow against your house, it’s
> sure to gain value.

> In retrospect, they didn’t look closely enough at the terms of the paperwork
> they were signing, they say now. They didn’t realize how much the amount
> they owed each month could change suddenly, depending on interest rates.

~~~
sarcher
You've summarized only the first four paragraphs of the Santillan's story
(which starts in paragraph 7) and covers up to 2009.

The meat of the story covers their recovery, 2009-2017, and is contained
within the 20+ paragraphs after your summary ends. It is a story about how,
without stable living conditions, life is difficult. It's difficult for
workers, parents, children, students, and everyone in-between. It's a story
about how broad economic recovery sometimes still leaves people 'behind' their
peers in wealth, education, and personal security.

