Mortgage myths
While I sympathize greatly with her situation, I found it interesting that Wilma Vaughn would like "our leaders and legislators" to step in and try to solve her mortgage situation ("Bad service," by Mosi Secret, March 12). Vaughn's current problem was actually caused by the government stepping into the situation in the first place—Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan once lowered interest rates to 1 percent. This excessive lowering of interest rates in the last 10 years or so allowed Americans to purchase, refinance and remortgage their homes so cheaply that many people who wouldn't otherwise have done so found themselves in debt up to their necks, with no way to pay for it once the government inevitably chose to raise interest rates again.
In its Web sites and various brochures, our government also encourages the idea that owning a home is the "American dream" and every single person should do it. This seems innocuous, but it spurs citizens to take on massive amounts of debt to achieve what the government tells them should be their "dream"—a dream which may turn into a nightmare when people wake up to the very sobering fact that they are actually taking on hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt once they sign that dotted line.
Personally, I'm happy renting.
Gloria Lloyd
Carrboro
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