NAACP - "A Black Person With A Pen & A Contract" Is Like A Kid Playing On Stairs w/ A Pair Of Scissors And A Blindfold

MSNBC: Banks steered blacks to bad loans, NAACP says

Class-action lawsuits target subprime lenders Wells Fargo, HSBC

The NAACP is accusing Wells Fargo and HSBC of forcing blacks into subprime mortgages while whites with identical qualifications got lower rates.

Class-action lawsuits were to be filed against the banks Friday in federal court in Los Angeles, Austin Tighe, co-lead counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told The Associated Press.

Black homebuyers have been 3 1/2 times more likely to receive a subprime loan than white borrowers, and six times more likely to get a subprime rate when refinancing, Tighe said. Blacks still were disproportionately steered into subprime loans when their credit scores, income and down payment were equal to those of white homebuyers, he said.

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An NAACP member, Amara Weaver of Milwaukee, said she was one of the victims of predatory lending. She bought her first home in 1984, receiving a 6.25 percent fixed-rate mortgage. She says she had a steady job as a human resources director for a social services agency, never missed a mortgage payment and maintained excellent credit.

In 2004, she wanted to buy the house next door for her son to live in. She said the bank promised her a low fixed rate for a $40,000 loan, but at the closing, when reading the fine print, she noticed that the rate was actually 11 percent.

"I was blown away," said Weaver, an NAACP member. "I didn't have any choice (but to sign). ... It made me feel violated."

Similar NAACP lawsuits are pending against a dozen other subprime lenders.

This pisses me off people.
I view these claims in the same light of the claims "Well I touched the screen to vote for the Democrat but the voting machine flipped my vote to the Republican".

So let me understand the claim of the NAACP member. She sat at the closing and SAW BEFOREHAND that the rate was 11.0%. SHE SIGNED THE PAPERWORK ANYWAY.

This person is claiming to be both a victim and that the bank FORCED her to sign the paperwork. In doing so she committed to a 30 year agreement per the terms that she signed off on.

I say again - in the mind of some people having "a Black person with a pen in hand and a contract in front of them is like giving a 4 year old boy a pair of scissors and a blindfold and tell him to go play on the stairs". We don't know what is going to happen but it is not likely to be good.

With the fact that our laws have it that a person who is mortgage shopping can have multiple credit inquiries without these inquiries negatively impacting their credit has this boiled down to laziness and complicity in signing the 11% mortgage papers that was put in front of her.

If the terms changed so abruptly - I WOULD HAVE PUT THE CLOSING ATTORNEY OUT OF MY HOUSE.