Banks whining about home equity defaults

I read these financial articles every day and there are always a few that piss me off. Today's article is from the NY Times concerning the high default rate on home equity loans. Unfortunately, the NY Times doesn't allow comments on their site (I guess they don't want other opinions) so here I go! When home equity loans are involved in a family's struggle to recover from this recession, they usually wind up being settled for 10 cents on the dollar or less. There are those quoted in the news article that act as if the homeowner intentionally set out to screw the bank by getting the loan. One real estate lawyer implied that it was "immoral" to bail on the loan. While there are people who should have known better than to over-extend themselves, most were banking on their house continuing to increase in value. The banks they borrowed from were also banking on this. It's obvious now that this was flawed logic. Unfortunately, when the market tanked, the borrower was the one on the hook. Defaulting is simply putting the lender on the hook, too. Since it is the banking industry's lending practices that got us in this mess to start with, they deserve being on the hook. The banks were also fully aware that in a foreclosure, the primary lender comes first, with the second lender getting crumbs at best. As for the homeowner, a bankruptcy screws your credit for 7 years, but if you are in a financial bind to start with, you don't need credit anyway. Cash and a debit card can get you a long way. I just get sick and tired of all of the news articles and stories that trash the borrower. I always root for the underdog! The borrowers don't have a voice at all. Writing your politician of choice does no good at all. They are too busy trying to see whose ass they can kiss or what perk they can get. Read the NY Times article here.