Bob Sullivan - Stop Getting Ripped Off: Why Consumers Get Screwed, and How You Can Always Get a Fair Deal

ALSO BY BOB SULLIVAN

Gotcha Capitalism

Your Evil Twin

For Grampa Sullivan
Who taught us to avoid getting railroaded,

and Grandma McFadden
who taught us to be nice about it.

When you believe in things you dont understand, you suffer

S TEVIE W ONDER ,
Superstition

CONTENTS

PART I.

PART II.

9.

PART III.

Stage 1.

Stage 2.

Stage 3.

Stage 4.

Stage 5.

PART I

Life was easier in a war zone, she said. You had your camaraderie. You dont have that here. Its a dog-eat-dog world here.

S taff Sergeant Sandra Rolon grabbed for her piece of the American dream at precisely the wrong moment. The forty-nine-year-old, who had served in the Middle East during the Iraq War, bet everything on a $468,000 Bronx home in mid-2007. With only limited resources for a down payment and her military salary, she had no choice but to sign up for a subprime loan with a 9.8 percent interest rate. The initial monthly payments during the interest-only period would be $4,152. They would escalate later. At the time, the U.S. Army Reserve administrators salary was $56,000 a year, or less than $5,000 per month. Her mortgage billbefore taxes and insurancewould be more than 80 percent of her real income.

Rolon had plans, however. She would supplement her income by remodeling part of the house and taking on tenants. She was also assured by a mortgage broker that if the payments overwhelmed her, she could refinance as soon as three months after closing. Housing values, after all, moved in only one direction. There was always more equity to tap. So she took the leap of faith.

But Rolon was scammed by construction workers, who took $8,000 from her and left her basement in unrentable condition. At the same time, the housing market in the Bronx hit the skids. With no equity in her home, the refinancing parachute disappeared.

Rolon never made it past the first two mortgage payments.

The desperate situation led her to a startling observation: Life was easier in the Middle East, she said to The New York Times. You had your camaraderie. You dont have that here. Its a dog-eat-dog world here.

Soon after, Rolon had her wish. She was back in the Middle East, this time serving in Camp Bucca, Iraqa U.S. prison camp. Her deployment offered a temporary reprieve, thanks to the Civil Relief Act, but within a few months she received a new default notice from her loan servicer. She no longer lived in the Bronx home as her primary residence, it said, so the bank was going to begin foreclosure proceedings.

ITS A CHILLING notion that a woman who had devoted her entire adult life to the service of our country would conclude that its easier to serve in a war theater overseas than fight a bank at home.

The picture is cracked in so many ways. Who sold Rolon a mortgage with a monthly payment that nearly equaled her income? What bank underwriter approved a loan that was dependant on rental income without evidence of a signed lease from a tenant? How can a member of the U.S. military be abandoned to the wolves of high finance with such heartlessness?

As author of msnbc.coms Red Tape Chronicles for the past several years, I have been asking these kinds of questions throughout the boom and bust of the housing market. I consider my role that of a consumer advocate. After all, banks, cell-phone companies, cable-TV providers, and other conglomerates have enormous marketing budgets that are used to trick people, and armies of lawyers they deploy to protect their interests against the whims of small print. Consumers usually fight these battles alone. As I pore over such tales, I am always inclined to give consumers the benefit of the doubt, and I usually stand ready to criticize greedy companies who take advantage of vulnerable people. The companies should, and usually do, know better.

Often, critics of my work will send me loud and obnoxious emails that boil down to this: Why do you defend people who are stupid? I usually dismiss them as mean-spirited. But sometimes, a more thoughtful message arrives offering a similar, but tempered, observation. It might say, You cant protect people from themselves, or, Arent adults responsible for their own actions?

They have a point. Who could read Rolons story and not ask, Isnt someone who takes out a mortgage with payments that are almost equal to her monthly income just asking for trouble?

And, in fact, arent the millions of consumers who bought houses they couldnt afford the real problem, and the real cause of the 2008 economic meltdown?

In a word, yes.

In my line of work, I usually challenge this kind of seemingly obvious statement with explanations that dig a little bit deeper. Consumers cant control the price of homes near good schools; to be good parents, they simply must pay those high prices. Consumers shouldnt be expected to become lawyers just to buy a home. Or my favorite: We wont let people buy a toaster that might catch on fire, why do we allow people to buy mortgages that set the whole worlds economy on fire?

While all thats true, I must confess it grants too much leniency to the people who sign on the dotted line. And it raises this irresistible question: If consumers were smarter, would we have avoided the housing meltdown and economic collapse?

HAVE A LOOK at this question, and see how quickly you can answer it.

Look at the menu below. If you order a Lancaster Special sandwich and onion soup, how much should you leave for a 10 percent tip?

SoupsMade by Our Chef Daily

Burgers

Sandwiches