Along with everywhere else, California is experiencing housing problems. This article from Yahoo News is pretty much like every other “home foreclosure rates are skyrocketing” article, with the notable exception that it alludes to not only predatory lending but lying to little old ladies:

…Dorothy Hicks, 74, a retired federal employee in Oakland, California, is seeing her American dream of owning a home teetering on the edge of collapse. After refinancing into an adjustable-rate mortgage last year, she faces possible foreclosure on her home of nearly 40 years.

Hicks says she was told the mortgage was a fixed-rate loan, but was soon overwhelmed by soaring payments when its interest rates rose. “By the time you pay (utility) PG&E, the telephone and the mortgage, you don’t have any money,” she said.

If you didn’t think subprime ARMs were bad when they were getting people with the truth, surely you must think they are bad when lying to a nice old woman named Dororthy.

For now, at least. I’m sure there will be some new swindle in a decade or so, but it’s great to know that states are working hard to protect their hardworking citizens. Here’s an excerpt from the article on TwinCities.com:

“It’s going to slow the industry down,” said Louis Olsen, president of River City Mortgage and Financial, a mid-sized lender in Eagan that has stopped making stated-income loans. “I think everybody has pretty much succumbed to the fact that everybody has to do business the way we did 10 years ago.”

Going back to honest business practices? Doesn’t sound like such a bad thing, now does it?