<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"><base></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">This is a reply from a retired W/F exec. in the city:<br><div><br><div><base href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/01/opinion/underwriting-the-next-housing-crisis.html?src=recg&mabReward=RI%3A11&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Recommended&pgtype=article"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">"This is very unfortunate. <div>One of the things that happened during the housing boom is that banks essentially stopped using underwriters but instead needed only processors to follow a checklist. I saw this clearly happen at Wells Fargo. This not only eliminated judgment from the underwriting process, but it led banks to, over that period of time, increasingly replace their underwriters with folks who weren't either trained or qualified to make judgment calls. I'm sure that banks, among other corporations, have been pressuring legislators not to raise underwriting standards because it would be expensive and restrictive for them. </div><div>This is yet another successful manipulation of Congress but those who “own" it."<br><div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: inherit;"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: inherit;">Mark Safron <<a href="mailto:mzs@mcn.org">mzs@mcn.org</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: inherit;"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: inherit;"><b>Underwriting the Next Housing Crisis - <a href="http://nytimes.com/">NYTimes.com</a></b><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: inherit;"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: inherit;">November 4, 2014 9:49:42 AM PST<br></span></div><br><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Calibri; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: inherit;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-Mail-URLShareWrapperClass" contenteditable="false"><span class="Apple-Mail-URLShareUserContentTopClass" applecontenteditable="true" style="line-height: 14px !important; text-align: left !important;">(Oh no! Not again. M.S.) <br></span><span class="Apple-Mail-URLShareSharedContentClass" applecontenteditable="true" style="position: relative !important; "><base><div><div class="original-url"><br></div><div class="original-url"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/01/opinion/underwriting-the-next-housing-crisis.html?src=recg&mabReward=RI%3A11&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Recommended&pgtype=article">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/01/opinion/underwriting-the-next-housing-crisis.html?src=recg&mabReward=RI%3A11&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Recommended&pgtype=article</a><br><br></div><div id="article" role="article" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; "><div class="page" style="font: normal normal normal 20px/normal Georgia, serif; line-height: 25px; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; "><h1 class="title" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 25px; line-height: 1.25em; color: rgb(75, 75, 75); text-align: start; -webkit-hyphens: manual; ">Underwriting the Next Housing Crisis</h1></div></div></div></span></span></div></span></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div><br></body></html>