Suze Orman Says Don't Blame "The People"

Okay, so I have to admit: I like Suze Orman. My husband can't stand her, he finds her mannerisms and idiosyncratic remarks annoying. The only comparison I can come up with for Suze Orman's style is she is kind of like the Celine Dion of the finance world. I like Celien Dion, too, but there's something a little 'off' and 'goofy' about her personality-- her idiosyncrasies. . . So, whatever, I like both of them, husband- not so much. Anyway, I was watching the Suze Orman show a few nights ago, she was reading email questions from her followers. One question caught my attention.  A viewer wrote in saying how she is so upset with the people who overextended themselves with interest only loans, ARMS, etc. and are now in foreclosure, how it's not fair that she pays her mortgage each month, and now she is feeling the impact of others' poor choices, and how angry she is at all these 'people'.  SO, Suze replied with a staunch, "Do not be mad at people, be mad at the regulators who were not doing their jobs." 

I have to say, while I sometimes feel like the viewer, I agree with Suze wholeheartedly.  Prior to my becoming a licensed Realtor, a Realtor friend of ours sold us a house back in 2003.  This was the beginning of the upswing here in South Florida. I remember at one point wishing we could buy more house than we could afford. We really wanted a four bedroom, but could only afford a three bedroom.  Our friend then suggested that if we were to go with one of the newer "products" - say an "interest only loan" or an "ARM", then we could afford "more" house. My husband, with his no-nonsense Midwestern-way-of-thinking (he's from Michigan), said, "absolutely not!"  I remember thinking to myself, "Who in their right mind would want an interest-only loan? or a loan that adjusts to 'who-knows-what-interest-rate'?"  Well, now we're all seeing first-hand just how many people fell for these types of 'products'.  I also remember all of the solicitations we received around that time - via mail, email, telephone, on T.V., basically a bombardment of ads offering to 'refinance' at a lower rate to pay down credit card or other debt or for home improvements, college, you name it.  So, in a nutshell- the advertisers know that if you're in people's faces enough, eventually they give in. . . And this is exactly what happened. Otherwise intelligent people fell for the gimmicks, the promise of 'lower monthly payments', the hope that they could flip a property before interest rates adjusted, the list goes on.  And, I, like Suze, believe that we should not blame the people. Does this mean that all people are 'blameless' and that people did not make mistakes: No. But, the mistakes and the lack of oversight by those entrusted to protect the public far trumps the mistakes of the consumers.