Subprime Mortgage Loans...

I'm rather surprised at all the talk about who's to blame for subprime mortgage loans in the news recently. There was an interview I caught on TV where the host was pretty aggressively demanding a solution from the mortgage industry.

Aren't the people who jumped all over those "too good to be true" deals somewhat responsible? Doesn't anyone who even considered an adjustable rate mortgage, contemplate the possibility of a substantial interest increase after 5 years? My take is the responsibility lies primarily with the people who signed these mortgages. People gambled that property prices would rise faster than the principal owed on the negative amortization loans. Well - they gambled and lost - now owing more on the property than it's worth. You can't call foul on the mortgage industry now for making that loan available in the first place. You DID sign on the dotted line after reading all the fine print, right?

You might say what the mortgage brokers did was unethical, immoral, and irresponsible. I don't disagree. But I don't think what they did was illegal - and so I'm not convinced they are on the hook to find a solution that lets people keep houses they can't afford.

EDIT: Interesting article on an inevitable housing crash in the Bay Area:
http://patrick.net/housing/crash.html