guess you still need to make payments on that loan i5trucker...

I used to bank with WaMu for years, but chaged to Wells Fargo (best decision ever)...are they going to still be called WaMu or some kind of combined named like WaJPMOrganMuChase?

I sure wished that people would take responsibility for their own actions. Sure blame WaMu and all the other banks but the customers that bought these homes should have known better than to buy something they could not afford. Hello????

Most likely be called Chase. Will be advantageous if you are back east, you will be able to use your ATM card at Chase ATMs.

i heard they are giving away a home for each new account opened...

jeeze, you switched from wamu to Wells Fargo, and *liked it*? That's a new one on me. I left WF forever ago and have only heard horror stories since. I love wamu, I hope JPM doesn't change them too much :| Other than axing the rediculous loans ;)

Good idea! Give away a foreclosed home, and then loan you the money to fix all of the problems with it! A win-win!

I left Wells Fargo long ago and went to Washington Mutual, best thing I ever did. Still has a home town flavor with unpretentious customer service; what a concept.

Wells Fargo? YUCK!! I would never do business with them again. I am Washington Mutual all the way. Except I hate that WAMU nickname. Don't know why they did that. Spell it out Washington Mutual instead of sounding like 'baby talk'

It is not always the borrowers fault. I am an escrow officer and I saw alot of subprime loans that the buyer/borrower did not understand. But, there would sit the loan officer telling them just sign, you can afford it. The buyer would look at the loan officer as a professional that would never take advantage of them and they would sign on the dotted line. Yes, the dotted line that committed them to an 40 year loan where the interest is adjustable and they paid 3 points to get it. It made me sick. But I could not say a word due to my "neutral" position as an escrow officer.

The lenders had very generous incentives for the more risky loan options. The "pick-a-payment" loan was a doozy.

I consider myself real savvy in many things in life. I research to a level of OCD in some regards. Before I bought my house, I had read 2 books and a million websites. I also had a great friend as a Realtor and another old classmate be my loan officer. With all of that comfort/trust and book knowledge, I was still running into things while signing papers I had no clue of. Thank God my faith and trust in the friends made everything work just fine. But I can only imagine an average Joe (not a sixpack) walking in to take advantage of the low rates etc. not knowing much and "just wanting a house as cheap as possible."

I remember a hiccup in my paperwork and going irate when the banks wanted proof of a little more $ on my name before loaning to me. I was in my officer's face asking how could No-Job-Joe walk in here and 5 minutes later waltz out with a $300,000 house and me, dual income fam with excellent credit get delayed/questioned etc? I shut up real quick when he started explaining the ARM loans and points upon points adding up.

It's scary how fast someone can get in way over their heads in real estate. I blame the banks for allowing the normal "warning signs" to be bypassed, but people also need to read up a little, get educated at least a tiny bit before going into the largest financial transaction of their life...

I do my personal banking at WAMU. The local business I work for though does all their banking at Wells Fargo. I can't even begin to tell you how I dread going in there to make deposits. As soon as you enter the door you're greeted by the fake greeter, grilled on what's your business in the bank that day, etc. From there, the fake greeter and/or bank teller try selling you a new account, credit card, etc. That's all they care about. The bottom line is sales, and you can tell that most of the employees despise what they're doing. Another good feature that WFB has is always having only two tellers working, but a hundred other employees doing nothing, and a line out the door! I also like when they ask people wearing sunglasses to remove them because it's a "safey issue" even though they're standing behind bullet proof glass! C'mon!
Banking at WAMU has been great, always a good experience when I go there. Hassle free, quick, and always great service.

i really don't blame the borrowers. they trusted the loan officers. most of the time the borrower was told to ignore the adjustable rate because they could re-fi in 2 years. the loan officers failed to tell them that there was a pre-payment penalty and a cost to re-fi. internet loans were the worse! borrowers liked them because they always said "yes". i lay much of the blame on the government for not regulating this type of loan. nero fiddled while rome burned,

in reponse to Hardworkin

Those loan brokers made a fortune. In addition to the fees charged to the borrower, the lender would pay the broker a "yield spread premium" that would sometimes be several thousand dollars. Almost like a thank you loan broker for bringing this stupid sucker to us so they can pay out the nose for this loan.

Fortunatly these brokers are no longer in business. I was talking to a direct tv rep. on the phone and he mentioned he "used" to be a loan broker. Well, if he was an honest person with morals he probably still be in business, now he works for direct tv.....karma.

I could not agree with you more Bourbon. I wish they would give me money as well to keep my business open. But trust me, it won't happen.

Your comments are absolute BS.
I as a real estate investment
manager, who could make maybe $250,000 in this market, in the next 12 months in Real Estate equity and cash. Will
not raise private money to in-
vest in real estate, I would not put my own money into.

Another-words, On a down market, risk increase, and
you are doing your investor
a dis-service by asking for
their hard earned money when
the property values have not bottomed out yet.