I'm not a fan of the banks, they were encouraged to loan to risky borrowers, people who bought as much as they could with little more than a pulse. This behavior began under Clinton. This was during the era of easy credit where college kids could get massive credit lines. Source: I was one of these kids and I also worked for a Real Estate Web host during the boom and bust.

>I'm not a fan of the banks, they were encouraged to loan to risky borrowers, people who bought as much as they could with little more than a pulse.

There is so much to unpack in this sentence, this alone could be a book about the financial/housing collapse.

Yes, in Clinton's years the banks lobbied and successfully had regulations rolled back so they could underwrite loans on stated income from broker applications. For purposes of culpability/intent, look no further than these lobbying efforts (I am skipping the other deregulations they successfully lobbied for: 103% financing/nothing down/adjustable rate mortgages).

With these new rules its fair to say banks encouraged brokers to in turn encourage borrowers to make up numbers because now they would not be verified.

When it all blew up, the banks blamed the borrowers for lying on mortgage applications, making themselves out to be the victims.