FTC warns on “potentially deceptive” mortgage ads

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Interesting post over at the Zillow blog -- which we should check more often. Under the headline, ‘The Feds step in -- about two years too late,’ The company’s CFO, Spencer Rascoff, takes a dig at federal regulators for failing to police the mortgage market:

‘You’ve seen the ads – on the Internet, in the newspaper, and cluttering up your mailbox: ‘No money down – no documentation, we help you buy houses, easy credit!’ This type of easy money characterized the lending climate for the last 5 years, and now we’re paying the price.

More from Zillow: ‘Well the watchdog of advertising messages is now stepping in, several years too late. The Federal Trade Commission warned more than 200 companies to stop ‘potentially deceptive’ advertising for mortgage products. Uncle Sam, where were you a few years ago when people were buying houses they couldn’t afford and were taking out loans they never should have been offered the terms of which they didn’t understand?’

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