Consider a declining economy. In general, people become more conservative with their money and consequently, longer skirts become popular.

On the other hand, economic prosperity ushers in risk taking and skirt hems rise. Case in point, consider the Flappers of the Roaring 20's.

Much the same, no one could deny the economic outlook during the Clinton administration was promising. The drive to increase homeownership was noble. In fact, loan approvals were reaching all time highs.

Real estate was the financial rock of the economy. Financial skirt hems were on the rise.

Now if you were a mortgage broker, you were hearing something like this from The Big Three, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA...

"100% conventional loans with PMI? No problem. Your borrower has a pulse? Good to go!"

Mortgage representatives witnessed automated underwriting systems spitting out unprecedented loan approvals all day long.

And then along came Subprime Lending. Mortgage brokers, visited by lender representatives, were being offered innovative programs never before seen.

Take a peek at what was being offered to Joe The Home Buyer to enable mortgage qualification...

Non verifiable income ok!

No income disclosed ok!

No assets stated ok!

No appraisal options ok!

Below 600 credit scores ok!

100% financing ok!

1st/2nd mortgage combos ok!

Non verified gifts ok!

No savings pattern ok!

Debt ratios out the wing-wang ok!

That was only the beginning. And deadly if ever combined with decreasing real estate values and job losses but I am getting ahead of myself.

It was official. FNMA, FHLMC and FHA were raising their skirts to qualify more home buyers.

America looked on as the Millennium ushered in more and more liberal guidelines. Caution was thrown to the wind. Excessive confidence was placed in credit scoring and automated underwriting. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA were exuberant.

The door had been opened, the stage was set and in walked Subprime Lending. However the most recent darling of Wall Street needed to replace its tarnished loan shark image. So to make it more palatable for borrowers and mortgage companies, hard money underwent a name change.

Meet the new and improved Alternative Lending.

The volume got louder as Fannie, Freddie, and FHA played musical chairs. Round and round the guidelines they frantically darted seeing who could churn out the most buyers before the music ended.

Fannie, Freddie and FHA, the millennial Flappers, had raised their skirt even higher.

Now understand this. When one of the Big Three loosened underwriting guidelines, you can be sure the other two competed. But Alternative Lending financed by Wall Street made qualifying for mortgages the easiest of all.

It was at this juncture that home buyers stormed in by the thousands across America. And why not! Standards for mortgage loan approvals had never before made home buying this easy.

Lest you think I am criticizing the first time home buyer, please hear me out. Joe The Renter was watching his rent payment gradually increase. Saving for a down payment was slow. The threat of paying rent for years to come loomed over Joe.

Then Joe The Renter caught wind of new mortgage programs that did not require a downpayment. Mortgage loan approval was granted overnight and a month later Joe got the keys to his first house.

In light of the ease with which Joe could buy a house, there is a lingering attitude I find very disturbing. It goes something like this...

"Home buyers by the droves had the audacity to get a mortgage with no downpayment and everybody knows how THAT turned out for America."

So I am going to say it once and for all. I am sick and tired of Joe The Homeowner being blamed for the mortgage debacle.

In the 1990's the Big Three, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA recognized that underwriting guidelines had become outdated. To modernize loan approval standards to match a healthy economy was necessary.

But herein lies the rub. Had mortgage investors not succumbed to greed, and of most importance, had Wall Street not excessively leveraged...

Well, I contend Joe The Homeowner knows how THAT turned out for him.