The problem was that everyone was in on it. I spoke to quite a few people in that time period, from mortgage brokers to borrowers to bankers. They all knew what was happening. A friend tried to sell me on getting a NINJA loan (No Income, No Job, No Assets) where, I was told "just tell them any number for your income on the application." It was all done with a wink and nod and everyone in the pipeline knew what was happening.

When there's a collective acquiescence to large-scale fraud, who gets thrown in the clink? The bigger question should be how did the sytem evolve to the point where all of this was made possible?