"underwater" mortgages

[jinx]

And before you get all bent on the ARM spexxie - They do serve a purpose when used properly and in the right application.

Knowledgeable investors have been using arms to 'flip' houses for a long time. Makes perfect sense for them, paying the minimum interest for the short time that they improve the property before resale. Takes the right house in the right location and often a partnership between contractor/construction people and RE agents - same partnerships that are often already building new homes in the area so they're all ready to go with it.
The idea caught on and lots of clueless idiots thought they'd do the same thing without actually having any idea how to do it. Other people just bought too much house. I have a hard time excusing either of these. Predatory lending my ass - unless you were lied to outright, lending is a FAVOR.

It's like a few years ago when people suddenly realized that the rent-to-own option means you pay a fuckton more in the end and were mad at the businesses that offered even that option. Dumbasses.