by Tanta on 2/05/2008 08:54:00 AM

P.J. at Housing Wire went to the American Securitization Forum conference because we weren't invited so we don't have to. A miscellaneous gem:

Jon Bottorff, managing director at HSBC Finance, during a session on mortgage origination, on walk-aways: “We’ve attracted a lot of borrowers who are really renters … It is disheartening as a servicer to see the willingness [to walk away] … [borrowers] simply don’t care.” Bottorff wants to see the mortgage industry “get back to the classic homeowner” who has a vested interest in staying in their home.

Yeah, and can we get back to the Classic Mortgage Lender™ who has a vested interest in something other than writing free puts? Just a thought.

Merrill Lynch senior director Sarbashis Ghosh, in a session on RMBS research: “It’s not a subprime problem, it’s a housing leverage problem … we have people with a mortgage who simply cannot afford to make their payments.” Ghosh suggested the solution was “to address the question of leverage,” and went so far as to suggest something like a food stamp program to help borrowers with payments.

And perhaps a Classic Investment Banker™ who understands that loans that are not government-insured are not, um, government-insured while we're at it? Can we have one of those, too? Can we? Can we?