Inflation here? gas/grocery prices just continue to climb

it wasn't just that they were lending to 'those' people - it's that the targeted them and often pressured them into really, really bad deals
Of course they did. I mean, it was in a lot of ways predatory lending.

That said, I was a minister who was self employed and when I bought my first home in 2003, I did so with a no doc loan because my income was so inconsistent from month to month. I never missed a payment at that time, but I really didn't have any business buying a $400k home on the income I had at that time. I sought the bank out when looking for a home at the time, but my situation was pretty unique.