Home buyers must be responsible

I have been in the mortgage business in Colorado for nearly 18 years and I have seen real estate booms and busts, although I am not sure I've seen my industry being skewered by the media quite this badly.

Colorado mortgage brokers are providing the same loans to Colorado borrowers as in any other state. In markets experiencing flat to declining appreciation rates, low down payment loans become risky - even if they are properly disclosed fixed rate, principal and interest loans with no prepayment penalty. Try to tell a majority of home buyers that they should wait until they have at least 10 percent down to purchase a home and you are met with a disbelieving stare.

I would say a large number of homeowners in foreclosure right now knew exactly the loan type they were getting and were getting exactly what they asked for. Widespread homeownership is one of the wonderful things about this country, but we do need to remember personal responsibility as well.

Colleen Brewer, Parker

A different view of economic growth

The March 6 story "Capitol gung-ho on green" highlights House Bill 1281 covering renewable energy. Let's analyze this: Could reduce energy costs, increase total wages paid to workers by $570 million; increase Colorado's share of national gross domestic product by $1.9 billion and generate $400 million in property taxes through 2020. Let's see, that reduction in energy costs will take $2.87 billion out of our bank accounts.

If Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. executive vice president Tom Clark thinks this is a good idea to help economic growth, perhaps he should be looking for another job.

Terry W. Donze, Wheat Ridge

Mortgage broker stories questioned

I really feel bad about the people who bought at the top of the housing market. Fueled by an avalanche of illegal aliens supporting the greed of unscrupulous developers, golf communities have boomed on desert land. We seem to have lost focus and see no future in farms and ranches to feed the existing population - when the real money is in subdividing for more mouths.

Now it seems some home purchases have lost value since contracted. Those things happen when the good paying and multitudinous construction jobs dry up, and all that's left is maintenance and support.

I do question the stories of mortgage brokers falsifying documents. The legal and illegal Hispanics I work with relate to me how those with a grasp of procedure quickly falsify documents attesting to employment never held, line up false references, list assets of their dreams and citizenship rights they've no claim to. Thus illegal aliens move from foreclosed home to new abode almost overnight.

Michael C. Zink, Denver

Make an example of CEOs around country

Is there any one who thinks that Joe Nacchio's court verdict will bring a heavy jail or fine sentence? I have a relative who has lost her entire retirement savings when she was working for Ma Bell while Mr. Nacchio has lived in luxury.

If he should ever get a jail sentence, I am sure it will be in a country club-type of setting. I think an example should be made of him and all of the other CEOs around the country - they cannot be allowed to get away with what they've been doing over the years, and to let companies know that when they lose money, they cannot give their CEOs bonuses.

Leroy M. Martinez, Denver

Unions kill productivity

Regarding Rob Reuteman's March 3 column ("Unions are sinking, but secret ballots not the cause"): surely you know why nongovernment union membership has fallen to single-digit levels over the past few decades. Did you ever hear of the UAW, aka "U Ain't Workin' "?

Nearly 40 years of closing unionized assembly plants and being strangled by legacy costs that are so high the Big 3 can't make a buck even in good economic times.

Every time there is a vote to unionize a foreign-owned auto plant in the USA, it fails. The unions don't have a plan for survival in a globalized world, and they provide no good reason to join. They are productivity killers.

Hank Riehl, Denver