The housing boom was fueled by easy money - lenders were awash with funds from pension funds, insurance companies and especially Wall St. investors. These funds were offered to mortgage seekers that clearly should not have received them. 100% financing? Sure... how 'bout we finance your closing costs too? Can't verify your income? No problem... just tell us what you earn; we'll believe you! Credit score below 600? That's ok.... your home will continue to appreciate so WE KNOW you'll do what's necessary to keep those payments coming. Oh, and if you have any trouble keeping up with the interest payments, don't worry, we'll let you pay less than the interest if you like!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Unfortunately, I'm not. This was the state of the industry up until 2007-2008. I should know. Lenders visited my company MortgageOne every day of the week, practically begging for us to place our clients loans with them; pleading for us to help get these loans out to a voracious marketplace. And I won't lie to you... we offered them. Everyone did.

But in a quick reversal, today's housing implosion was caused by lenders going to the other extreme. Today, you can't get mortgage financing unless you have impeccable credit, sufficient and documented income along with sufficient and verifiable assets. Some would say common sense underwriting, but not me. Today, lenders have effectively severed half of the potential buyers out there taking them out of the marketplace.

Real estate is a product like anything else... subtract half of the potential buyers, watch prices fall. It's a simple calculation. If you're looking to sell your home today, just forget about those with lower than a 620 score. And forget most of the self employed. They typically cannot show the income required to qualify for the mortgage amount they can afford to pay. So take em out of the equation. Buyers only have the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac... and aside from down payment requirements, these three entities have very similar underwriting standards. So if you can't get one of those loans, sorry. I should mention that in rural areas, USDA loans are another option. Another government agency loan. Private sector lending? What's that?

But just wait. It gets worse. What about all those foreclosed properties that have been taken back by their lenders? These properties are being grossly mismanaged. Many of them don't have for-sale signs. Very few of them are being maintained. Most potential home buyers have no desire to even look at these properties - they don't want to rehab properties. Even investors that can afford 25% down payments required today, cannot get traditional financing because of the condition of these properties. So they sit on the market. And eventually, the banks lower their prices further depressing the value of surrounding properties.

To make matters even worse, these homes don't qualify for FHA financing. In today's market, FHA financing offers the most lenient financing available for home-buyers today. But FHA has fairly strict property standards - these "REO's" (properties owned by lenders) typically fail to pass an FHA appraisal. With all the new regulations and with all the stimulus money being handed out, Mr. Obama, we need regulations requiring lenders to get their foreclosed properties in order. These properties need to be handled with care and attention. Additionally, lenders need to begin relaxing their absurd underwriting guidelines. I have been in the mortgage business since the early 80's and never in all that time have underwriting guidelines been as strict as today.

Finally, I am amazed by the many stories I hear of homeowners getting rejected for modification. Even when the numbers clearly indicate that a homeowner has an excellent chance for recovery if granted a modification - many are just being pushed aside or completely ignored. Modifications are being denied to thousands because they cannot prove that there is enough income to make even reduced payments... even though they were granted those loans in the past.

What can you do? Reach out to your congressman. Tell him or her that we need regulations that will force lenders to start doing the right thing with their foreclosed properties. We need them to agree to more requests for modification. We need new policies that will require lenders to modify loans when the numbers clearly indicate that a home can be saved with a temporary payment reduction.

I am in the process of collected the stories of hundreds (and hopefully, soon to be thousands) of homeowners who have been denied modification, many that paid thousands of dollars only to receive a declination notice. I want the stories of those that cannot sell their home because of all the foreclosures in their neighborhood. I want your story if you have a toxic mortgage but cannot refinance because you have no equity. I will be taking all these stories right to Washington - our representatives need to begin forcing banks and lenders to begin cleaning up this mess. They need to approve more modifications and they need to take better care of their foreclosed homes. When I approach congressmen with thousands of your stories - I think they will listen. And hopefully, they will take action.