Several readers suggested possible bailouts as a topic. "I think this is going to be one angle that the politicians use to try to pass some type of FB bailout: 'These are people who want to partake of the American dream, who have every right to, who really with a bit more work and a bit more financial planning could get there in a safe way, but who are lured - even seduced - by many of these lenders to go ahead and make this commitment too early, at a point before they’re ready,' he said."

A reply, "We can all agree there should be no bailout. There is still the question of who should bear the most brunt of the damage: 1. The ignoramus borrower who is blinded by stupidity. 2. The conniving lender who is plotting with stupidity."

Another said, "GREAT topic. Include thoughts on likelihood, precedent, possible mechanisms for doing so, and probable ways of preventing such an event from occurring."

One said, "Absolutely agree this is THE main concern for most of us. Will the FBs or lenders get bailed out, how and at whose expense (think we know the answer to that one)? The lenders (and our pension/mutual/bond funds?) should be the main ones who get hosed. They **KNEW** better, whereas the FBs are often just completely ignorant and stupid. The lenders preyed on the FBs."

"Speculators (and those who purchased more than one home in the past few years) should also not get a single cent in a bailout. AND HOW CAN WE PREVENT IT?"

A reply, "We can’t. The same well-heeled folks who brought you this bubble can buy the influence on Capitol Hill to steal the money from Joe Soccer Mom needed to keep it going."

Another had this, "Here are my criteria and thoughts: 1. No bail out for anyone. Whether you are lender or a borrower, you made your choice to lend or borrow, now deal with it. 2. If a loan was made to a borrower with insufficient income to meet the payments for a 30 year fixed interest version in that amount at that time, then the lender should be fined the amount of the loan. All monies collected go into the Social Security general fund. The borrower still has to deal with honoring the agreement."

"3. If a borrower is found to have misrepresented their income on a no doc loan, then they are guilty of fraud and should be prosecuted for fraud."

"4. If an appraisal value exceeded the comps for that house and then there was a cash back situation, then all of the 'professionals' and the borrower should be investigated for fraud. Agents, Lenders, Brokers, Appraisers, everyone."

"I realize that much of what I list here is simply not going to happen, but by putting it down it makes me think about it and maybe engage in some dialog with others on the pros and cons of it all."

The Denver Post. "For retirees Patrick and Marilou Foley, a mortgage carrying a low 2 percent interest rate seemed an answer to their prayers. After failing to sell their home, the couple wanted to refinance into a smaller mortgage payment so they could rent the home out. They also needed cash to deal with mounting medical bills."

"'They told us we were sitting on a gold mine,' Marilou said of the brokers at an Arapahoe County mortgage broker that provided the couple with an Option Adjustable Rate Mortgage."

"Despite its name, the Foleys said their new mortgage left them with limited options and put them on a path to foreclosure. Two months into the new loan, the minimum payment that they thought would be around $1,000 is closer to $2,074 when property taxes and mortgage insurance are added in."

"Taking that minimum option will add more than $1,100 a month in unpaid interest back into their loan's principal. Once unpaid principal grows to 115 percent of the loan amount, their payments will rise sharply. 'It is going from bad to worse,' Marilou said. 'I can't eat and I can't sleep. I am desperate.'"

"A prepayment penalty on the Foleys' loan means the couple can't refinance within three years absent a hefty fee. And the cash they expected to receive never materialized. But Marilou isn't staying idle. She is talking to the Arapahoe County district attorney and trying to organize other borrowers into a class-action lawsuit."

"Consumers bite on the low 'teaser' rates, only to find themselves in over their heads, said Patricia McCoy, a law professor at the University of Connecticut in Hartford and an expert on predatory lending. 'We are in this no-man's land of outmoded disclosure laws that are really confusing,' she said."

"'Negative amortization was never explained to me,' said Marilou Foley, who added that she would have ripped up the loan papers if she had understood that a prepayment penalty had been slipped in."

"'To me, it is per se unsafe to give a senior an option ARM,' law professor McCoy said. 'They do not have the financial ability to weather that.'"

"Ferren Rajput defended the loan his company provided the Foleys, saying it is saving the couple $800 a month from their previous mortgage arrangement. The lower monthly payments provided by option ARMs can give people on fixed incomes more flexibility, not less, he said. Washington Mutual, one of the largest mortgage lenders in the country, calls option ARMs 'the right loan for retirement,' he said."