Forum Post: The Movement Needs Concete Objectives

I support this movement, but am concerned that it lacks focus. It is all well and good to protest unfairness in our socioeconomic system, but that will get us nowhere withut concrete objectives. Once the weather turns colder, people will start going home unless they have specific, achievable goals. I recommend the list of possible demands posted by Cicero a few hours ago on this forum.

One demand I would like to see included in a short list of specific, achievable demands is to petition Congress to pass legislation that prevents banks from charging most of the total interest payable in a multi-year loan (such as a mortgage) in the first few years of the repayment period. I don't know the history of how this practice began, and perhaps there was a good reason for it, but I doubt it. It appears to me to be a blatant abuse of the power banks have over borrowers.

Sure, you might say that we should let the market mechanism work and borrowers can look for lenders who do not engage in this practice, but as far as I can tell, every financial institution with a multi-year loan program charges most of the interest payable up front. Finding a lender who does not engage in this practice is impossible. One of the duties of a representative government is to protect the weaker citizens from being exploited by the stronger. Here is a case of blatant exploitation by the banks, and anyone who wants to purchase a home has no choice but to accept it. This is something that can and should be changed. Many people who are in foreclosure now would not be in as bad a situation if a higher percentage of their first few years payments went to principal instead of to interest. It is a totally unfair practice that we should all be angry about.

Let the banks charge higher interest if they want, but we should demand they do it in a fair way. If they want to charge 10 percent interest, then let them charge 10 percent the first year, 10 percent the second year, etc.

I am in a situation where I have paid 5 years on a thirty-year morgage, but still owe more than 95 percent of the principal. That is just not right.