1. "Home borrowers fail to make monthly loan payments" is what precipitates "lenders foreclose on homeowners."

2. No lender forced anyone to borrow money to buy a home or to sign a contract to repay that money.

3. A person who cannot determine if his current or future income is sufficient to repay a current or future (adjustable) loan payment probably lacks the financial skills needed to fulfill the responsibilities of a mortgage.

4. The decline in home prices is only a problem if a homeowner has used phantom home equity as an automatic teller machine to finance lifestyle expenses that their current income cannot cover.

Let the housing bubble burst. Home borrowers who fail to repay mortgages should suffer the same consequences as any other nonpaying debtor.

Lenders who made loans with dubious repayment prospects should take losses. The country should build its economy on something other than real-estate speculation and debt transactions.

Housing will become more affordable, sound lending will replace speculation, and foreclosures will plummet.

Melisse Grey

Holladay