Fenton mortgage fraudster takes plea, will spend 10 years in federal pen

Have you ever wondered why your home isn't worth as much as it used to be worth?

There are a myriad of reasons for the housing market's collapse, but one small factor in the crisis is a guy named Ronnie Duke. Of the Fenton Dukes.

According to the Detroit News:

From 2004-07, the FBI alleges that Duke and the others would arrange for loans and then take a portion of the loan money for themselves. Sometimes, straw buyers would get paid for their efforts and the initial monthly payments would be made.

However, those payments would stop, and in 80 percent of the cases involving homes, the residence would be allowed to go into foreclosure.

Duke will likely serve a 10-15 year sentence in a federal prison.

Let's now fondly remember those halcyon days of the subprime mortgage-fueled housing bubble. Borrowing money we (and the lenders and the Wall Street bond traders) knew couldn't (or wouldn't, in Ronnie Duke's case) ever get repaid, how did that not work forever? It totally seems like it was the perfect system. -- JTW