In the past, it was possible for virtually everyone to get a few hundred thousand dollars to buy a home, as private lenders flooded the market, aggressively trying to get customers. The borrowers thus got what they wanted, i.e. the mortgage no matter what their financial history was.
However, things are not the same not any more. Currently, only one lender remains, which is the federal government. In order to rescue the firms from the financial crisis, the government took control a year ago of the two largest mortgage finance companies in the world, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
