Should the little guy who wants to own a home be responsible? Yes, to a degree. Do most reasonable people assign him the most blame? No. But progressivebulldog states that "the lender sells the loan" and this is where the real problem lies. Fannie mae and Freddie mac have pushed for lower lending standards for years in order to get more minorities and lower income people to be able to own their homes. The intentions may be good but it forced lenders to lower the bar without regard to the consequences. If you as a lender had to hold these loans you would make sure that most the loans were good loans. If you can just sell your more questionable loans and still make money, well then what the hell... full steam ahead.