<prompt> Human: Pardon me for the question, I was just out of high school around that time I didnt know much about finance.Is it referring to getting people qualified to buy a home who clearly couldnt afford one? Did they sign up for 51 ARM loans that interest shot up like crazy after 5 years? The way people refer to them make it seem like loan officers were putting guns to a persons head.  <response>: A lot of things really contributed, and luckily all predate my time in the mortgage business.1. Stated Income Loans - cant prove your income, well charge 1 more and you can tell us how much you make2. Stated Plus - w2 income not enough? See above. This once is even more fucky because there is a time and place for stated, although it was heavily abused. Stated Plus just says, lie to me and Ill approve your loan3. This is a big one, and it was more of a trend than anything. Lending on equity instead of qualification. The idea that houses always appreciate so it doesnt matter was what led to so many of the problems. The banks knew they could sell a home for a profit if a borrower defaulted. People bought homes they couldnt afford because they couldnt lose.Yes, LOs got bigger commissions, and that played a huge part in it, but there were systemic problems that were bigger than guys pushing the loans. It was bigger than the family of 5 driving a 10 year old Volkswagon that was prequalified for a 700,000 home on a 65,000year income. It really was a runaway train and the banks capitalized on it. 