The way we were

The Federal government says, 'Nevermind.' to their bright idea of yesteryear that home lending standards should be loosened, which was enshrined in The GSE Act of 1992, HUD's Best Practices Initiative, the 1995 Amendments to the Community Reinvestment Act, the Clinton Administration Affordable Housing program.

In other words, we are to return to what the lenders had been doing for decades as prudent business, but were criticized for as being racially discriminatory.  So, it's back to square one;

Federal regulators for the first time are laying out rules aimed at ensuring that mortgage borrowers can afford to repay the loans they take out.

The rules being unveiled Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau impose a range of obligations and restrictions on lenders, including bans on the risky "interest-only" and "no documentation" loans that helped inflate the housing bubble.

Lenders will be required to verify and inspect borrowers' financial records. The rules discourage them from saddling borrowers with total debt payments totaling more than 43 percent of the person's annual income. 

Never apologize, Mister.  It's a sign of weakness.