In fact, individuals were often not aware of the risks they were exposed to and did not understand the terms and conditions of the mortgages they purchased, which often resulted in significant increases in their monthly payments over time.
They either relied on the limited and incomplete financial advice from relatives or sometimes less than honest lenders in the form of mortgage brokers, or even sheepishly followed the less than responsible behaviour of others. In this respect, higher levels of understanding of financial products may have helped these individuals consider more accurately the risks and conditions of the credit products they were buying.