During the subprime lending boom adjustable rate mortgages got a bad name, and rightly so.

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It cannot just be assumed that most people who during the housing boom bought homes with adjustable-rate mortgages, or mortgages with prepayment penalties, or mortgages that required a low or even no down payment, were fools or victims of fraud.

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The credit boom was created by initially low adjustable rate mortgages, interest-only or negative amortization loans, and an appreciating real estate market that allowed homeowners to extract equity to help make mortgage payments.

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That pushed the rates on adjustable loans to historic lows as well, helping to fuel the housing boom.

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