Deceptive ads at bottom of sub-prime mortgage crisis.

<--This ad, sent to a McClatchy Newspapers reporter, warns that an adjustable-rate mortgage was about to reset to a higher rate. The ad from Community Mortgage in Silver Spring, Maryland, was a lie.

Financial planners warn against taking home loans whose monthly payments exceed 40 percent of income. Yet Patricia Clemons, 62, found that she'd signed up for a new loan whose costs exceeded 62 percent of her fixed income. Clemons became a victim of deceptive advertising that relied on bait-and-switch tactics. Fraudulent ads are used to hook many borrowers with weak credit histories such as Clemons. » read more