Most mortgage consumers just aren't buying it.

Two out of three adults believe mortgage pitches are either only slightly credible or not credible at all.

More than one in five adults, 22 percent, are convinced mortgage advertising and marketing is not credible at all and that could be putting the industry's reputation at stake, according to a recent poll.

Calling the results "no surprise" Harris Interactive conducted a poll that found many consumers have lost faith in the financing they need to purchase what's often the most expensive purchase they'll ever complete.

When the Harris Poll of 2,383 adults was conducted online between May 8 and 14, only about one in four had favorable perceptions about mortgage ads, with only 3 percent saying they had very favorable perceptions.

"Given the large proportion of consumers who are riding the fence, now more than ever would be a good time for these institutions to examine their mortgage product advertising and marketing messages," says Sanford Brumley a Harris Interactive vice president.

During the last housing boom, the mortgage industry experienced growing levels of predatory lending, fraud and financial crimes that spawned a swarm of complaints from civil and class action lawsuits to federal investigations of organized crime.

Collusion, conspiracy and insider aiding and abetting among other sectors of the real estate industry share the blame for consumers who believe mortgage ads are empty lures.

Today's growing number of foreclosures is largely attributed to mishandled underwriting for subprime, nontraditional and other risky mortgages. Until recently, and for several years, millions of loans were approved, based not on a long-term ability to repay, but based on the ability to repay the loan at the starter or teaser mortgage interest rates. The ability to repay was also often misstated, not corroborated, ignored or otherwise simply not factored into the underwriting.

Since the boom waned, interest rates on many loans have risen, pushing monthly mortgage payments out of reach and more homes into foreclosure. The mortgage market morass is expected to cost 2 million people their homes before the market bottoms out.

Worsening matters, the mortgage industry has since pulled to rug out from under hard-luck easy-money borrowers by making those same loans nearly impossible to obtain now.

The move was certainly necessary to stop the bleeding, but it leaves homeowners at the mercy of a lender's workout, and the housing market swollen with inventory and falling prices.

The Harris poll's most negative sentiments came from the African American community, where 37 percent have an unfavorable opinion of financial institutions that offer mortgages, compared to 30 percent of Hispanics and 26 percent of whites.

"The data further emphasize why a 'one size fits all' approach is not effective in terms of the messaging used to inform and educate consumers about mortgage offerings. This is especially true when communicating to different ethnic groups," said Natalie Jobity, a Harris Interactive research vice president.

By mortgage product, fixed rate mortgages received the highest level of favorability -- 71 percent said they had some level of favorability about them, compared to 52 percent for home equity loans; 27 percent for low- and no-down payment loans; 25 percent for reverse mortgages; 14 percent for adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs); 9 percent for interest-only mortgages; and only 4 percent said they had some level of favorability for balloon mortgages.

Published: July 24, 2007

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A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.