Call me crazy, but why do I lose confidence when someone changes the rules mid-stream? Probably because it means the rules were not well thought out and little consideration was given to the consequences until the inevitable happens.

The most recent confidence killer related to the home mortgage market is the easing of the mortgage lending rules for government backed mortgages administered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you remember back to the 2008 financial crisis, the key engine of the housing collapse was easy money and easy lending regulations.

Home buyers were able to obtain home mortgages with little or no money down and sketchy or non-existent income qualifications. The majority of these loans were backed by our tax money since the loans were guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were and still are federal government backed agencies.

The stringent mortgage lending regulations that ensued as a result of the housing collapse kept many buyers, even qualified ones, out of the housing market. The intention of the tighter lending rules was to eliminate questionable mortgage products like no document loans and zero down payment loans in an effort to get better qualified borrowers who had a vested interest in the property. One way to achieve this was to require a 20 percent down payment, something that was pretty standard 25 years ago, but which also boxed out higher earners with little cash.

As a response to a higher demand for mortgages, banks started lowering their standards by accepting home buyers with smaller down payments and lower credit scores. Since they retained these loans on their books, they were not required to follow government guidelines. Now, however, the government overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said they also should direct their focus toward making more credit available to homeowners.

This is a complete reversal of the standards put in place after the financial crisis and leaves the door open for loans that could be at risk. In the weeks ahead it is expected that new rules for mortgage lending will be put in place by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac allowing for lower down payment mortgages that will still be guaranteed by the government.

Obviously the reason for the position the government is now taking is an effort to boost the sluggish economy by boosting the housing market, which always is a driver of the economy. But are we digging ourselves into another housing bubble? Not yet, most economists would argue, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be careful, and maybe one way to be cautious is to encourage private capital to invest in the housing mortgage market reducing the government’s role and, therefore, reducing the risk to tax payers.

In spite of three decades and trillions of dollars spent on subsidized mortgages, the rate of home ownership has not changed. According to the Census Bureau, in 1980, 65.5 percent of households owned a home, which is almost exactly where it stands now at 65 percent.

Generally, I’m in favor of anything that promotes the housing market, but we all know the dismal results of bad lending regulations and individuals' lack of responsibility. I, for one, am not willing to allow my tax dollars to be put in jeopardy again. Now I know I’m not crazy, but I do think there are a lot of crazy people out there who are interested in their own bottom line. The only problem is they don’t know they’re crazy, but we should.