Some industry watchers say spending will remain strong into the spring, a prime buying time, although consumer
advocates say the ads continue to be misleading. "There's been huge scrutiny on these companies, but they are continuing to advertise," says Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National
Consumers League. "Many of these companies are bleeding, and these ads are a way to get more money into the door." Mortgage companies spent over $400 million on ads in the third quarter of 2007,
higher than what it spent at the peak of the housing boom, according to TNS Media Intelligence.
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Still, it is very much a case of caveat emptor market: "There may be some good, legitimate offers," says Frank Dorman, a spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission. "But it's a good time for consumers to be especially wary."