Dear editor, Much has been written about the sub-prime loans scandal and all that has stemmed from it: the collapse of major investment banks and other Wall Street institutions, rip-off severance packages for some of their leaders and the highly questionable $700 billion bailout by taxpayers.

Nothing that I’ve seen discusses the swarms of little fish who started this mess. I mean the real estate industry. They steered people to real estate purchases that they really couldn’t afford and then put them in touch with people who could make it happen. And created the mess we’re in.

As I recall, these real estate folks work on commissions — X percent of the sale price, or some variation of that. The higher the price paid, the more they make.

Have they in any provable way given up any of their take in sales that prompted this scandal? Are they somehow fined or assessed when a client quits paying on the loan? Is some record kept of who are the leaders in making these failed sales/loans? Are they honored by their peers? Are they charged with some crime? Or do they just enjoy longer vacations at Cabo?

Jack Rannells / Calistoga