Groups that work in black neighborhoods around the country have contended that much of subprime lending is 'predatory lending.'
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Subprime lending is growing faster in black areas than in white areas.
For too long, Americans have fallen victim to financial abuses at the hands of predatory lenders that operate in the shadows.
Subprime mortgages, typically defined as those issued to borrowers with low credit scores, make up roughly the riskiest one-third of all mortgages.
I had begun to worry about the housing market back in 2003, when lenders first resurrected interest-only mortgages, loosening their credit standards to generate a greater volume of loans. Throughout 2004, I had watched as these mortgages were offered to more and more subprime borrowers - those with the weakest credit.
The universe of mortgage lending has gotten to the point where there is a place in it for everybody.
What Wall Street and credit card companies are doing is really not much different from what gangsters and loan sharks do who make predatory loans. While the bankers wear three-piece suits and don't break the knee caps of those who can't pay back, they still are destroying people's lives.
Subsidize... or lend.
Borrowing is not much better than begging; just as lending with interest is not much better than stealing.
The banks are not lending, at least from what I see. They were so wild and reckless back in the good times that they got burned terribly.
Nine of 10 whites in Chicago borrow from top-drawer banks and mortgage companies, which the industry calls prime lenders. They lend to people with A credit ratings, making loans at competitive rates.