Related Research Articles
GE Capital was the financial services division of General Electric. Its various units were sold between 2013 and 2021, including the notable spin-off of the North American consumer finance division as Synchrony Financial. Ultimately, only one division of the company remained, GE Energy Financial Services, which was transferred to GE Vernova when General Electric was broken up.
Predatory lending refers to unethical practices conducted by lending organizations during a loan origination process that are unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent. While there are no internationally agreed legal definitions for predatory lending, a 2006 audit report from the office of inspector general of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) broadly defines predatory lending as "imposing unfair and abusive loan terms on borrowers", though "unfair" and "abusive" were not specifically defined. Though there are laws against some of the specific practices commonly identified as predatory, various federal agencies use the phrase as a catch-all term for many specific illegal activities in the loan industry. Predatory lending should not be confused with predatory mortgage servicing which is mortgage practices described by critics as unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices during the loan or mortgage servicing process, post loan origination.
Bank of America Home Loans is the mortgage unit of Bank of America. It previously existed as an independent company called Countrywide Financial from 1969 to 2008. In 2008, Bank of America purchased the failing Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion. In 2006, Countrywide financed 20% of all mortgages in the United States, at a value of about 3.5% of the United States GDP, a proportion greater than any other single mortgage lender.
Ally Financial Inc. is a bank holding company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered at Ally Detroit Center in Detroit, Michigan. The company provides financial services including car finance, online banking via a direct bank, corporate lending, vehicle insurance, mortgage loans, and other related financing services such as installment sale and lease agreements.
Ditech Financial LLC was a provider of home loan, loan servicing and refinance products to consumers and institutional partners in the U.S.
Ameriquest was one of the largest United States sub-prime mortgage lenders until its dissolution in September 2007. Among the first mortgage companies employing computers to solicit prospective borrowers and hasten the loan application process, Ameriquest was accused of predatory lending practices by United States banking regulators. The company was notable for its promotion of the stated income loan, whereby potential borrowers were allowed to claim income without verification of employment. The proliferation of lending to customers with marginal creditworthiness proved to be not only a key factor leading to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis, but also a catalyst to Ameriquest's own demise.
New Century Financial Corporation was a real estate investment trust that originated mortgage loans in the United States through its operating subsidiaries, New Century Mortgage Corporation and Home123 Corporation.
Novation Companies, Inc.(formerly Novastar Financial, Inc.) owns and operates early-stage businesses in the technology-enabled services industry. It trades under the symbol NOVC.
GMAC ResCap, Inc., earlier Residential Funding Company LLC and Residential Capital Corporation, was a residential mortgage loan originator and servicer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was a subsidiary of GMAC. As a result of its exposure to subprime lending during the subprime mortgage crisis, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012 and underwent liquidation in December 2013.
The American subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. The crisis led to a severe economic recession, with millions losing their jobs and many businesses going bankrupt. The U.S. government intervened with a series of measures to stabilize the financial system, including the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Popularly known as USA Capital, hard money lender USA Commercial Mortgage Co. (USACM) was a Las Vegas, Nevada based mortgage broker owned by Tom Hantges, Joe Milanowski which went bankrupt in 2006. Rodney Balinski was also a part of the company, as Tom Hantges' and Joe Milanowski's assistant.
American Freedom Mortgage, Inc. (AFM) was a private S Corporation incorporated on February 2, 2001, according to the Georgia Secretary of State, and headquartered in Marietta, Georgia. AFM conducted business as a multi-state direct-to-consumer correspondent lender and mortgage broker specializing in the origination of subprime and Alt-A mortgage loans. AFM also operated a wholesale mortgage lending division that originated loans via approved mortgage brokers and which used the fictitious name AFMI Funding. As a correspondent lender, AFM sold the mortgage loans on the open market to larger investors.
The subprime mortgage crisis impact timeline lists dates relevant to the creation of a United States housing bubble, the 2005 housing bubble burst and the subprime mortgage crisis which developed during 2007 and 2008. It includes United States enactment of government laws and regulations, as well as public and private actions which affected the housing industry and related banking and investment activity. It also notes details of important incidents in the United States, such as bankruptcies and takeovers, and information and statistics about relevant trends. For more information on reverberations of this crisis throughout the global financial system see 2007–2008 financial crisis.
This article provides background information regarding the subprime mortgage crisis. It discusses subprime lending, foreclosures, risk types, and mechanisms through which various entities involved were affected by the crisis.
The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, also known as the Crash of '08 and the Lehman Shock on September 15, 2008, was the climax of the subprime mortgage crisis. After the financial services firm was notified of a pending credit downgrade due to its heavy position in subprime mortgages, the Federal Reserve summoned several banks to negotiate financing for its reorganization. These discussions failed, and Lehman filed a Chapter 11 petition that remains the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, involving more than US$600 billion in assets.
First Franklin Financial Corp., not to be confused with 1st Franklin Financial Corporation, was a San Jose, California-based home mortgage lender that specialized in subprime loans. It had been owned by two of the biggest casualties of the subprime mortgage crisis, National City Corp. in Cleveland and Merrill Lynch.
Michael Hudson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American investigative journalist. He is currently head of investigations at the Guardian US.
The 2007–2008 financial crisis, or the global financial crisis (GFC), was the most severe worldwide economic crisis since the 1929 Wall Street crash that began the Great Depression. Causes of the crisis included predatory lending in the form of subprime mortgages to low-income homebuyers and a resulting housing bubble, excessive risk-taking by global financial institutions, and lack of regulatory oversight, which culminated in a "perfect storm" that triggered the Great Recession, which lasted from late 2007 to mid-2009. The financial crisis began in early 2007, as mortgage-backed securities (MBS) tied to U.S. real estate, as well as a vast web of derivatives linked to those MBS, collapsed in value. Financial institutions worldwide suffered severe damage, reaching a climax with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, and a subsequent international banking crisis.
Mr. Cooper Group, formerly WMI Holdings Corporation, is an American home loan servicer headquartered in the Dallas, Texas area. Mr. Cooper Group specializes in residential mortgages, mortgage refinancing, home loans, and home loan refinancing. As of 2023, it was one of the largest mortgage servicers in the United States with a servicing portfolio of approximately $937 billion and more than 4.3 million customers.
Fremont General Corporation was a Santa Monica, California based holding company for Fremont Investment & Loan, an industrial bank that was one of the largest subprime mortgage lenders in the country during the early and mid 2000s.
References
- ↑ No. 10 of The Subprime 25: WMC Mortgage Corp./General Electric Co. The Center for Public Integrity May 6, 2009
- ↑ Fraud and folly: The untold story of General Electric’s subprime debacle The Center for Public Integrity January 6, 2012
- ↑ Understanding the Securitization of Subprime Mortgage Credit by Adam B. Ashcraft and Til Schuermann. Federal Reserve Bank of New York. March 2008.
- ↑ Index to the Worst Subprime Originators occ.treas.gov November 13, 2008
- ↑ Stempel, Jonathan. "GE's WMC Mortgage unit, felled by financial crisis, files Chapter 11 bankruptcy". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
