Former subprime lender Richard Bitner once worked in an industry that started out helping disadvantaged customers but collapsed due to greed, lack of financial control and willful ignorance. In Confessions of a Subprime Lender: An Insider's Tale of Greed, Fraud, and Ignorance, he reveals the truth about how the subprime lending business spiraled out of control, pushed home prices to unsustainable levels, and turned unqualified applicants into qualified borrowers through creative financing. Learn about the ways the mortgage industry can be fixed with his twenty suggestions for critical change.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments. Introduction. Chapter 1. Why I Bailed Out of the Industry. Chapter 2. The Gunslinging Business of Subprime Lending. Chapter 3. The Underbelly: Mortgage Brokers. Chapter 4. Making Chicken Salad Out of Chicken Shit: The Art of Creative Financing. Chapter 5. Wall Street and the Rating Agencies: Greed at Its Worst. Chapter 6. Secondary Contributors: The Fed, Consumers, Retail Lenders, Homebuilders, and Realtors. Chapter 7. How to Fix a Broken Industry. Glossary. Resources.

About the Author

Richard Bitner was president and cofounder of Kellner Mortgage Investments, a subprime mortgage company that peaked at sixty-five employees and $225 million in annual loan volume. He is Managing Director for Housing Wire, a leading mortgage industry online publication. Visit Richard's blog at www.lendingsanity.com.

Reviews

"...reveals the insider truth about how various parts of the mortgage business yielded to the temptation to maximise profits..." HerelsTheCity.com Thursday 14 August 2008 "For a racier read, Richard Bitner's Confessions of a Subprime Lender is hard to beat." (Sunday Times Ireland Edition, December 14th 2008)