Confessions of a Subprime Lender

 

Richard Bitner's "Confessions of a Subprime Lender"

After reading about Richard Bitner’s recent book entitled “Confessions of a Subprime Lender” I faced the possibility that this section of our generation will be known for our economic blunders. Then the thought occurred to me that we could either be known for our amaziing ability to screw up, or we could be known as the generation who made things right.

 

It’s easy to understand the draw to the subprime boom back in the early 2000’s after reading bits of Mr. Bitner’s publication. After realizing the awful truth about the lending industry – that its boundaries were too looose – Bitner bailed out based on ethics more than anything. I hope that is the truth.

As I continued to look into the Bitner facts it was revealed that his company Kellner Mortgage is listed on the Implode-O-Meter – a website dedicated to tracking the foreclosure bust from the lending side. It was nice to see that Implode-O-Meter is also tracking Non-Imploded Lenders as well.

All of this (along with the fact that I just saw Lehman Brothers SBF pop up on the Implode-O-Meter) brings me to a thought that logically concludes that we are NOT in the worst of this market yet. Not only are we not in the worst of the market, but I’d be willing to stick my neck out on the chopping block to say that we are still years (not weeks or months) away from the worst. When I think about the fact that commercial loans are still unaccounted for on the whole, it stirs up a sick feeling inside. I live in a newer development where the builder went bankrupt, and the project was cut short by about 1/2 of the planned building. And they were one of the big builders!

For those out there involved in REO, I think there’s still a very long row to hoe. For those not yet in REO, it appears that more assistance is needed.