Lenders, Subprime Loans, & The Mortgage Frenzy In South Florida

In South Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• Some of the largest subprime lenders in the United States found fertile ground in South Florida. Familiar names, such as Countrywide, Washington Mutual and JP Morgan Chase, were among the biggest originators of subprime home loans in Broward and Palm Beach counties in 2006, according to data supplied by lenders under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. To a much lesser degree, South Florida's biggest commercial banks — including Bank of America, Wachovia, SunTrust and Wells Fargo also offered the loans, which soared in popularity during the housing boom years, to borrowers with blemished credit or whose income could not be verified.

• There's plenty of blame to go around for the subprime mortgage mess that has put a record number of South Floridians on the brink of losing their homes. Besides the lenders' zeal, many consumers bought homes they couldn't afford during the housing heyday from 2000 to 2005.

For more, see Lenders in South Florida fed mortage frenzy with risky home loans.