Subprime Mortgage Lender Closes Down

by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

OwnIt Mortgage Solutions – the name fairly screams respectability, right? –, a subprime mortgage lender partially owned by Bank of America Corp., has closed.

OwnIt, a California-based lending institution, made its money by making high-interest loans to people unable to use traditional lenders, such as banks, often because of insufficient income or credit problems.

The culprit in OwnIt’s demise? A cooling housing market and an increase in defaults on these risky loans.

According to a story in the Charlotte Observer and trade publications, OwnIt made about 52,000 loans in 2005, ranking as the nation's 11th largest subprime lender. All but about 3,000 of its loans carried high interest rates, according to the company's filings under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

Be the First To Comment

(Please read our comments policy first.)

From:
Show my identity with comment
Your Comment:

Leave this field empty