Confessions of a Subprime Lender: An Insider's Tale of Greed, Fraud, and Ignorance (Paperback)

by Richard Bitner (Author)
Key Phrases: mortgage brokers, secondary contributors, most subprime lenders, Wall Street, The Underbelly, The Gunslinging Business of Subprime Lending (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...packed with tales of crooked brokers, deceitful customers, avaricious Wall Street banks and all too obliging credit rating agencies." (The Guardian, September 19, 2008)

"If this is even near the truth, it is remarkable...Bitner's book was more firmly rooted in the world we live in." (Prospect Magazine, October, 2008)

"...pulls back the curtain on the players who created the subprime disaster...In a breezy style and from a special vantage" (Pensions World, November 2008)

Product Description
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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (June 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470402199
• ISBN-13: 978-0470402191
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #212,779 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, not great, and self-serving., July 26, 2008

By	P. B. Sims (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Wow(!), there sure are a lot of reviews here that make this book sound like the definitive work for explaining the mortgage meltdown. I'm not the smartest bulb in the room (at all) when it comes to this kind of stuff, but I found I knew most of what was discussed in the book before I read it. To be sure, it's an easy read (of the lazy summer weekend kind) and a fun one (lots of incompetent borrowers, sleazy brokers and greedy investors - this is mostly an anecdotal book), and it does a pretty good job of simplifiying things, but in the end, I was disappointed. Worth the money and the time, but less substance than I expected.

The thing that irked me the most is that Bitner REALLY lets himself (and to a large degree, other lenders) off the hook here. Oh sure, in the end he says he blames himself too, and 'gee gosh', he should have known better, but I never get the impression he really means it or takes any real responsibility. Of all the institutions and people he blames for this mortgage mess, he makes it sound as if his group is the least culpable,- caught between crooked brokers and greedy investors. I just don't buy it. In the end, he's too self-serving, and trying to have it both ways. I get the impression he wants the reader to feel sorry for him, and I don't.

While I appreciate the fact that he did write this rather light examination of the subprime industry, I can't get past the fact that he made lots and lots of money exploiting the system, as he exploits the mess now by selling a book about it. And all the time, there are a lot of folks who have been screwed and thier lives turned upside down, partially because of his actions.

In the end, all of us are paying and will continue to pay for his (and of course, many others') unethical behavior.
Doesn't sound to me like he's changed; he's just found another angle.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bitner Nails It, July 2, 2008

By	Theodore Alan Miller (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read Richard Bitner's book from cover to cover and did not want to put it down. As one who has been in the mortgage business for over 30 years, working in various industry segments including retail origination, wholesale lending, correspondent lending and private mortgage guaranty insurance (residential loan default insurance), I was impressed by how Richard managed to put all the key pieces together on the subprime crisis and did it with such an honest, insightful and refreshing candor.

After all my years in a business that insured lenders and mortgage investors against residential mortgage loan defaults, I understood we were headed for trouble with massive mortgage defaults, simply due to all the irresponsible lending practices with loan programs that had multiple layers of risk where buyers had little or no skin in the game and originators had even less. There is lots of blame to go around and Bitner does not spare any of the many participants from being assigned their contribution to the crisis.

As my friend used to say: "This has got to be true because you couldn't make this stuff up." That clearly applies to Bitner's weaving of such a bizarre, but sadly true story. I used to use an expression of my Grandmother's about the subprime "stuff" I observed in the mortgage industry and what I felt would happen. I said: "The chickens will be coming home to roost." Bither gives a great account of how all those eggs got laid and how the fox was in charge of the hen house. This crisis in housing and mortgage finance has already been devastating and it is far from being over. This is an easy read to gain a keen insight in what happened and how it happened. Whether you in the lending industry or not, chances are you have been impacted directly or indirectly by this debacle. Reading this book will help you understand the who, what, when, where and why. I highly recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Descriptive, but lacking, August 23, 2008

By	another opinion - See all my reviews

This book will basically confirm what you already know about Subprime loans, if you believe that lots of people knew the system was broken, but chose to look the other way because it was profitable. The author talks about how the system encouraged and accomodated fraudulent players, while "consciencious" players (such as the author's firm, of course) played by the rules and remained completely above the fray. The author was shocked by the behavior of other subprime middlemen, but his company made millions and grew due by focusing on these types of loans.

It's a quick read, and useful if you know nothing about the industry, as it identifies the basic players participating in the provision of subprime loans, and their functions. I suspect you could get as basic a primer on the internet for free, without the specific examples provided of system abuses.