The august Federal Reserve finally releases its statement on subprime lending and guess what? They are concerned about the following issues:
1) Low initial payments based on a fixed introductory rate that expires after a short period and then adjusts to a variable index rate plus a margin for the remaining term of the loan
2) Very high or no limits on how much the payment amount or the interest rate may increase on reset dates.
3) Limited or no documentation of borrowers’ income.
4) Product features likely to result in frequent refinancing to maintain an affordable monthly payment.
5) Substantial prepayment penalties and/or prepayment penalties that extend beyond the initial fixed interest rate period.
Now remember that the Federal Reserve released this last Friday. This is a little like worrying about your daughter’s virtue after she gets knocked up isn’t it?
Here is a folksy saying to describe the situation:
“You are closing the barn door after the horse has left.”
It is too late to be concerned about subprime lending now. Everyone in the world is concerned about the subprime lending mess. You are our economic leaders and we needed you back then, not last Friday.
