High Risk Mortgage Lenders

In October, the mean interest rates borrowed for a two-year 90 percent fixed-rate mortgage were 2.36 percent, just before the prime interest was raised. In January it then fell to an all-time low of 2.15 per cent before climbing to 2.21 percents, as the Bank of England data show.

That would mean a customer of a 200,000 house and take out a 180,000 pound mortgage - 90 per cent of its value - would be paying 781 pounds a month. What is more, it would be a £180,000 mortgage. Moreover, if borrower only have a 10% investment, they are more at risk of being caught in adverse capital when the markets fall.

Development of mortgage loans to riskier debtors

It has seen an increase in the number of lenders who offer secure credits to individuals with loan difficulties, such as those who have been broke or CCJs (County Court Judgments) against them, and for reasons such as deleveraging. The study examined the advent of such "subprime loans" and their impact on the sustainability of home ownership.

A number of different drivers led to an increase in subprime mortgage activity in the middle of the 90s. This includes: major lenders who automate their loan evaluation processes; more individuals with past mortgage amortization issues; more frontier workers looking for home loan facilities; and by the end of the 90s, increasing loan volumes to consolidate indebtedness at rising interest rates.

Today's industry has developed since the mid-1990s, becoming progressively diverse and fragmented. In the meantime, mainly through specialised affiliates, lenders have started to enter the industry. Subprime lenders are clearly closing a niche in the mortgage lending business. It allows access to private use for those who are able to pay back a mortgage but do not meet the main road requirements.

Providing a " credential remedy " - borrower who maintains repayment can re-enter the primary stream back. Subprime borrower are generally more risky and face higher interest and fees than primary borrower. You are also faced with higher costs. Subprime lenders have been shown to be relatively rapid in repossessing and to charge subsequent lenders relatively high fees.

As a result, borrower's "downward spiral" can be triggered by repeatedly granting credits from lenders at ever-higher interest and poorer conditions due to their deteriorating creditworthiness. All mortgage exposures have been subject to Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulation since October 2004. Supplementary mortgages for a real estate ("Second Charges Loan"), however, stay outside this framework: Here the most disadvantageous conditions can still be provided to the weakest customers.

Borrower types find themselves in a very vulnerable situation and still face the most costly loan. Consumers are generally concerned about their high and increasing indebtedness. Scientists concluded that it is important to observe this new and developing loan industry, especially as the present favourable business and residential conditions change.

Subprime Loan" - What is it? Research has been partly driven by the apparent growth in product advertisements - to include mortgage and remortgaging, auto loan and consolidating loan offerings - specifically for those who have a bad balance of credits or find their current debts hard to administer.

One could predict that such borrower would be particularly susceptible to ruthless practices - because they are in a distressed situation and have fewer choices. Results of the survey revealed indications of a growing hierarchical and segmental nature of the industry. Subprime credit " is the name given to such credit in the USA: the concept is well developed and can be used to market a product because the consumer is aware of his own state.

The United Kingdom, where the concept is not known, markets the product as being for those who have been denied access to finance elsewhere, or who have a CCJ etc. Subprime " and "non-compliant" are used in an interchangeable manner within the branch. Subprime includes a variety of collateralized lending activities, including: first mortgage on a real estate for those with bad financial record or who need to attest their own earnings, as well as for the purchase of the real estate for rent; re-mortgaging in similar conditions; taking out another mortgage on the real estate in excess of the original mortgage ("second charge lending"); taking out a mortgage to fund consolidation of debts.

A number of determinants have since the early 90s established conditions under which both the subprime loan market and the subprime loan market have thrived. In the aftermath of the 90s downturn, more individuals had experienced an epidemic that had damaged their creditworthiness - be it through home ownership, default on residential or utilities services (more aggressive even by privatized companies), a CCJ or bankruptcy.

In the face of wider changes in the labor markets, more individuals had a contractual or working arrangement and an earnings that was different or difficult to verify. In response, majorstream lenders, who had also endured the real estate downturn, exercised the utmost caution in their borrowing, in particular by using mechanized and centralized loan valuation techniques to choose only low-risk borrowers. However, the Bank's policy of "credit risk management" was not to limit its use of loans to the most risky borrower.

As a result, a loophole opened up where borrower who wanted to go into personal use and were willing and able to pay back a mortgage stated that they were foreclosed from the mains, the main road lenders. Several of these early credits still cause difficulties as borrower end what they consider to be the full concept to find (sometimes substantial) outstandings.

Since the mid-1990s, the present British subprime segment has really begun to develop with the arrival of specialised lenders. You saw a lender window of opportunity based on a more individualized approaches to subprime risk management and risk charging. In 2000, we launched our own branch of our business, and since then we have also had a presence of our major lenders on the market.

As the highly-competitive Mainstream mortgage markets have continued to depress earnings spreads, businesses have been driven by higher subprime spreads. Some of them have founded specialized affiliates to control the greater credit risk and safeguard the reputations of reputable names. No absolutely trustworthy information is available on the scale of the mortgage markets; in 2001 subprime mortgages were put at £6 billion (Datamonitor, 2002) and the subprime mortgage industry at 13 billion (Mintel, 2002) (while overall mortgage loans this year were put at almost £122 billion).

Subprime credit is by default more risk-sensitive, which is mirrored in the premium charges to the borrower. The lenders' creditors' businesses also operate on the premise that identifying and administering early signs of redemption difficulties require rapid and efficient policies and processes. There are those at the near prime end who have acceded to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and adhere to all code of conduct.

Industry lenders are unwilling to extend credit to more and more borrower with "negative" risk indications - in respect of recent defaults, the total amount of defaulting debts or the number of CJCs. Creditors also assess risk in respect of rescheduling pattern and repeat consolidations.

There are differences in their readiness to grant second batch loans, with relatively few having to operate at the worst end. The ones that grant loans to borrower with very unfavourable conditions can have the most challenging conditions and also be the most aggressively in handling payments. Contrary to the "virtuoso" advances in loan repairs and rehabilitations in the primary loan markets, there is also the possibility that borrower will move into a "malicious" development from the primary to a point where those with very vulnerable finances and persistent difficulties with indebtedness can still find loans, albeit on much poorer conditions.

Proof of the problems encountered in some of these cases is provided by the work of the credit counselling services. There are no known lenders in this area. During the first few trading sessions, even estate agents were somewhat skeptical of the industry's image and had no previous exposure to subprime borrower.

The lenders have therefore introduced their new product through a restricted number of select brokerage firms. The broker and other intermediary is still very predominant in the brokerage of lenders - some large lenders do not advertise directly in the industry and it is suggested that in any case many borrower choose to obtain their loans through broker as they have already been rejected on the mainstream.

Unlike conventional home finance banks, specialised lenders have no branches and thus no direct contact with individual saving resources. Instead, they have progressively securitized their credit histories (i.e. portfolio of credits that have been divested to institutions ) to borrow more. Lenders will thus be subject to important marketing disciplines - they must be able to prove that they have a reasonably diversified risk and an adequate rate of return on their creditworthiness.

Whilst lenders emphasise function and product demands, most of the research review was focused on product condition. Subprime lending is more costly than principalstream lending. Interest rates are also rising as borrower risk is considered to be higher.

On the basis of the available evidence, it appears that other fees were also higher in the subprime than in the primary markets, leading to common (and prolonged) repayment fines, mortgage default guarantees (MIGs), which are necessary at relatively higher costs, and higher fees for agents and other agents. However, contrary to some proposals, the loan-to-value relationship offered tends to decline with increasing aggressiveness - which would counteract the allegation that there is prevalent equity-lending (i.e. when a creditor is not interested in the capacity to pay back the loans, but relies on a possible repurchase and disposal of the real estate to make a profit).

While accurate proof is difficult to find, it also seems clear that the costs resulting from late or irregular payments and any backlogs are also high. To sum up, these elements mean that those in the subprime segment can afford significantly more than those in the primary area.

This may seem unjust at first, as it is the weaker ones who are paying the most, but the issue is whether these borrower are paying more than is justified by the additional risk. As was to be anticipated, a larger share of subprime borrower is in default than is the case in the primary segment (around 10-15 per cent in 2004).

Also, there is indication that subprime lenders are moving faster towards ownership as soon as the backlogs on both the first and especially the second mortgage build up. Concern about the levels and transparence of fees and how fair potentially sensitive creditors are dealt with has led to increased regulatory pressure across the entire range of activities in the field of finance.

By October 2004, all mortgage credits were regulated by the FSA, and essentially all credits will be regulated and guided by the same rules and regulations (abolition of the former demerger, where only credits of less than 25,000 were covered by the Consumers Loan Act); consumers' indebtedness exceeded 1 trillion pounds for the first half of 2004; and in the light of general concerns about the quality and viability of cards and other liabilities, there is clear cause for concern about those who are already in difficulty to get further into indebtedness.

This problem is particularly severe when credits are given to people's homes - the ultimate results of non-repayment are reoccupation and shelter. However, there is no clear indication as to what degree the subprime segment will contribute to or undermine the sustainable use of the land - in theory it can do both:

They provide a security net that enables people in transient situations, for example, to consolidated and make a fresh start off on credits such as those granted by bank cards. However, given the higher cost and fees, affordable access is unavoidably poorer, making borrower more susceptible to outside changes in conditions. There is also indication that lenders are quickly pursuing ownership when problems arise.

Scientists concluded that it is important to monitor the industry more carefully. There is little known about the properties of subprime borrower, nor about how they feel in the long run. Here, those already in the subprime segment can be forced out of the credit range or home property, while more of those currently in the prime-category will seek to safeguard subprime service.

Research conducted by a Heriot Watt and York University research teams was designed to survey the field, examine available materials from current data bases and research resources, and conduct rigorous research into the "grey" literary content - mainly technical and finance media coverage. In addition, a number of experts were interviewed with lenders, regulatory authorities and staff of monetary advisory services.