The Wall Street Journal reported that more than 50 percent of borrowers who were sold subprime loans could have qualified for prime loans. At the peak of the subprime market in 2006, 61 percent of borrowers were steered toward subprime, which meant that “a significant number of borrowers with top-notch credit signed up for expensive subprime loans.”74 Mortgage brokers made more money for convincing—duping—borrowers into taking out costlier subprime loans than the prime loans that they were eligible for and could more easily afford. The higher the interest paid by borrowers, the bigger the
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