Foreclosure, predatory mortgage and payday lending in America's cities : hearing before the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, March 21, 2007.

Now in paperback-an inside look at Countrywide Home Loans and the mortgage crisis, from a former mortgage lender executive. In July 2004, Adam Michaelson attended a high-level meeting at Countrywide Financial headquarters about a new loan product that would allow borrowers to pay less than their minimum monthly payment. The "finance jocks" believed that the booming housing market would only get bigger, supporting homeowners in a cycle of borrowing against their houses and refinancing later. They were wrong. And when the bottom dropped out, Countrywide suffered the consequences-as did millions of Americans. With an insider's knowledge and thorough reporting on the impact on American families and the ripple effects on the economy, Michaelson examines the marketing of a mirage and the bad business decisions that destroyed a company, confronts the ethical questions that have arisen in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, and offers creative proposals to prevent such a meltdown from ever happening again.

Homeowners who can't borrow from banks have long turned to the subprime lending industry for mortgages. Increasingly, that industry has turned on them by charging outrageous fees and usurious interest, and then taking their homes through foreclosure. Richard Lord explores the spread of predatory lending practices. And it tells the stories of borrowers who've been taken, contractors and brokers who've been co-opted, lenders who've cheated--and the world's biggest financial titans, who've cashed in. A battle is taking shape that could determine whether home ownership for working people will be an achievable dream or an American nightmare. Richard Lord is a writer for the "Pittsburgh City Paper" whose work on subprime lending has won numerous awards.