Excessive fees
Frequently charging fees totalling more than 5% of the loan (on
competitive loans fees of 1% were typical).
Abusive prepayment penalty
A prepayment penalty, a fee for paying the loan off early which
was typically effective for more than 3 years and/or cost 6
months’ interest (80% of subprime mortgages carried a
prepayment penalty, in the prime market only about 2% carried
a prepayment penalty).
Higher interest rates
Selling mortgages with an inflated interest rate (i.e., higher than
the rate acceptable to the lender). Some lenders incentivised
brokers to sell this type of loan by paying them a “yield spread
premium” as a reward for making the loan more costly to the
borrower.
Loan flipping
Refinancing a loan to generate a fee income without providing any
net tangible benefit to the borrower. This practice is called
“flipping” a borrower.
Steering and targeting
Steering borrowers into subprime mortgages even when the
borrowers could qualify for a mainstream loan (i.e. one with
more favourable terms).
Mandatory arbitration
Not permitting borrowers to seek legal remedies in a court if they
find their home is threatened by loans with illegal or abusive
terms (i.e., increasing the likelihood that the borrowers would
not receive fair and appropriate remedies in case of
wrongdoing).
Targeting vulnerable borrowers
Deliberately targeting senior citizens and low-income borrowers
with low levels of education and little experience of mortgages
to deliberately place them in unnecessarily expensive loans. In
2005, 40% of mortgage loans taken out in Latino communities
and 50% in African American communities were subprime.
Costs
Making mortgage payments seem artificially low by omitting to
declare that quoted mortgage payments exclude property taxes
and insurance.
Adjustable-rate loans
Not explaining to ARM subprime borrowers that loan payments
would rise significantly when they reset.