As the credit crisis unfolded and the behaviour of lenders became common knowledge, they
were heavily criticised. At a hearing before the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing
and Urban Affairs on 22 March 2007, the Senate Chairman, Christopher Dodd, called the
predatory lending of banks “unconscionable and deceptive”. He described predatory lending
as the sale to homeowners of loans they could not afford – specifically, the sale of ARMs
to disadvantaged groups such as the elderly, low-income households and unsophisticated
borrowers. When the low introductory interest rate of ARMs expired after two years the rate
rose so steeply that borrowers were faced with what Dodd called a “kind of devil’s dilemma”.
Borrowers were forced to make one of three stark choices: refinance at a far greater cost, sell
or default on the loan. Examples of the different forms of predatory lending are presented in
Table 4.1.