July 25, 2007
9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Subprime mortgages have helped nearly 12 million low- and moderate-income families to become homeowners since 1994. On the upside, most of these homeowners are building wealth, living in better neighborhoods, and participating in the American dream. On the downside, a small but growing share is stretched thin—vulnerable to the least shock, saving very little, contending with high levels of consumer debt, at the mercy of predatory lenders, being forced to sell their houses early, and often ending up in foreclosure.
A new Urban Institute Press book, Edward Gramlich's Subprime Mortgages: America's Latest Boom and Bust, is the starting point for a probing discussion of what ails the subprime mortgage market and what should be done to preserve the benefits of subprime financing while safeguarding homebuyers.
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