Borrowing money is not easy in France. Should the French stricter attitude to “sub-prime” mortgages become the new North American model?
No need. “Subprime” lenders no longer exist. They were all driven into bankruptcy or were absorbed by other lenders. One thing about the French model … they didn’t have headstrong bureaucrats telling you how to run your business one day, then blaming you for being a “predatory lender” the next when their risky ideas drove borrowers into default. One other thing. Government guarantied FHA mortgages should be considered “the new subprime”. People who have already proven themselves uncreditworthy can qualify for FHA loan. This has taken up the slack left after the subprime lenders hit the wall. The next wave of defaults will be these slugs. Now we have Chris Dodd and Barney Frank helping craft “bailouts” for Fannie and Freddie, when it was Dodd and Frank who helped run them into the ground in the first place! They also pushed lenders into the subprime market. Dodd and Frank ought to be in jail for what they have done to mortgage banking! But no … they are being rewarded with billions
