Borrowing Trouble? V: Subprime Mortgage Lending in Greater Boston, 2000-2003

January 01, 2005

Four years ago, in response to numerous reports of the growth of predatory lending, both locally and nationwide, the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council (MCBC) – whose Board of Directors has an equal number of bank and community representatives – commissioned a study of subprime refinance lending in the city of Boston and surrounding communities. The resulting report, Borrowing Trouble? Subprime Mortgage Lending in Greater Boston, 1999, was the first detailed look at subprime lending in the city of Boston and in twenty-seven surrounding communities.

This is the fifth report in the annual series begun by that initial study. Geographic coverage has expanded to include data on subprime lending in 108 individual cities and towns. This is the first year that the report has examined subprime home purchase loans in addition to subprime loans made to refinance existing mortgages.