January/February 2010 Issue

We’re Paying WHOM to Fix Subprime Mortgages?

Why, subprime lenders, of course.

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The Treasury Department has allocated $75 billion to entice lenders to let beleaguered borrowers stay in their homes. And the companies getting most of that money—well, they’re the same companies that got the borrowers into this mess. At least 21 of the top 25 recipients in the Home Affordable Modification Program were major subprime lenders, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Meanwhile, not even 1 in 5 homeowners eligible for the program has gotten help.

LENDER (PARENT COMPANY)

SUBPRIME LOANS
(MINIMUM, 2005-2007)

HAMP FUNDS
AVAILABLE

Countrywide Financial
(Bank of America)

$97.2 billion

$4.5 billion

National City (PNC)

$68 billion

$610 million

Option One Mortgage (formerly H&R Block,
now American Home Mortgage Servicing)

$64.7 billion

$1.2 billion*

Wells Fargo

$51.8 billion

$2.5 billion

BNC Mortgage/Aurora Loan Services
(Lehman Brothers)

$47.6 billion

$448 million

Chase Home Finance/EMC Mortgage
(JPMorgan Chase)

$30 billion

$3.4 billion

IndyMac (OneWest)

$26.4 billion

$814 million*

Citigroup

$26.3 billion

$2.1 billion

EquiFirst/HomeEq (Barclays)

$24.4 billion

$553 million

Wachovia (Wells Fargo)

$17.6 billion

$1.4 billion

GMAC (Cerberus Capital)

$17.2 billion

$3.6 billion

* Funds available to parent companySources: Center for Public Integrity; Treasury Department

This chart is part of Mother Jones’ coverage of the financial crisis, one year later.

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

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