Subprime on Your Mind?(MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference )

So what were people talking about at this year's annual MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference? Portfolio churning was a big concern, as you'd expect it to be in the third year of a refinancing boom. Collection practices, technology and litigation concerns also ranked high on the list of topics being addressed.

But we couldn't help noticing the healthy attendance at sessions addressing concerns related to managing loan administration on subprime mortgages. Clearly, the growing origination of loans to people with credit problems in their past has attracted the attention of loan servicing professionals. In the exhibit hall as well, we saw a lot of vendors who were marketing services, expertise and technology designed to help lenders manage "high touch" loans to borrowers whose payment patterns may be unconventional, to say the least.

So what are the ramifications of a growing subprime market? Subprime lending first picked up steam after the recession of 1991 and 1992, which resulted in widespread layoffs and created credit problems for many people who may have been strong credit risks in the past. As lenders reached out to people with tarnished credit, the industry grew. Subprime lending ...