Subprime fallout, close to home
Laura Smitherman has a story today detailing the downfall of Columbia-based Fieldstone Investment Corp., a subprime lender that saw itself as more conservative than its competitors:
But as easy credit flowed and subprime loans grew to account for one-fifth of the market, Fieldstone got caught in the industry's race to the bottom despite signs of trouble, according to former employees. And when the industry collapsed, Fieldstone went with it."They were trying to keep up with competitors," said Betty Williams, a former assistant vice president of credit administration at Fieldstone. "Everyone wanted to get into the mortgage industry, just like everyone wanted to get into the computer industry five years earlier. Fieldstone started a lot of new programs to keep up."
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