Subprime lenders benefit

Subprime lenders who were blamed for the turmoil in the banking industry may receive billions in taxpayer dollars through a program aimed at stemming foreclosures, according to the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity.

Under the $75 billion federal program, Making Home Affordable, lenders will receive money in exchange for lowering mortgage payments of distressed homeowners.

Of the top 25 participants in the program, at least 21 were heavily involved in the subprime lending industry, the report states. The majority specialized in servicing subprime loans, meaning they collected payments but did not originate the loans.

Several of the firms receiving money, however, serviced and originated the loans.

"Much of this money is going directly to the same financial institutions that helped create the subprime mortgage mess in the first place," Bill Buzenberg, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, says in an announcement.

The center is a nonpartisan news organization that researches public policy issues.

The subprime lenders participating in the program are slated to receive more than $21 billion in taxpayer funded incentives. Many of them already have received hundreds of billions of dollars from the federal government's primary bank bailout, the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

Bank of America, through its ownership of Countrywide, could receive up to $5.1 billion in incentive payments, according to the report.

JPMorgan Chase could receive up to $2.7 billion in incentives.

Including subsidiary EMC Mortgage Corp., JPMorgan could collect as much as $3.4 billion. Wells Fargo could collect $3.1 billion, including its Wachovia subsidiaries.

Under the program, the lenders receive incentive money when they modify the mortgage of a troubled homeowner, allowing them to avoid foreclosure.

The servicers get an upfront $1,000 payment for each modification plus $1,000 each year for three years if the borrower stays in the program. The borrower can receive a $1,000 payment to be applied toward the principal for five years.

Scott Talbott, chief lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents some of the nation's largest lenders, said the report "misses the complexities of the market."

"To say the industry caused this is misleading," Talbott said. "The industry is working night and day to help homeowners stay in their homes. The majority of the subprime loans have been taken care of. Most of the loans in trouble now are those from prime borrowers.

"The industry didn't cause unemployment."