Citigroup and Subprime Lending Case Study
Citigroup and Subprime Lending
Unit 7 Case Study
Pg 714 -716
1. Are there moral concerns associated with subprime lending? Are those moral concerns based on utilitarianism, rights, or justice considerations?
Before we discuss the first question let’s get a working description of what subprime leaning is. A subprime lender is financial entity that has an inclination to lend to consumers that are not qualified for traditional loans due to their poor credit status and history of repayment difficulties. Lending to subprime candidates helped lead to secondary mortgage market issue sin 2008 (“Subprime lender,” 2011). A subprime loan is a loan with elevated fees and interest, given to someone with a lower credit score (“Subprime loan,” 2011). A major profit source for CitiFinancial and the Associates was subprime lending, this is lending to people who did not meet the customary credit requirements of banks. In the 90’s this lending had provided access to credit to many people who would not have qualified for prime loans because of their credit history. In one study the researchers found that 35 percent of the subprime borrowers were over 55 years and African Americans were twice as likely to borrow in the subprime market as in the prime market (Baron, 2010). There were a few forms of subprime lending that CitiFinancial and the Associates dealt with. One of those forms was home equity loans marketed to borrowers to consolidate their bills. Another aspect of subprime lending was single-premium life insurance sold along with a loan to pay off the principal in the case of the death of the borrower (Baron, 2010). These companies were making a lot of money on both these subprime lending activities. The question is, are there moral concerns associated with subprime lending, I would have to say yes there are moral concerns. It seems that the companies are targeting a certain demographic of consumer. By definition the target is consumers that are not
Unit 7 Case Study
Pg 714 -716
1. Are there moral concerns associated with subprime lending? Are those moral concerns based on utilitarianism, rights, or justice considerations?
Before we discuss the first question let’s get a working description of what subprime leaning is. A subprime lender is financial entity that has an inclination to lend to consumers that are not qualified for traditional loans due to their poor credit status and history of repayment difficulties. Lending to subprime candidates helped lead to secondary mortgage market issue sin 2008 (“Subprime lender,” 2011). A subprime loan is a loan with elevated fees and interest, given to someone with a lower credit score (“Subprime loan,” 2011). A major profit source for CitiFinancial and the Associates was subprime lending, this is lending to people who did not meet the customary credit requirements of banks. In the 90’s this lending had provided access to credit to many people who would not have qualified for prime loans because of their credit history. In one study the researchers found that 35 percent of the subprime borrowers were over 55 years and African Americans were twice as likely to borrow in the subprime market as in the prime market (Baron, 2010). There were a few forms of subprime lending that CitiFinancial and the Associates dealt with. One of those forms was home equity loans marketed to borrowers to consolidate their bills. Another aspect of subprime lending was single-premium life insurance sold along with a loan to pay off the principal in the case of the death of the borrower (Baron, 2010). These companies were making a lot of money on both these subprime lending activities. The question is, are there moral concerns associated with subprime lending, I would have to say yes there are moral concerns. It seems that the companies are targeting a certain demographic of consumer. By definition the target is consumers that are not