Fannie, Freddie, CRA

Ritholtz - The Private Sector, Not GSEs, Triggered Crisis (Reprise):

[W]ho were the biggest underwriters of subprime — not Fannie & Freddie, not driven by the CRA, not Congress, but private sector banks.  The data, from the Federal Reserve Board, shows:

• More than 84 percent of the subprime mortgages in 2006 were issued by private lending institutions.
• Private firms made nearly 83 percent of the subprime loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers that year.
• Only one of the top 25 subprime lenders in 2006 was directly subject to the housing law that’s being lambasted by conservative critics.