Mortgage lenders fueled the financial collapse by marketing subprime loans to people who couldn't afford them. They disappeared as the housing market crashed, but subprime mortgages could return.
Big investors have been snapping up foreclosed homes and turning them into rentals. Now some of those investors are hoping to capitalize on their distressed buys — and share the spoils with the general public — by going public.
Countrywide was accused of steering more than 200,000 black and Hispanic borrowers into risky subprime loans during the housing bubble. But is the practice really over now?