Could Fixed-rate Mortgages and Debt Consolidation Loans Be The Answer To The US Sub-prime Problems?
If you’ve been watching the news or reading the newspapers recently then you are probably only too aware of the recent troubles in the US economy, caused by the collapse of the US sub-prime market. Most dips and rises in the US financial markets are eventually felt here in our own markets, as seen more recently with Northern Rock (a UK sub-prime lending bank) customers queueing day and night to remove their life savings. But whilst on the face of it there appears to be comparisons between the US and UK sub-prime markets the reality is somewhat different. For a start, US sub-prime mortgages are managed in a very different way to the UK. In the UK we’re very fortunate that most mortgages (including sub-prime mortgages) are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). They regulate mortgage brokers and their products to help protect mortgage customers and ensure they receive a fair deal on their mortgages. US sub-prime Brokers are unregulated in most states and in recent years the
