Five years ago, in response to numerous reports of the growth of predatory lending, both locally and nationwide, the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council (MCBC) – whose Board of Directors has an equal number of bank and community representatives – commissioned a study of subprime refinance lending in the city of Boston and surrounding communities. The resulting report, Borrowing Trouble? Subprime Mortgage Lending in Greater Boston, 1999, was the first detailed look at subprime lending in the city of Boston and in twenty-seven surrounding communities.

This is the sixth report in the annual series begun by that initial study. Geographic coverage has now expanded to include data on subprime lending in 108 individual cities and towns and the reports now cover subprime home purchase loans in addition to subprime loans made to refinance existing mortgages. This year’s report utilizes information on the pricing of high-cost subprime loans that became available for the first time in the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data for 2004.