Subprime loans make a comeback - Las Vegas mortgage borrowers go FHA

Mortgage loans that were labeled subprime just a few years ago were partly responsible for the notorious real estate bubble. When it burst and let all the air out, the subprime product quickly disappeared from the bloodied scene. Many housing observers warmed up their fingers over keyboards and wrote all these tearful obituaries, believing it would be gone for good. But guess what? It's now back.

This much-criticized mortgage segment has adopted a new backer, however. Subprime used to be pretty much exclusively conventional lenders' territory, until the recent thermonuclear event. With their exit a new player emerged to fill the void, Ginnie Mae, a wholly-owned government corporation created within HUD. Ginnie Mae is another adorable name in the mortgage arena, besides Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Ginnie Mae operates a little differently from its above-mentioned and better-known sister agencies. It guarantees investors timely payment of interest and principal on MBS, or mortgage-backed securities, supported by federally insured loans, meaning FHA, and federally guaranteed loans, in this case VA. The majority of its guarantees go to these two organizations. Ginnie Mae is not in the business of buying or selling loans or issuing MBS.

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