Fremont was among the worst of the subprime offenders, using all the now familiar practices: targeting people with bad credit, ignoring traditional standards for underwriting home loans, paying third-party brokers handsomely to bring in gullible customers, and then infecting the larger financial system by selling off the hazardous loans.

NEWYORKER: The Contrarian

Investors are demanding that originators employ tighter underwriting standards, and some large lenders are pulling back from the use of brokers.

NPR: Transcript: Bernanke on Mortgages, Foreclosures