Credit Risk Assessment : The New Lending System for Borrowers, Lenders,
and Investors
"Clark and Mingyuan start with an insightful and comprehensive description of how
market participants contributed to the current crisis in the residential mortgage markets
and the root causes of the crisis. They then proceed to develop a new residential mortgage
lending system that can fix our broken markets because it addresses the root causes. The
most impressive attributes of their new system is its commonsense return to the basics of
traditional underwriting, combined with factors based on expert judgment and statistics
and forward-looking attributes, all of which can be updated as markets change. The whole
process is transparent to the borrower, lender, and investor." —Dean Schultz,
President and CEO, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
"The credit market crisis of 2008 has deeply affected the economic lives of every
American. Yet, its underlying causes and its surface features are so complex that many
observers and even policymakers barely understand them. This timely book will help guide
nonspecialists through the workings of financial markets, particularly how they value,
price, and distribute risk." —Professor William Greene, Stern School of Business,
New York University
"This book is a well-timed departure from much of what is being written today
regarding the current foreclosure and credit crisis. Rather than attempting to blame
lenders, borrowers, and/or federal regulators for the mortgage meltdown and the subsequent
impacts on the financial markets, Clark and Mingyuan have proposed a groundbreaking new
framework to revolutionize our current lending system. The book is built on the authors'
deep understanding of risk and the models used for credit analysis, and reflects their
commitment to solve the problem. What I find most profound is their passion to develop a
system that will facilitate new and better investment, especially in underserved urban
markets that have been disproportionately impacted in the current crisis. I applaud the
authors for this important work, and urge practitioners and theorists alike to investigate
this new approach." —John Talmage, President and CEO, Social Compact
"In the wake of the credit crisis, it is clear that transparency is the key to not
repeating history. In Credit Risk Assessment: The New Lending System for Borrowers,
Lenders and Investors, Clark Abrahams and Mingyuan Zhang describe a new lending framework
that seeks to connect all the players in the lending chain and provide a more holistic
view of customers' risk potential. As the financial services industry recovers from the
mortgage meltdown, the Abrahams/Zhang lending model certainly offers some new food for
thought to laymen and professionals alike." —Maria Bruno-Britz, Senior Editor, Bank
Systems & Technology magazine
Table of Contents
Preface.
Chapter 1: Unpacking the Financial Crisis.
Chapter 2: The Case for a Comprehensive Credit Assessment Framework.
Chapter 3: The lenders and the Underwriting gap.
Chapter 4: The borrower and Loan Affordability.
Chapter 5: The Investors and Financial Innovation.
Chapter 6: Crisis Intervention and Prevention.
Index.
320 pages, Hardcover