Now some large lenders have started to offer zero down payment mortgages that also allow financing of the closing costs.

They are doing it because they want lenders to start using their scoring system.

Some lenders, already convinced, have started moving ahead already.

Then lenders also start believing that they will get back all the money they lend.

Some lenders start taking legal action within a month to obtain unpaid loans; others try to work with customers to avoid a lawsuit.

Until lenders start refinancing these companies, the Fed will have only a supporting role in the play.

This demand would not be unprecedented: lenders to some third-world countries have started to put such conditions on their aid.

Most lenders will not start processing an application until a borrower has a signed sales contract in hand.

In this climate, lenders started signing riskier loans at their end of the food chain.

"Back in 2003, you had a very low rate of delinquencies, and so lenders started pushing the envelope."