Ponzi used to work for these guys…

The company rode the U.S. housing boom to become the largest independent mortgage lender to subprime borrowers, only to collapse as interest rates rose and home prices fell. New Century’s market value soared to more than $3.5 billion in December 2004, and last year it made about $60 billion in loans. Like rival firms, the company lowered its lending standards to keep business flowing after demand slumped.

“They’re clearly going to be the poster child for bad practices in the mortgage industry,” said Matthew Howlett, an analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton in New York. “When all is said and done, the management team will be to blame.”

In fact, one of the reasons she’s working with Lockergnome and Gnomedex now is because 98% of the mortgage industry is full of slimeballs. Even the people who say they’re only trying to help you save money are really not.

To that end, I’ve been pushing Ponzi to record an ongoing series of videos where she can explain to regular people how to read term sheets, mortgage finance papers, etc. She turned my life around in more ways than one.