Richard Bitner (born 1966 in Los Angeles) is an American author and publisher in the

mortgage loan A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

industry. He is the publisher of HousingWire magazine, a real estate publication.

Career

subprime lender In finance, subprime lending (also referred to as near-prime, subpar, non-prime, and second-chance lending) is the provision of loans to people in the United States who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule. Historically, subpr ...

, Bitner collaborated with

mortgage broker A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who brokers mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses. Traditionally, banks and other lending institutions have sold their own products. As markets for mortgages have become more competitive, ...

s from 2000 to 2005. Bitner and his friends started a mortgage business, Plano-based Kellner Mortgage Investments, in September 2000. Kellner was funded through a $175,000 mortgage on his parents' home. They hoped to aid people who lacked the financial standing to receive loans, and in the process, gain profits after those people became homeowners. Each year, the company loaned $250 million to people. After closing loans, the company would sell them to larger lenders, including Countrywide Financial.

Books

In his 2008 book, ''Confessions of a Subprime Lender'', he discussed how their salutary aims were overridden by a hunger for financial gain. Brokers "gamed the system", using poor criteria to grant loans. Bitner believed that many people were accepting loans they could not pay off. Bitner exited from his company in 2005 because he felt uncomfortable about the daring loans. The two friends with whom he started the company purchased his shares because they wished to gradually, instead of immediately, close the company. His former company failed in 2007, one of the many casualties during the numerous defaults early that year. Julian Delasantellis of ''

Asia Times Online ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kongbased English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business, and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...

'' wrote in a review of the book that "Bitner is admirable in that he is willing to take a measure of blame onto himself, when so many others are flailing about furiously trying to do the opposite, but I still think he judges himself somewhat harshly." Bitner self-published the 2008 book ''Greed, Fraud & Ignorance: A Subprime Lender's Look at the Mortgage Collapse'' to reveal his story about the 2007 mortgage collapse. ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' said that his book "conveys the authority of someone who was in the trenches where this dirty work was going on". Harry Smith of

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

interviewed Bitner in February 2009 after Bitner published ''Confessions of a Subprime Lender''.

Personal life

Bitner attended

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

, where he earned an undergraduate degree in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

. He also attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where he earned a master's degree in communication. He earned both degrees through a scholarships in debate and

public speaking Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

. Bitner is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitner, Richard 1966 births Living people 21st-century American publishers (people) American male non-fiction writers Writers from Los Angeles Cornell University alumni Northern Arizona University alumni