While the subprime lending industry’s woes have kicked up dust in the past few weeks, observers say the problems underlying the bad news have been percolating for much longer. In December, the Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Association said 12.6 percent of subprime mortgages were 30 or more days delinquent in the quarter ending in September, compared with 4.7 percent of all mortgages.

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Ellen Schloemer, director of research for the Durham, N.C.-based Center for Responsible Lending, said about a quarter of subprime loans sold since 1998 have gotten into trouble at some point, although they didn’t always go into default or foreclosure. Still, she said the housing boom and the large number of lenders led many of them to approve loans that clearly weren’t sustainable. “It was a disaster waiting to happen and people were looking the other way because there was money to be made,” Schloemer said.

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