The Sub-Prime Mortgage Mess in W.Va.

"Wall Street has staggered under a national explosion of subprime adjustable rate mortgage foreclosures," The Charleston Gazette reported over the weekend, but "you can find the beginnings of that blast...in towns like Pineville, Madison, Clay and Charleston."

The lengthy piece chronicles the origins of "predatory" lending in West Virginia, and highlights the lawsuits filed by the firm Mountain State Justice Inc. on behalf of borrowers.

West Virginia has the second highest delinquency rate in the country for subprime adjustable rate mortgages, second only to Mississippi, the article said, citing a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

"Since 2001, some of America’s biggest out-of-state financial institutions have foreclosed on 5,738 West Virginia homes," the Gazette reported.

The article includes charts explaining the subprime process and on foreclosures and the warning signs that a loan may be "predatory."

Author Kate Long follows up on her Gazette piece with a segment on Public Broadcasting today (audio here).