There's no doubt that subprime lending opened up the possibility of homeownership to a bunch of people, and most of them are going to stay homeowners. That's a good thing for them as individuals and for society as a whole.

But there are going to be many people -- perhaps millions -- who will lose their homes as a result of wink-wink lending to gullible or fraudulent buyers, with harsh individual and national economic consequences. It's something that many saw coming, but no one -- not the industry, not the secondary market, not the regulators, or the media -- did anything to prevent it.

This special series of stories from Bankrate looks at the subprime market meltdown, how it came about, and what's being done to limit the damage.

Subprime mortgage industry meltdown

Federal debate   As the federal government reviews ways to avoid future problems in subprime lending, one thing is clear: There's plenty of blame to go around for today's woes. Lender implosion   The industry has itself to blame for much of the mortgage meltdown. No one could think of a reason to say "no" to iffy borrowers. Consumer impact   With tighter lending standards and real estate in a slump, buyers with subprime mortgages they can't pay are short on options.