How Lehman's collapse 15 years ago changed the U.S. mortgage industry
The global financial crisis of 2008 ushered in a new era of consumer protection, but the future of the housing market is uncertain.
Fifteen years ago, the world witnessed the largest commercial collapse in history.
The financial giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008, with $613 billion in debt, putting thousands of employees out of work and sending the already recessionary economy into a tailspin.
The dramatic fall of Lehman was due in large part to scores of risky mortgages propping up an unstable financial system. Homebuyers with mortgage payments they couldn't afford defaulted on their loans, sending shockwaves through Wall Street and leaving those borrowers vulnerable to foreclosure.
Now, a decade
