The fallout is going to affect borrowers way beyond the subprime now. Credit is going to tighten in an already difficult market. Credit scores that used to be considered excellent are now becoming the bare minimum. Private mortgage companies are getting hit so their criteria are stricter. The rules are changing so quickly now. Everybody got lax, not just the subprimes. It's a necessary adjustment, but it's going to be painful all the way around for a while. In the non subprime, It got to the point where everyone got lazy, depending on the credit score almost exclusively for a loan decision, approving loans up to a 65% total debt ratio (housing and monthly debt) against gross income. How were people going to eat, buy gas, pay for utilities? Too many people weren't thinking. And too many people got greedy.