Customers who have loan payments automatically deducted from a WaMu deposit account receive initial interest rates 0.25 percentage points lower than those who do not bank with WaMu.
"By focusing on a small percentage of particularly distressed assets, the view becomes distorted". Mr. Gray added that the agency was creating a new unit to field any complaints from customers who had loans at failed banks.
In the case of Northern Rock, many customers had their loan account balance reduced.
A number of Morgan's customers had taken loans against their stock holdings, and a precipitous market decline could set off margin calls.
Mr. Frahm disputed the allegations in the lawsuit, saying the bank was committed to making sure no property was foreclosed until the customer had a chance to modify the loan or, if ineligible for a modification, to pursue another solution.
The number of mortgage customers three or more months in arrears has fallen, as has the number of former customers of Northern Rock who still have loans greater than the value of their homes after taking out one of the lender's "Together" mortgages before the 2008 crisis.
Century 21 recently released a survey of its franchisees and salespeople nationally; it found that 89 percent reported some customers' having difficulty obtaining loans in the last six months.
But asset managers, another part of the sector, have been hurt as the stock market has slumped, he said, and many consumer finance companies have suffered because their customers have defaulted on loans.
The sector has attracted criticism from debt campaigners and consumer groups who have highlighted cases where customers have been given loans they could not afford to repay, which have quickly snowballed.
Wonga, which guarantees borrowers will receive their money within 15 minutes of approval, said 10 times more customers had taken out loans via their mobile phones in 2011 and nearly 1,000 people were downloading a Wonga iPhone app every day.
