At the core of the financial crisis was a creature called a subprime mortgage bond, and among the more toxic was one with the bland name of CWABS 2006-7.

处在金融危机中心位置的是一种名叫“次级按揭贷款债券”的东西，而在“毒性”比较强的次按债券当中，有一只起了一个乏味的名字叫“CWABS 2006-7”。

Made entirely out of loans from Countrywide Financial Corp., the bond was so battered by delinquencies in 2009 it appeared that nearly all of the thousands of mortgages inside the bond could default.

这只债券完全以Countrywide Financial Corp.发放的贷款为基础而构造。2009年，它受到贷款逾期现象的严重冲击，看上去纳入该债券的数千笔按揭贷款几乎全都有可能违约。

One might think that today, such a relic of misbegotten lending would be as dead as orbiting space junk. Instead, CWABS 2006-7 is alive and well, a sought-after asset that has made big profits for savvy investors. A senior slice of it now trades at 91 cents on the dollar, having come nearly all the way back.

有人可能会想，到今天，这样一种劣质贷款的遗留物会像环绕地球飞行的太空垃圾一样死寂。而实际上CWABS 2006-7仍旧活得好好的，备受追捧，让老练的投资者赚了个盆满钵满。其中一个高等级细分部分目前价格为发行价的91%，几乎已经完全翻盘。

That has been a boon for firms such as bond giant Pimco, whose stake in the Countrywide bond has helped make one of Pimco's mutual funds a top performer in its category.

这给债券巨头太平洋投资管理公司(Pimco)等公司带来了实惠。由于持有CWABS 2006-7等原因，Pimco一只共同基金的表现在同类别基金中名列前茅。

At the same time, the bond has affected the lives of struggling Florida homeowners, some unable to make their payments and others, such as Amanda Gavini of Fort Myers, determinedly continuing to do so at above-market mortgage rates.

与此同时，这只债券也影响到了佛罗里达州一些困难业主的人生。一些业主无法还款，另一些人坚决继续以高于市场水平的按揭贷款利率还款，迈尔斯堡(Fort Myers)的阿曼达・加维尼(Amanda Gavini)就是其中一位。

For others still, such as an immigrant from Russia named Alimzhon Iznurov, the bond and the homes tied to it have spelled an opportunity to snap up housing for their families at a bargain price.

不过对于俄罗斯移民阿利姆松・伊兹努若夫(Alimzhon Iznurov)等其他人来说，这只债券和它所挂钩的房产带来了以低价格为家人买房子的机会。

The story of the bond called CWABS 2006-7 -- its borrowers, its investors and others touched by it -- is the financial crisis seen from inside, illuminating complexities that often upended expectations and dealt widely differing fates to its many participants.

CWABS 2006-7这只债券及其借款人、投资者等相关方的经历是金融危机的生动体现，凸显了金融危机的复杂性：预期常被彻底打乱，很多参与者遭遇的命运截然不同。

The Wall Street Journal, using real-estate records and the bond's financial reports, tracked down three dozen homeowners whose loans are bundled in CWABS 2006-7. Few were aware of that or of the possible effect this could have on their mortgage.

《华尔街日报》利用房地产记录和该债券的财报追踪到36位贷款被纳入CWABS 2006-7的业主。很少有人知道这一个情况，也很少有人知道这个情况可能会给他们的贷款造成什么样的影响。

CWABS 2006-7 appeared in June 2006 as the run-up in home values and Wall Street's mortgage-securitization machine hit peak velocity, fed by newfangled lending that enabled millions of people with spotty credit to become homeowners.

CWABS 2006-7诞生于2006年6月，正逢房价的上涨和华尔街的房贷证券化机器达到巅峰速度，让数百万信用不良人士成为业主的新式贷款则在其中起着推波助澜的作用。

These were the final months before the realization sank in that many borrowers couldn't repay, a notion that undermined subprime-mortgage bonds and set off a chain reaction engulfing mortgage-finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, major banks and even the world's biggest insurance company.

这种状态维持了最后的几个月，然后人们终于意识到很多人是还不起款的。这种意识动摇了次级按揭贷款债券的基础，并引发连锁反应，吞没了房贷金融公司房利美(Fannie Mae)和房地美(Freddie Mac)，吞没了大银行，甚至吞没了世界上最大的保险公司。

Countrywide bundled 5,954 of its subprime loans into the bond, loans carrying interest rates as high as 15% but with an average of 8.5%. Some included special features to accommodate people less able to buy, such as letting them pay only the interest at first. Countrywide offered pieces of the bond for sale, the highest-yielding slices for those willing to bear the most risk and vice versa.

Countrywide将它发放的5,954笔次级贷款打包进CWABS 2006-7债券，贷款利率高的达到15%，但平均利率是8.5%。有些贷款具有迁就购房能力低下者的特征，比如允许他们最开始只还利息。Countrywide将这只债券分割出售，收益率最高的部分卖给愿意承担风险最多的投资者，收益率最低的部分卖给愿意承担风险最少的投资者。

One of the largest initial investors was Freddie Mac, which put up more than $300 million to buy a top-rated slice at 100 cents on the dollar. Part of the rationale for government-sponsored Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae was that such investing helped more Americans afford to become homeowners, securities filings by the mortgage firms said.

房地美是首批大投资者之一，它拿出三亿多美元的资金以发行价的100%买进了债券中的一个高评级部分。房利美、房地美的证券备案资料显示，这两家政府支持机构购买债券的理由之一，是这样的投资能够帮助更多美国人买得起房。

A lawsuit later filed by Freddie Mac's overseer, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said that Fannie and Freddie poured more than $26 billion into Countrywide residential mortgage-backed securities from mid-2005 to early 2008. The subprime bonds were 'supposed to represent long-term stable investments,' said the suit, adding that instead, Countrywide borrowers defaulted at a 'staggering' rate.

房地美主管部门联邦住房金融局(Federal Housing Finance Agency)后来在一份起诉书说，从2005年年中到2008年年初，“两房”往Countrywide的住房按揭贷款支持证券中投入了260亿美元以上的资金。起诉书说，这些次级债券“原本是被期望代表长期稳定投资的”，结果Countrywide借款人却以“惊人”的比例违约。

The suit in New York state court claimed that Countrywide had doled out loans that people weren't suited for and couldn't afford. Defendants Countrywide and its new owner, Bank of America Corp., dispute the claims in the suit, which is still pending.

提交给纽约州法庭的这份起诉书声称，Countrywide向人发放了不适合或还不起的贷款。被告Countrywide及其新的母公司美国银行(Bank of America Corp.)对起诉书中的说法予以反驳。案件尚未宣判。

In early 2009, as U.S. unemployment rose and home prices fell, 'people were starting to consider the possibility that every loan in [the bond] would default,' said Cory Lambert, vice president of analytics at BlackBox Logic LLC, a mortgage-bond research firm. Delinquencies were rising so fast 'there was no telling when or if they would ever level off.'

按揭贷款债券研究公司BlackBox Logic LLC负责分析业务的副总裁科里・兰伯特(Cory Lambert)说，2009年年初，在美国失业率上升、房价下降之际，“人们开始考虑该债券中所有贷款违约的可能性”。逾期率上升很快，“不知道什么时候停止上升，或者会不会停止上升”。

The bond slice owned by Freddie Mac was down more than half in value by the summer of 2009. That was when Countrywide borrower Donald Mudd first started missing his payments.

到2009年夏季，房地美持有的那一部分债券已经贬值一半以上。也就是在那个时候，Countrywide借款人唐纳德・马德(Donald Mudd)第一次开始漏还月供。

He and his wife, Patricia Starr, had gotten their loan in March 2006 -- about three months after Mr. Mudd emerged from a personal bankruptcy involving unpaid medical bills.

他和妻子帕特丽夏・斯塔尔(Patricia Starr)是在2006年3月份拿到贷款的──离马德走出涉及未付医疗费用的个人破产程序才三个月左右。

'I was surprised they approved me right after a bankruptcy,' said Mr. Mudd.

马德说：“我那次破产之后才这么点时间他们就给我批了，让我颇感意外。”

The couple received a $171,000 adjustable-rate loan from Countrywide, county records show, and put down $10,000 to buy a two-bedroom house in Port Charlotte, Fla., a retirement haven on the Gulf of Mexico where home values soared 63% from 2004 to 2006. Countrywide put the 30-year, 8% mortgage into CWABS 2006-7.

县政府文件显示，夫妇二人从Countrywide拿到一笔17.1万美元的浮息贷款，并付了一万美元的首付，在佛罗里达州夏洛特港(Port Charlotte)买下一栋两卧室的住宅。夏洛特港是墨西哥湾的一个退休疗养胜地，房价从2004年到2006年上涨了63%。Countrywide把马德夫妇这笔期限30年、利率8%的按揭贷款纳入了CWABS 2006-7。

With his business of selling water-filtration systems hitting headwinds, Mr. Mudd discussed with Bank of America the possibility of changing his loan.

马德销售 水系统的生意遭遇不顺，于是他跟美银商量可不可以调整贷款。

The government had just created a plan called the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP. Mr. Mudd said the bank rejected him because the investor in his mortgage didn't participate in the program.

那时候政府刚刚推出“可负担住房贷款修改计划”(Home Affordable Modification Program，简称HAMP)。马德说，美国银行拒绝了他的修改申请，因为他那笔按揭贷款的投资者没有参与HAMP计划。

A spokeswoman for Bank of America said it has no record that was the reason Mr. Mudd was denied a loan modification that year. She said the problem was that Mr. Mudd's approximately $1,200 monthly loan payment in 2009 didn't consume a big enough share of his income.

美银发言人表示，没有记录表明这就是马德当年申请修改贷款遭拒的原因。她说，问题出在马德2009年1,200美元左右的月供在他的收入当中没有占到足够大的比例。

By this time, the riskiest slices of CWABS 2006-7 had been hammered by loan defaults, and losses were spreading toward senior slices, once rated triple-A, that often were owned by large financial institutions. For banks, the sinking value meant having to hold more reserves against losses, plus a threat of huge losses if they tried to unload the bonds in a crumbling market.

到那个时候，CWABS 2006-7当中风险最高的部分已经受到贷款违约的冲击，亏损向一度获得AAA评级、常为大型金融机构持有的高级别部分蔓延。对银行来说，债券贬值意味着它们需要增加损失拨备，而如果要在分崩离析的市场里面抛售这些债券，则有可能产生巨额亏损。

The fate of bonds such as CWABS 2006-7, in other words, was strangling banks' lending ability -- at a time when the economy needed it.

也就是说，CWABS 2006-7之类债券的命运束缚着银行的放贷能力──而这恰恰是在经济体需要银行放贷的时候。

To put a floor under the bonds, the Treasury Department helped firms willing to step in and buy some. It created a taxpayer-funded initiative called the Public-Private Investment Program, or PPIP, through which the U.S. provided debt and equity investments to nine bond buyers, totaling $18.6 billion.

为遏止债券缩水，财政部为愿意出面买进一定数量的公司提供了帮助。它推出一项以纳税人资金作为支持的“公私合作投资计划”(Public-Private Investment Program，简称PPIP)。通过这个计划，联邦政府为九家购买债券的公司提供了债权和股权投资，总计186亿美元。

For these investors, the government financing added five percentage points to returns, estimates one participant, New York hedge-fund firm Marathon Asset Management. The government made some unusual requests, including asking Marathon to build a wall in its trading floor to separate PPIP trades from its other business, though Marathon never actually built the wall.

根据参与PPIP的纽约对冲基金公司Marathon Asset Management估计，政府的支持让这些投资者的投资回报率增加了五个百分点。政府提出了一些不常见的要求，比如让Marathon公司在交易室建一堵 ，把PPIP交易和其他业务隔离开来。不过Marathon实际上一直没有建这样一堵 。

While buying some subprime bonds through the program, Marathon invested in other bonds outside of it, including CWABS 2006-7. The firm invested starting in early 2009 and throughout that year as the price dipped and then started to recover, according to people familiar with the trades.

在通过PPIP买进一些次级债券的同时，Marathon也在这个计划之外投资了其他一些债券，其中就有CWABS 2006-7。知情人士说，该公司从2009年年初开始投资，并持续整年。在这一过程中，该债券的价格先是下跌，然后开始反弹。

About 43% of the mortgages in the bond were from California and Florida, hard-hit markets that Marathon figured would have solid recoveries.

CWABS 2006-7债券中大约43%的按揭贷款来自加利福尼亚和佛罗里达这两个遭受重创的市场，而Marathon预计它们将展开强力反弹。

Marathon sold its holdings in the bond throughout 2010. The firm declined to say how it made out, but the bond was recovering during this time.

Marathon在2010年陆续抛售所持CWABS 2006-7。该公司拒绝透露它是怎样脱手的，但当时这只债券的价格正在反弹。

The PPIP 'not only established a bottom but it had the effect of facilitating a recovery in the asset class,' said Andrew Rabinowitz, Marathon's chief operating officer.

Marathon首席运营长安德鲁・拉比诺维茨(Andrew Rabinowitz)说，PPIP“不仅筑了底，还产生了促进这一资产类别实现反弹的作用”。

The federal support wasn't the only thing buoying CWABS 2006-7. It also benefited from steady payments by homeowners such as Mrs. Gavini in Fort Myers.

联邦政府的支持并非提振CWABS 2006-7的唯一因素。它也受益于迈尔斯堡的加维尼等业主的稳定还款。

With her husband, she paid $398,000 for their three-bedroom house in April 2006, taking out two Countrywide loans, with interest rates of 11% and 7%. By late 2009, she figured the house was worth only half what she owed on it. But despite being 'underwater,' she has never stopped making payments on the loans, monthly payments that now total $3,000.

加维尼和丈夫一起在2006年4月以39.8万美元的价格买下现在所住的三卧室住宅，从Countrywide那里贷了两笔款，利率分别是11%和7%。到2009年年底，她算下来房产的价值只有所欠房贷数额的一半。但在“资不抵债”的情况下，她还是从未停止还款。目前两笔贷款的月供总共有3,000美元。

'I wouldn't be able to sleep at night' not making the payments, said Mrs. Gavini, a mother of two young children who works as a sourcing manager for a women's-apparel retailer.

有两个年幼的孩子、在一家女装零售公司当采购经理的加维尼说，要是不还月供，“我晚上就睡不着觉”。

Her resolve to pay is just part of the reason the bond continues to gain from Mrs. Gavini's situation. The bond also benefits because she is stuck with her interest rate, which is 7% in the case of her loan that is in the bond.

大事记：震动美国金融系统的事件加维尼的还款决心只是该债券继续受益于她的处境的原因之一。还有一个原因是她的贷款利率无法下调。她那笔纳入了CWABS 2006-7的贷款利率为7%。

After steady repayment for seven years, plus employment, Mrs. Gavini has good credit, so that refinancing at today's low rates into a prime loan might bring her monthly payment down by nearly half, mortgage brokers say. But because they owe more than the home is worth, she and her husband, Stephen Gavini, can't refinance.

由于稳定还款七年且有工作，加维尼信用良好。据房贷经纪人说，这样一来，如果以今天的低利率进行再融资，换成一级贷款，她的月供就有可能减少接近一半的水平。但因为欠款高于房产价值，她和丈夫史蒂芬・加维尼(Stephen Gavini)无法获得再融资。

There is, in fact, a federal program that lets some borrowers in this fix refinance. Called HARP, for Home Affordable Refinance Program, it allows homeowners to lower their payments by extending the life of the loan or dropping their interest rate.

事实上有一个联邦计划可以让这种情况下的某些借款人进行再融资。它叫“可负担再融资计划”(Home Affordable Refinance Program，简称HARP)，使业主能够延长贷款期限或降低利率，从而减少月供。

But to qualify, mortgages must be guaranteed by a government-sponsored firm such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. While those firms could invest in bonds stuffed with subprime mortgages, they didn't guarantee such mortgages. That left out Mrs. Gavini.

但要达到获得HARP的条件，贷款必须获得房利美或房地美这样的政府支持公司的担保。虽然这些公司可以投资次级按揭贷款支持的债券，但它们并不为这样的贷款提供担保。这就把加维尼排除在外了。

'It's not fair,' she said. 'All we want to do is get refinanced.'

她说：“这不公平。我们只想获得再融资。”

In its current form, Mrs. Gavini's mortgage is valuable to the investors in CWABS 2006-7, given its interest rate and steady repayment.

以当前状况而论，考虑到加维尼这笔贷款的利率和还款稳定性，它对于CWABS 2006-7的投资者来说是挺值的。

In the lingo of the mortgage-bond industry, her high-rate loan is 'trapped' in the CWABS 2006-7 bond.

用按揭债券行业的话语来讲，她的高息贷款在CWABS 2006-7债券里面“套牢”了。

As various other loans have fallen out of the bond -- through foreclosures, sales of the homes and other routes -- the Countrywide bond has become more and more concentrated with loans such as Mrs. Gavini's that are current, enhancing its value.

随着另外多笔贷款通过止赎、房屋出售等途径脱离CWABS 2006-7债券，它已经越来越多地集中在加维尼所欠贷款这样的正常贷款之上，这又增强了该债券的价值。

In some cases, the loans in it are current because of government munificence.

在某些情况下，CWABS 2006-7债券中的贷款之所以处于正常状态，是因为政府的慷慨解囊。

Carolyn Culbreth, the owner of a single-story house near Interstate 95 in the eastern Florida city of Palm Coast, hasn't made a mortgage payment on her own since March 2012.

卡罗琳・加尔布雷斯(Carolyn Culbreth)是佛罗里达东部城市棕榈海岸(Palm Coast)95号州际公路旁边一处平房的业主。从2012年3月份起，她自己就没有还过按揭贷款的月供。

Unemployed through all of last year, the 62-year-old now earns $9 an hour working at home for a call center offering billing and other customer service for cable, Internet and phone companies. She recently took in her son and grandson to live with her,

62岁的加尔布雷斯去年全年失业，现在居家为一个呼叫中心打工，一小时挣九美元，该呼叫中心为有线电视公司、宽带公司和电话公司提供开寄账单等客户服务。前不久她把儿子和孙子叫过来跟自己一起住。

In August, Bank of America denied her latest request for a modification of a mortgage that Countrywide made. The reason it gave was that the investors in her mortgage -- the holders of CWABS 2006-7 -- didn't participate in a modification program designed to help unemployed homeowners.

8月份，美银拒绝了她最近一次提出的修改Countrywide所发贷款的申请，理由是这笔贷款的投资者（CWABS 2006-7债券的持有人）没有参加一个旨在帮助失业业主的贷款修改计划。

But a government program has covered the payments Ms. Culbreth missed and her most recent ones. The state of Florida has done so through a 'Hardest Hit Fund' that funnels federal money to strapped homeowners. The subsidy is technically a loan, but it will be forgiven if Ms. Culbreth stays in the house for 5 1/2 years after the arrival of her last subsidy payment.

但有一个政府计划已经垫付了加尔布雷斯漏还的月供和最近的月供。佛罗里达州政府是通过一只名叫“重灾区基金”(Hardest Hit Fund)的基金来垫付这些款项的，该基金的作用是将联邦资金分配给困难业主。从技术意义上讲，这种补助算是一种贷款，但如果加尔布雷斯在最后一笔补贴款到位之后继续住满五年半，那么补贴贷款就不用还了。

That day has come. The program has a maximum benefit, which Ms. Culbreth just hit. She doesn't know how she will be able to afford her $1,451 monthly payment without the subsidy. 'I may end up having to walk out of this house,' she said.

这一天已经到来。该计划的福利有一个上限，加尔布雷斯刚刚用尽。她不知道在没有补贴的情况下怎样才还得起1,451美元的月供。她说：“最后我可能不得不扔掉这座房子。”

Years of modification attempts and state subsidies don't appear to have changed a basic fact of Ms. Culbreth's homeownership, which is that she can't afford the mortgage Countrywide gave her. Today, she owes more than when she first took out the loan in 2006.

多年的修改努力和政府补贴似乎并没有改变加尔布雷斯面临的一个基本事实：她还不起Countrywide发放的那笔按揭贷款。今天她欠的钱比2006年刚拿到贷款时欠的钱还多。

Asked about Ms. Culbreth, Bank of America's spokeswoman said now that she is employed, the bank plans to contact her to see if it can help modify her mortgage.

在被问到加尔布雷斯的情况时，美银发言人表示她现在有工作，银行打算联系她，看能不能帮助修改贷款条款。

The rising value of the CWABS 2006-7 has benefited not just from its growing concentration of borrowers current on their mortgages but also from the courtroom success of investors.

CWABS 2006-7债券的升值不仅得益于它越来越多地集中于按时还款的业主身上，也得益于投资者在法庭上取得的胜利。

In June 2011, Bank of America agreed to pay $8.5 billion to settle investor claims that Countrywide had lent to people who couldn't afford to repay, leading to losses on CWABS 2006-7 and 529 other Countrywide mortgage bonds.

投资者指控说，Countrywide向还不起贷款的人发放贷款，使他们投资CWABS 2006-7和Countrywide另外529只按揭贷款证券蒙受损失。2011年6月，美银同意支付85亿美元和解此事。

The settlement still isn't final. Some investors say it covered only a fraction of the losses on the bonds. Nonetheless, traders said it has lifted the value of assets such as CWABS 2006-7.

并不是和解就完了。一些投资者称，和解只涉及到债券损失当中很小的一部分。但交易员们表示说，和解还是提升了CWABS 2006-7等资产的价值。

Some of the investors who suffered losses on Countrywide bonds early on, and were part of the lawsuit, spotted opportunity later and quickly got aboard again. Among them giant money managers BlackRock Inc. and Pacific Investment Management Co., the Allianz SE unit known as Pimco.

一些早前投资Countrywide债券蒙受损失且参与了诉讼的投资者后来发现机会，很快又上了船。其中就有贝莱德(BlackRock Inc.)和安联保险(Allianz SE)旗下的Pimco这两个投资管理巨头。

In mid-2011, as BlackRock and 21 other investors were hammering out their settlement with Countrywide, a BlackRock mutual fund started purchasing a senior slice of the bond, according to research firm Morningstar Inc. By early 2012, after this piece of the bond had risen 44% in value, BlackRock had sold this stake.

据研究公司晨星(Morningstar Inc.)的数据，2011年年中，在贝莱德及另外21家投资方与Countrywide敲定和解协议之际，贝莱德的一只共同基金开始买进CWABS 2006-7债券中的高等级部分。到2012年年初，贝莱德已经将其抛掉，此时这一部分债券已升值44%。

As for Pimco, it poured $31 million into CWABS 2006-7 throughout 2012, a period during which the price increased 11%, and still held the investment as of March, according to Morningstar.

据晨星数据，Pimco在2012年全年共投资3,100万美元买进CWABS 2006-7，在这期间该债券价格上涨了11%。截至今年3月，Pimco仍然持有这笔投资。

The Pimco mutual fund that holds part of CWABS 2006-7, Pimco Income A, is in the top 6% of funds in its category over the past five years, according to Morningstar. 'Its mortgage stake has been on fire,' a Morningstar analyst wrote in late 2012.

Pimco旗下持有部分CWABS 2006-7债券的那只共同基金名叫“Pimco Income A”。据晨星数据，过去五年在同类基金当中，这只基金的表现位于前6%之列。晨星的一位分析师在2012年年底写道：“其按揭贷款投资表现抢眼。”

CWABS 2006-7 has created opportunities beyond big investment firms.

CWABS 2006-7还为大型投资公司以外的其他投资者创造了机会。

Mr. Iznurov, the native of Russia, spent months sniffing around in Florida for a low-price house. A Muslim, he said he came to the U.S. from Russia in 2005 to escape religious tensions.

前述俄罗斯移民伊兹努若夫花了几个月的时间在佛罗里达寻找低价房。身为穆斯林的他说，2005年从俄罗斯来到美国是为了逃避宗教危机。

He finally found the right property last year in Jacksonville, Fla., a modest ranch house in a development called Summer Trees, which offered him a chance to relocate his wife and two rambunctious children from a cramped apartment.

去年他终于在佛罗里达州杰克逊维尔(Jacksonville)找到了合适的房产。那是一栋 素的牧场式住宅，位处一个名叫“夏日之树”(Summer Trees)的开发项目里面。他终于有机会让妻子和两个调皮捣蛋的孩子从一套狭小的公寓房里搬出来了。

The loan on the house, part of CWABS 2006-7, was both delinquent and underwater. The loan servicer, or firm that collects mortgage payments, agreed to let the homeowner do a short sale -- a sale for less than the sum owed that is a way to avoid foreclosure and move on.

这栋房子的贷款是CWABS 2006-7债券的一部分，既有逾期又资不抵债。收款公司同意让业主做“短售”，即卖价低于欠款额度。这是一种避免止赎并摆脱负担的办法。

The bond investors swallowed a loss on the original $121,600 loan as Mr. Iznurov bought the house for $77,000.

最初贷款金额是121,600美元，伊兹努若夫以7.7万美元买下这栋住宅，债券投资者承担了一笔损失。

The previous owner had a 9%-interest subprime loan. Mr. Iznurov's mortgage isn't subprime. He has a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration with an interest rate of 3.65%.

原先的业主有一笔利率为9%的次级贷款。伊兹努若夫的按揭不是次级。他借了一笔由联邦住房管理局(Federal Housing Administration)担保的贷款，利率为3.65%。

'That's the market,' Mr. Iznurov says. 'Somebody lose, somebody win.'

伊兹努若夫说：“市场就是这样，有人赔，有人赚。”

Mr. Mudd, the water-filter salesman, fears he could be about to lose.

前述 水系统销售员马德就担心他可能要赔了。

On a rainy afternoon this summer, he sat in his living room in Port Charlotte with the shades drawn and the lights off. A stack of bank documents 13 inches tall was on his kitchen table.

今年夏季一个雨天的午后，他坐在夏洛特港家中的客厅里面，窗 拉下，灯光熄灭，餐桌上摆着一摞13英寸厚的银行文件。

The year after being turned down for a loan modification, Mr. Mudd again applied for a modification in February 2010.

2010年2月，也就是在申请修改贷款遭拒之后的第二年，穆德再次申请修改。

A year of back and forth followed. He said he would fax his pay stubs and tax returns, and the bank would tell him they were outdated and ask him to send the documents again. 'They would do this over and over and over again,' he said.

然后是一年的奔波。据他说，经常是他把工资单存根和纳税申报单传真过去，银行跟他说单据已经过时了，要他再发一遍。他说：“他们会一遍又一遍地做这些事情。”

A Bank of America spokeswoman said that Mr. Mudd's experience was 'unusual.' She added that since then, 'we've made significant improvement in our processes.'

美银一位发言人说，马德的经历“不常见”。她还说，从那之后，“我们的流程取得了明显的改善”。

In February 2011, the bank agreed to lower Mr. Mudd's interest rate to 7.3% from 8.37%. But as often happens with modifications, the change didn't lower his monthly payment. Because the mortgage revision had to cover delinquent past payments, it produced, despite a lower interest rate, a higher monthly bill, $1,323.

2011年2月，美银同意把马德的利率从8.37%降到7.3%。但和修改贷款常常发生的情况一样，他的月供并没有因为修改而降低。贷款的修改必须涵盖过去未还的款项，所以尽管利率降了，月供却提高到了1,323美元。

In his case, the modification was later canceled when Mr. Mudd couldn't meet the new, higher payments.

后来马德还不起新的月供，于是取消了贷款的修改。

The Bank of America spokeswoman said, 'We've been helping Mr. Mudd since 2008, offering him multiple modifications to help him keep his house.'

美银发言人说：“2008年以来我们一直在帮助马德，提供了多次修改，以帮助他保住房子。”

In April, the trustee for the investors of CWABS 2006-7 filed notice in court seeking to foreclose.

今年4月，CWABS 2006-7投资者的受托人向法庭提交通知，要求止赎。

On May 29, Mr. Mudd received two more letters from Bank of America. One suggested he consider a short sale.

5月29日，马德又收到美银寄来的两封信。其中一封建议他考虑做短售。

The other offered him 'a Trial Period Plan.' This variety of modification would again increase his monthly payment, to $1,688. Making three straight payments would qualify Mr. Mudd for a permanent modification, though the bank hasn't disclosed the exact terms.

另一封信提供了一套“试用期方案”。这种修改会再次提高他的月供，达到1,688美元。如果连续还款三次，那么马德就有资格获得永久性修改，但银行方面没有透露具体条款。

He made one of the $1,688 payments in July, but didn't make the August payment.

马德在7月份还了一笔1,688美元的月供，但8月份的月供就没有还。

Mr. Mudd said a housing counselor has suggested that he walk away from the house and find an affordable rental in the area. He hasn't. But, he said, 'I am not sure it is worth the fight anymore.'

马德说，一位置业顾问曾建议他甩掉这套房子，在同一地区找一栋负担得起的出租房。他没有。但他说：“我不知道是不是还值得这么折腾下去了。”