He was the 5th worst by absolute volume, but the rate of foreclosure on Quicken’s loans was below the city average. The company rating as 5th worst was probably more due to its volume. Also, would you argue that the alternative of Gilbert’s company giving significantly less people mortgages is better than giving out loans to people with a higher risk of default? It’s not his fault for not seeing the same bubble in the housing market that every other person in the US missed as well. Furthermore, that bubble was mostly a result of banks being willing to buy any subprime mortgage because they knew that they could still package and sell them. In my eyes, the main cause of Detroit’s issues was an over-reliance on out-dated industries that offer little prospect of growth. That may not completely explain it, but is far closer to the truth than saying a mortgage crisis that impacted the entire country specifically caused much more harm to Detroit because of Dan Gilbert and other greedy mortgage companies.