No income, no asset (NINA)[1] is a term used in theUnited States mortgage industry to describe one of many documentation types which lenders may allow whenunderwriting amortgage. A loan issued under such circumstances may be referred to as aNINA loan orNINJA loan.
NINA programs are ostensibly created[2] for those with hard to verify incomes (waiters, etc.) but in actuality have been popularly used in situations where aggressive mortgage lenders and brokers did not want any trouble qualifying otherwise non-qualifying loans,[3] thus becoming a significant factor in thesubprime lending crisis.[4] A significant number of NINA loans were never possible for the applicant to repay and have resulted in defaults for this reason, as laid out in detail by investigative reporters, including the reporting ofThis American Life andPlanet Money that culminated in the Peabody- and Polk- award winning episode "The Giant Pool of Money."
ANINJA loan is a nickname for very low-qualitysubprime loans. It was a play on NINA, which in turn is based on the notation scheme for the level of documentation the mortgage originator required. It was described as a no income, no job, [and] no assets loan because the only thing an applicant had to show was his/her credit rating, which was presumed to reflect willingness and ability to pay. The term was popularized byCharles R. Morris in his 2008 bookThe Two Trillion Dollar Meltdown, though the acronym had been publicly used by some subprime mortgage lenders for some years.[5] They were especially prominent during theUnited States housing bubble circa 2003-2007 but have gained wider notoriety due to thesubprime mortgage crisis in July/August 2007 as a prime example of poor lending practices.[6] The term grew in usage during the 2008 financial crisis as the sub prime mortgage crisis was blamed on such loans. It works on two levels – as an acronym; and allusion to the fact that NINJA loans are often defaulted on, with the borrower disappearing like aninja.
The term was also popularized in the 2010 US filmWall Street: Money Never Sleeps by the characterGordon Gekko played byMichael Douglas.