Hudson City was successful in avoiding the mortgage and banking meltdown made by prudent lending. However, "actions taken by the government to rescue the banking system proved to be Hudson City's undoing." It borrowed at 4% in 2005 and successfully avoided the rise in interest rates in 2006 but suffered from an unprecedented reduction in interest rates implemented by the Fed to bail out the banking system. Its portfolio of jumbo loans was previously ineligible to refinance into a conforming loan, giving the bank a stable long-term asset base. After the housing crisis, the rules changed raising the conforming limit, which enabled the high credit quality jumbo loans to refinance to the lower rate available to GSE-purchased mortgages. The lengthy foreclosure process left Hudson City with a large number of non-performing loans. A loss of high-quality borrowers, an inability to issue new mortgages at reasonable rates, and a portfolio of non-performing loans encouraged the bank to accept a buy-out.