Managing in the mortgage maze

NAMB supports bi-partisan effort to establish national uniform lending standardsmortgagepress.comResponsible Lending Act, predatory lending, nationwide registry, licensing requirements The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has applauded the bi-partisan effort by Republican Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio and Democratic Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania to address abusive mortgage lending practices. The Responsible Lending Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Ney and Kanjorski on March 15, and it will be referred to the Committee on Financial Services where hearings are expected some time in 2005. "We commend Reps. Ney and Kanjorski for introducing legislation to create comprehensive uniform lending standards for the entire country," said NAMB President Bob Armbruster. "Such standards should help protect consumers and maintain the trust and integrity of the mortgage lending industry." Many states and localities have passed laws to address abusive lending practices. While these laws were passed with good intentions, the resulting patchwork of regulations has driven many mortgage lenders away from those markets to the detriment of consumers. "NAMB has been a vocal advocate for a nationwide registry and stronger licensing and education requirements for not just mortgage brokers, but all mortgage originators," said Armbruster. "We also believe that more consumer education helps protect consumers from abusive and fraudulent lending practices." NAMB has been working to raise awareness of fraudulent mortgage lending practices for years. Recently, NAMB teamed up with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to fight mortgage fraud online by adding a link to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center to the NAMB Web site, www.namb.org. For more information, visit the "Consumer Home Page" section of the NAMB Web site at www.namb.org.