Congress hears testimony on abusive lendingMortgagePress.comAbusive Lending Practices,HR 1295,Ney-Kanjorski Responsible Lending Act
On May 24, the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and
Consumer Credit and the Subcommittee on Housing and Community
Opportunity held a joint hearing on “Legislative Solutions to
Abusive Mortgage Lending Practices,” which addressed HR 1295,
also known as the Ney-Kanjorski Responsible Lending Act. HR 1295
proposes a uniform national standard, addressing concerns with
predatory lending in residential mortgage lending.
Testifying at the hearing were representatives from 10 different
community and trade organizations. Panel members advocated a wide
range of solutions to predatory lending, including creating a
strong national regulator to monitor the mortgage lending market
and preemption of some or all state mortgage lending laws. Many
panel members also expressed a desire to offer consumers better
education programs.
The National Association of Mortgage Brokers, which has been
very vocal in its support for a nationwide registry and stronger
licensing and education requirements for all mortgage originators,
sent President Jim Nabors, CRMS on its behalf.
“NAMB supports efforts to expose and combat abusive
lending tactics, provided that these efforts do not inadvertently
diminish consumer access to affordable credit or inhibit the
ability of mortgage finance professionals to work closely with
consumers throughout the home buying process,” said
Nabors.
The congressional members in attendance at the hearing uniformly
agreed on the need to end predatory lending and to create better
consumer protections in the residential mortgage lending arena.
While many of the congressmen and women disagreed as to the extent
that state laws should be preempted, they all advocated stronger
federal regulation.
Nabors stated, “Mortgage lending has become largely a
nationwide industry, with a number of lenders operating in all 50
states. It is incredibly burdensome and confusing to brokers and
lenders to comply with 50 different state and local lending
restrictions.”
The Ney-Kanjorski bill is intended to provide more consumer
protection against high-cost mortgages by tightening the current
HOEPA provisions in the Truth in Lending Act, improving mortgage
servicing responsiveness, tightening appraisal requirements and
establishing minimum standards for mortgage brokers.
For a copy of HR 1295, visit www.house.gov.
